2007–08 Cleveland Cavaliers season

2007–08 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Head coach	Mike Brown
Arena	Quicken Loans Arena
Results
Record	45–37 (.549)
Place	Division: 2nd (Central) Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Conference Semifinals (eliminated 3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	FSN Ohio · WUAB
Radio	WTAM

The 2007–08 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 38th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers were the defending Eastern Conference champions.

Key dates:

• On June 28, the 2007 NBA draft took place in New York City.
• On July 1, the free agency period started.
• On October 9, the Cavaliers' pre-season began with a 62–81 loss to Washington Wizards.
• On October 31, the Cavaliers' season started with a 74–92 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
• On November 2, the Cavaliers signed Sasha Pavlović to a multi-year extension.
• On November 2, the Cavaliers defeated the New York Knicks 110–106 for their first win.
• On November 27, the Cavaliers handed the Boston Celtics their second loss of the season.
• On December 5, the Cavaliers matched the offer sheet of the Charlotte Bobcats to retain Anderson Varejão and waived Demetris Nichols.
• On January 17, the Cavaliers defeated the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio for the second straight year.
• On January 23, a victory over the Washington Wizards gave the Cavaliers a season-long five-game win streak.
• On February 21, in a three-team trade, the Cavaliers acquired Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, a 2009 second-round pick from the Chicago Bulls, and a trade exception, plus Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the Seattle SuperSonics.
• On March 5, LeBron James scored 50 points against the New York Knicks which led to victory.
• On March 10, an 88-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers put the Cavaliers a season-high 10 games over 0.500.
• On May 2, the Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards 105–88 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
• On May 18, the Cavaliers fell to the Boston Celtics 92–97 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Draft picks

Cleveland did not have a draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft due to trades from previous seasons.

• 1st round pick (#22) acquired from Toronto and traded to Charlotte as part of Sasha Pavlović deal.^[1] Used to draft Jared Dudley.
• 1st round pick (#24) traded to Boston and then to Phoenix as part of Jiří Welsch deal.^[2] Used to draft Rudy Fernández.
• 2nd round pick (#54) traded to Orlando and then to Houston as part of Drew Gooden deal.^[3] Used to draft Brad Newley.

Roster

Cleveland Cavaliers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From C 41 Allred, Lance 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Weber State SG 33 Brown, Devin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Texas–San Antonio PG 1 Gibson, Daniel 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Texas C 11 Ilgauskas, Žydrūnas 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Lithuania SF 23 James, LeBron (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) St. Vincent – St. Mary High School PG 19 Jones, Damon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Houston C 27 Jones, Dwayne 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 251 lb (114 kg) Saint Joseph's G/F 3 Pavlović, Sasha 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Serbia PF 32 Smith, Joe 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Maryland PG 20 Snow, Eric  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Michigan State G/F 10 Szczerbiak, Wally 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Miami (OH) G 12 Thomas, Billy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Kansas F/C 17 Varejão, Anderson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Brazil F/C 4 Wallace, Ben 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Virginia Union PG 13 West, Delonte 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Saint Joseph's	Head coach Mike Brown (San Diego) Assistant coach(es) Hank Egan (Navy) Stan Kellers (Cleveland State) Michael Malone (Loyola) Melvin Hunt (Baylor) Chris Jent (Ohio State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2008-02-15

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	Anderson Varejão	Dwayne Jones	Lance Allred
PF	Ben Wallace	Joe Smith
SF	LeBron James	Sasha Pavlović
SG	Devin Brown	Wally Szczerbiak	Billy Thomas
PG	Delonte West	Daniel Gibson	Damon Jones	Eric Snow

Regular season

Standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	59	23	.720	–	34–7	25–16	11–5
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	45	37	.549	14	27–14	18–23	7–9
Indiana Pacers	36	46	.439	23	21–20	15–26	5–11
Chicago Bulls	33	49	.402	26	20–21	13–28	11–5
Milwaukee Bucks	26	56	.317	33	19–22	7–34	6–10

