by Brian Windhorst / Plain Dealer Reporter
Friday February 27, 2009, 12:00 AM
Houston — In their lowest moments this season, and there haven’t been many, the Cavaliers have been rather rudely reminded that it’s still a big man’s game. And now they are going to be even smaller.
Playing against another big and rough team Thursday added one of those insults and an injury. The Cavs were battered, 93-74, by the Houston Rockets to snap their five-game win streak. And speaking of snapping, that’s what happened to Ben Wallace’s right fibula after a collision with Rockets ultra-big man Yao Ming. He will be out four to six weeks.
Plus, LeBron James had one of the lowest-output games of his career in addition to turning his right ankle in the fourth quarter. It is not serious.
Wallace suffered the injury in the first half and played five minutes in the second half before going to get an X-ray.
“I thought it was like a bruise or something and it would let up, but it didn’t,” Wallace said. “I saw the X-ray, I know what that little white line means. It was one of those freak accidents.”
The ramifications are the Cavs (44-12) have limited options at this point since it is after the trading deadline. Players can be bought out or waived before Monday and still be eligible for playoff rosters. The Cavs have been keeping their eye on what happens with Joe Smith and the Oklahoma City Thunder. These events, though, might make Smith more valuable and ratchet up the pressure.
The Cavs have $5.1 million left on their midlevel exception and could make a hefty offer to Smith if he were to get out of his Thunder deal, which ends this season.
“We’re going to be impacted a lot,” James said. “Defensively, [Wallace is] one of the best on-ball defenders in the post, and his intimidation factor out there. We can’t escape it, I know it hurts him a lot and it hurts us as a team. We’ll see what happens around the league. Guys are going to have to step up.”
Rookie forward J.J. Hickson will get more chances after seeing his playing time dry up after guard Delonte West and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned from their injuries. The Cavs will also do what they have been doing all season, which is play smaller lineups more.
But while those small lineups have meant plenty of success, they have a downside. What happened Thursday was a prime example. In two games against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cavs were smashed in the interior by the Lakers’ overall big-man depth, and the Rockets did the same in their own way.
