Wednesday, October 20, 2010
By Mary Schmitt Boyer
Cleveland Plain Dealer
CINCINNATI
What was not to love?
OK, it was only a preseason game, but Cavaliers coach Byron Scott liked a lot of things as his team rolled over the Philadelphia 76ers, 111-95, on Tuesday night before 6,217 fans at US Bank Arena.
Chief among them was having his likely starting lineup together for the first time. Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao, having sufficiently recovered from their groin and ankle injuries, respectively, played as if they’d never been away.
“I’m glad it didn’t look how it felt,” a grinning Williams said with his feet in buckets of ice.
How did it feel?
“It felt OK,” he said, worrying more about his three turnovers than taking comfort in his 11 points and seven assists in just under 26 minutes.
Varejao was even more comfortable.
“I felt pretty good,” he said after finishing with 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots in a little over 27 minutes. “The first five minutes were kind of tough, but after that I felt good.”
Scott couldn’t help but feel good after getting a glimpse of what the future might hold.
“It was good to see Mo and Andy out there,” Scott said as the Cavs improved to 5-2 this preseason with one game remaining on Thursday in Columbus against Milwaukee. “I liked what I saw. We still have a ways to go, but I loved the pace that we played at. I loved what we did on the defensive end.
“Guys did a heck of a job of running our offense, really sharing the ball and did a fantastic job of really pushing the pace. They did a really good job of spacing the floor, attacking and finding the open guy.
“Obviously, the trust is really, really coming when you get 30 assists on 43 field goals made.”