Game log

December

Record: 5–9 ; Home: 4–3 ; Road: 1–6

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Leading scorer	Attendance	Record
18	December 2	Cleveland	70–80	Boston		Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (12)	18,624	9–9
19	December 4	New Jersey	100–79	Cleveland		Shannon Brown (20)	19,838	9–10
20	December 5	Cleveland	86–105	Washington		Three-way tie (13)	17,684	9–11
21	December 8	Cleveland	93–96	Charlotte		Larry Hughes (22)	17,624	9–12
22	December 11	Indiana	105–118	Cleveland		Larry Hughes (36)	20,010	10–12
23	December 14	Cleveland	97–105	New Jersey		LeBron James (29)	15,242	10–13
24	December 15	Philadelphia	92–86	Cleveland		Two-way tie (21)	20,562	10–14
25	December 17	Milwaukee	99–104	Cleveland	OT	LeBron James (31)	20,562	11–14
26	December 19	Cleveland	90–108	NY Knicks		LeBron James (32)	18,704	11–15
27	December 20	LA Lakers	90–94	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,562	12–15
28	December 23	Golden State	105–96	Cleveland		LeBron James (25)	20,562	12–16
29	December 25	Miami	82–96	Cleveland		LeBron James (25)	20,562	13–16
30	December 27	Cleveland	88–81	Dallas		LeBron James (24)	20,462	14–16
31	December 29	Cleveland	76–86	New Orleans		LeBron James (21)	17,623	14–17

January

Record: 11–3 ; Home: 5–1 ; Road: 6–2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Leading scorer	Attendance	Record
32	January 2	Atlanta	98–94	Cleveland		LeBron James (36)	20,562	15–17
33	January 4	Sacramento	97–93	Cleveland		LeBron James (24)	20,562	16–17
34	January 6	Cleveland	93–90	Toronto		LeBron James (39)	19,800	17–17
35	January 8	Seattle	95–79	Cleveland		LeBron James (22)	20,409	18–17
36	January 9	Cleveland	81–90	Atlanta		LeBron James (31)	16,246	18–18
37	January 11	Charlotte	113–106	Cleveland	OT	LeBron James (31)	20,562	19–18
38	January 15	Cleveland	132–124	Memphis	OT	LeBron James (51)	13,871	20–18
39	January 17	Cleveland	90–88	San Antonio		LeBron James (27)	18,482	21–18
40	January 21	Cleveland	97–90	Miami		LeBron James (27)	19,600	22–18
41	January 23	Washington	121–85	Cleveland		Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (24)	20,562	23–18
42	January 25	Phoenix	108–110	Cleveland		LeBron James (36)	20,562	23–19
43	January 27	Cleveland	98–95	LA Lakers		LeBron James (41)	18,997	24–19
44	January 30	Cleveland	84–83	Portland		LeBron James (37)	20,501	25–19
45	January 31	Cleveland	95–101	Seattle		Larry Hughes (28)	13,109	25–20

February

Record: 8–6; Home: 5–3 ; Road: 3–3

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Leading scorer	Attendance	Record
46	February 2	LA Clippers	98–84	Cleveland		LeBron James (28)	20,562	26–20
47	February 5	Boston	114–113	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,562	27–20
48	February 7	Cleveland	77–92	Houston		LeBron James (32)	18,402	27–21
49	February 8	Cleveland	100–95	Atlanta		LeBron James (26)	19,335	28–21
50	February 10	Denver	83–113	Cleveland		LeBron James (30)	20,562	28–22
51	February 11	Cleveland	118–111	Orlando		Larry Hughes (40)	17,519	29–22
52	February 13	San Antonio	105–112	Cleveland		LeBron James (39)	20,562	29–23
53	February 19	Houston	85–93	Cleveland		LeBron James (26)	20,562	29–24
54	February 20	Cleveland	106–97	Indiana		LeBron James (31)	13,096	30–24
55	February 22	Washington	90–89	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,562	31–24
56	February 24	Memphis	109–89	Cleveland		LeBron James (25)	20,562	32–24
57	February 26	Cleveland	102–105	Milwaukee		LeBron James (35)	15,346	32–25
58	February 27	Cleveland	87–92	Boston		LeBron James (26)	18,624	32–26
59	February 29	Minnesota	92–84	Cleveland		LeBron James (30)	20,562	33–26

