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A slow start didn’t derail the Cavaliers plans for a win in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon. Delonte West made sure of it.
The Bucks scored the game’s first 11 points, but soon found themselves dug into a hole by the visitors. West scored 14 straight points to begin the second quarter, spearheading a 29-0 run that broke open the game for the Cavaliers, who won 101-86.
It was an all-around impressive performance for the Cavaliers as ten players scored, led by West’s season-high 21.
The 26-year-old has been unreliable, to say the least, so far this season. West has battled off-court issues, including his battle with a bipolar disorder, since this past summer, but came ready to play against the Bucks.
“Obviously Delonte was good for us off the bench,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown. ”We were able to play through him for a while. He played some big minutes for us, not only offensively, but defensively too.”
West’s offensive outburst allowed LeBron James to score just 14 points. James didn’t seem to mind taking a backseat to his teammate. The reigning league MVP celebrated with each of West’s baskets, knowing how important West is to the team’s long-term success.
“We know how tough we are to beat when Delonte is at a high level,” said James. ”It was good to see him play well today.”
Even with West’s big night, James was still vital to the Cavaliers success. The Bucks did all they could to keep him away from the basket, but James made it his mission to find open shooters, resulting in 10 assists for the seventh-year pro.
“I’ve always been a guy who just takes what the defense gives me,” said James. “And also, my guys were knocking down shots, much credit to them.”
Everything seemed to go wrong for the Bucks in the second quarter. They shot just 28 percent from the floor in the period and had no way of stopping the Cavaliers on the other end.
The result was a 19-point deficit at halftime, even though James had just one field goal in the first 24 minutes.
Milwaukee did all they could to close the gap in the second half.
Rookie Brandon Jennings scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter, but the Bucks still found themselves down by 18 heading into the final period.
Jennings, who scored 55 points in a game earlier this season, shot 9-22 from the field and also added four rebounds and four assists.
“He’s very confident,” said James. ”He knows how to play the game of basketball, and it seems like the team has given him the torch to carry this team.”
Jennings looked poised to lead the Bucks to their first victory in almost a week after the first few minutes of the game.
The Cavaliers found themselves down double digits just three minutes into the contest. To make matters worse, Shaquille O’Neal earned his second foul with still 8:25 remaining in the opening quarter.
A veteran ball club, the Cavaliers stayed confident and found themselves up 21-17 heading into the second quarter, a lead they would never relinquish.
“I thought our guys brought a lot of juice to the table,” said Brown. ”They jumped on us early and our guys didn’t panic. They just kept staying with it.”
The Cavalier bench was on the court for much of the team’s big first half run, leaving James and the rest of the starters as mere spectators.
With West leading the way, they showed why the Cavs may have one of the deepest rosters in the league.
“As starters we know what we are capable of doing,” James said. ”so when our bench comes out and has that type of aggression, starting with Delonte, we are very good.”

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January 31st, 2010 at 1:51 pm
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