March

Record: 8–7; Home: 7–1 ; Road: 1–6

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Leading scorer	Attendance	Record
60	March 2	Chicago	95–86	Cleveland		LeBron James (37)	20,562	34–26
61	March 5	Cleveland	119–105	NY Knicks		LeBron James (50)	18,760	35–26
62	March 6	Cleveland	96–107	Chicago		LeBron James (39)	22,097	35–27
63	March 8	Indiana	103–95	Cleveland		LeBron James (38)	20,562	36–27
64	March 10	Portland	88–80	Cleveland		LeBron James (24)	20,213	37–27
65	March 12	Cleveland	99–104	New Jersey		LeBron James (42)	18,287	37–28
66	March 13	Cleveland	99–101	Washington		LeBron James (25)	20,173	37–29
67	March 16	Charlotte	98–91	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,562	38–29
68	March 17	Cleveland	90–104	Orlando		LeBron James (30)	17,519	38–30
69	March 19	Detroit	89–73	Cleveland		LeBron James (30)	20,562	39–30
70	March 21	Toronto	90–83	Cleveland		LeBron James (29)	20,562	40–30
71	March 22	Cleveland	98–108	Milwaukee		LeBron James (29)	15,337	40–31
72	March 26	New Orleans	99–100	Cleveland		Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (29)	20,562	40–32
73	March 29	Cleveland	71–85	Detroit		LeBron James (13)	22,076	40–33
74	March 30	Philadelphia	91–88	Cleveland		LeBron James (26)	20,562	41–33

April

Record: 4–4 ; Home: 2–3; Road: 2–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Leading scorer	Attendance	Record
75	April 2	Cleveland	118–114	Charlotte		LeBron James (29)	15,106	42–33
76	April 3	Chicago	101–98	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,562	42–34
77	April 5	Orlando	101–86	Cleveland		Delonte West (19)	20,562	42–35
78	April 9	New Jersey	83–104	Cleveland		LeBron James (33)	20,063	43–35
79	April 11	Cleveland	95–100	Chicago		LeBron James (34)	22,084	43–36
80	April 13	Miami	76–84	Cleveland		Delonte West (18)	20,562	44–36
81	April 14	Cleveland	91–90	Philadelphia		LeBron James (27)	20,730	45–36
82	April 16	Detroit	84–74	Cleveland		Wally Szczerbiak (18)	20,562	45–37

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates loss.

2007–08 game log Total: 45–37 (Home: 30–11; Road: 20–21)
October: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
November : 8–8 (Home: 4–2; Road: 4–6) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
December : 5–9 (Home: 4–3; Road: 1–6) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
January : 8–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 3–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 32 January 2, 2008 Atlanta W 98–94 Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 15–17 36 January 9, 2008 @ Atlanta L 81–90 Philips Arena 16.246 18–18
February : 8–6 (Home: 5–3; Road: 3–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 49 February 8, 2008 @ Atlanta W 100–95 Philips Arena 19,335 28–21
March : 8–7 (Home: 7–1; Road: 1–6) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
April : 4–4 (Home: 2–3; Road: 2–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
2007–08 schedule

Playoffs

2008 playoff game log
First Round: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 19 Washington 93–86 James (32) Ilgauskas (11) Gibson, West (5) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 1–0 2 April 21 Washington 116–86 James (30) Ilgauskas, James (9) James (12) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 2–0 3 April 24 @ Washington 72–108 James (22) Varejão (9) James, Szczerbiak, Varejão (3) Verizon Center 20,173 2–1 4 April 27 @ Washington 100–97 James (34) James, Wallace (12) James (7) Verizon Center 20,173 3–1 5 April 30 Washington 87–88 James (34) James (10) West (8) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 3–2 6 May 2 @ Washington 105–88 James (27) James (13) James (13) Verizon Center 20,173 4–2
Conference Semifinals: 3–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 6 @ Boston 72–76 Ilgauskas (22) Ilgauskas (12) James (9) TD Banknorth Garden 18,624 0–1 2 May 8 @ Boston 73–89 James (21) Varejão (10) James (6) TD Banknorth Garden 18,624 0–2 3 May 10 Boston 108–84 James, West (21) Wallace (9) James (8) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 1–2 4 May 12 Boston 88–77 James (21) Ilgauskas, Wallace (7) James (13) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 2–2 5 May 14 @ Boston 89–96 James (35) Ilgauskas, Varejão (7) James (5) TD Banknorth Garden 18,624 2–3 6 May 16 Boston 74–69 James (32) James (12) James (6) Quicken Loans Arena 20,562 3–3 7 May 18 @ Boston 92–97 James (45) Smith (6) James (6) TD Banknorth Garden 18,624 3–4
2008 playoff schedule

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Lance Allred	3	0	3.3	.250	.000	.500	.3	.0	.00	.00	1.0
Devin Brown	78	20	22.6	.409	.308	.754	3.4	2.2	.67	.09	7.5
Kaniel Dickens	5	0	2.4	.333	.000	.000	.2	.2	.00	.20	.4
Daniel Gibson	58	26	30.4	.432	.440	.810	2.3	2.5	.81	.24	10.4
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	73	73	30.4	.474	.000	.802	9.3	1.4	.47	1.64	14.1
LeBron James	75	74	40.4	.484	.315	.712	7.9	7.2	1.84	1.08	30.0
Damon Jones	67	3	19.9	.416	.417	.714	1.1	1.9	.28	.01	6.5
Dwayne Jones	56	0	8.4	.532	.000	.483	2.5	.2	.18	.45	1.4
Aleksandar Pavlović	51	45	23.3	.362	.298	.688	2.5	1.6	.57	.12	7.4
Joe Smith*	27	1	21.5	.512	.000	.652	5.0	.7	.33	.59	8.1
Eric Snow	22	5	13.9	.158	.000	.455	.9	1.9	.45	.18	1.0
Wally Szczerbiak*	25	1	22.2	.359	.365	.878	3.2	1.4	.36	.28	8.2
Billy Thomas*	7	0	4.9	.286	.308	.000	.3	.0	.14	.00	1.7
Anderson Varejão	48	13	27.5	.461	.000	.598	8.3	1.1	.77	.54	6.7
Ben Wallace*	22	22	26.3	.457	.000	.432	7.4	.6	.86	1.68	4.2
Delonte West*	26	26	31.0	.440	.367	.788	3.7	4.5	1.12	.73	10.3

*Statistics include only games with the Cavaliers

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Devin Brown	8	0	11.5	.265	.294	.667	2.4	1.1	.25	.00	4.1
Daniel Gibson	11	0	25.8	.449	.452	.714	1.7	2.5	.64	.18	9.0
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	13	13	30.2	.479	.000	.818	7.5	1.6	.38	1.08	13.1
LeBron James	13	13	42.5	.411	.257	.731	7.8	7.6	1.77	1.31	28.2
Damon Jones	5	0	5.2	.200	.286	.000	.0	.2	.00	.00	1.2
Dwayne Jones	5	0	4.0	.500	.000	.500	1.2	.0	.00	.20	.6
Aleksandar Pavlović	8	0	13.9	.385	.444	.667	1.3	.1	.25	.00	3.5
Joe Smith	13	0	20.2	.486	.000	.636	4.6	.5	.38	.54	6.6
Wally Szczerbiak	13	13	28.8	.376	.323	.929	1.8	1.5	.15	.08	10.8
Billy Thomas	3	0	2.7	.500	.500	.000	.3	.3	.33	.00	1.0
Anderson Varejão	13	0	18.5	.407	.000	.429	5.2	.7	.62	.08	4.1
Ben Wallace	13	13	23.4	.515	.000	.350	6.5	1.2	.62	1.08	3.2
Delonte West	13	13	34.8	.400	.429	.854	3.3	4.2	1.15	.46	10.8

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

• LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from November 19 through November 25.^[4]
• LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played December 31, 2007 through January 6, 2008.^[5]
• LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January 2008.^[6]
• Mike Brown was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January 2008.^[7]
• Daniel Gibson, 33 points, was named the MVP of the Rookie Challenge Game during NBA All-Star Week on February 15, 2008.
• LeBron James, 27 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, was named the MVP of the NBA All-Star Game during NBA All-Star week on February 17, 2008.
• LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from February 18 through February 24.^[8]
• LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for February 2008.^[9]

Milestones

• On December 17, 2007 LeBron James became the youngest NBA player to score 9,000 points.^[10]
• On February 11, 2008 Drew Gooden grabbed his 2,500th rebound as a Cavalier. Gooden is the 9th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 11, 2008 Larry Hughes scored his 2,000th point as a Cavalier. Hughes is the 44th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 13, 2008 Žydrūnas Ilgauskas blocked his 1,100th shot as a Cavalier. Ilgauskas is the 2nd Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 20, 2008 Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored his 9,000th point as a Cavalier. Ilgauskas is the 6th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 20, 2008 LeBron James played his 15,000th minute as a Cavalier. James is the 8th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 22, 2008 Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed his 2,000th offensive rebound as a Cavalier. Ilgauskas is the team leader in offensive rebounds.
• On February 22, 2008 Damon Jones hit is 300th three pointer as a Cavalier. Jones is the 6th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 22, 2008 LeBron James grabbed his 2,500th rebound as a Cavalier. James is the 10th Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On February 27, 2008 LeBron James became the youngest NBA player to score 10,000 points.^[11]
• On March 19, 2008 LeBron James dished his 2,500th assist as a Cavalier. James is the 2nd Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On March 26, 2008 Žydrūnas Ilgauskas grabbed his 5,000th rebound as a Cavalier. Ilgauskas is the 2nd Cavalier to reach that milestone.
• On March 29, 2008 LeBron James made his 500th three point shot as a Cavalier. James is the 4th Cavalier to reach that milestone.

All-Star

• Daniel Gibson participated in the 2008 Rookie Challenge Game on February 15, 2008 and was named the MVP.
• Daniel Gibson participated in the 2008 Three Point Contest on February 16, 2008 and finished in second place.
• LeBron James started the 2008 All-Star Game on February 17, 2008 and was named the MVP.

Transactions

The Cavaliers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

February 21, 2008	To Cleveland Cavaliers ----Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Delonte West, a 2009 second round pick and a $1.7 mil trade exception	To Chicago Bulls ----Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown.	To Seattle SuperSonics ----Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall and Adrian Griffin.

^*Note: This is the largest trade in Cleveland Cavaliers history.

Free agents

Player Former team Sasha Pavlović Cleveland Cavaliers Anderson Varejão Cleveland Cavaliers Billy Thomas Colorado 14ers Kaniel Dickens Colorado 14ers Lance Allred Idaho Stampede

Player New team Demetris Nichols Chicago Bulls

See also

• 2007–08 NBA season

References

1. Lamond Murray and a future 2nd round pick traded to Toronto for Michael Stewart and a future 1st round pick. http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pr_murray_020925.html
   1st round pick then traded to Charlotte for Sasha Pavlović. http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/pavlovic_040623.html
2. 2007 1st round pick traded to Boston for Jiri Welsch
3. Tony Battie and two future 2nd round picks traded to Orlando for Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and the rights to Anderson Varejão
4. James and Parker Earn Weekly Honors, NBA.com, November 26, 2007.
5. LeBron James Named NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week – NBA.com.
6. Yao Ming, LeBron James Named Players of the Month, NBA.com, February 1, 2008.
7. Mike Brown, Byron Scott Named Coaches of the Month, NBA.com, February 1, 2008.
8. LeBron James Named NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week – NBA.com.
9. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James Named Players of the Month, NBA.com, March 3, 2008.
10. LeBron Reaches 9,000 in Cavs' Victory Over Bucks, Associated Press, December 17, 2007.
11. LeBron Makes History in Boston "D" Party

• Cleveland Cavaliers on Database Basketball
• Cleveland Cavaliers on Basketball Reference

External links

• Cleveland Cavaliers official website