CLEVELAND: It has been a case of now you see him, now you don't for Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson this season. The 6-foot-1 Gibson, who hit a single, yet pivotal shot against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, has become a victim of a deep bench and the numbers game associated with it.
Gibson, who ranks second in the league in 3-point shooting, has watched consistent playing time evolve into being called on less and less. During the Los Angeles Lakers game last week, he received the dreaded ''coach's decision — did not play'' on his stat line.
''[Gibson] is a guy who should play a lot of minutes. It's hard for me to play six perimeter guys and four big guys,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''If I try to do that, the minutes are going to be disjointed and it would be hard to get a rhythm.''
One of those perimeter players is Delonte West, who has slowly worked his way back into Brown's rotation after dealing with personal issues. In the meantime, Gibson has to do what's expected of bench players.
''There's going to be an odd man out. It just happens to be [Gibson],'' Brown said. ''But. . .not only is he a terrific guy, but he's a pro and he keeps himself ready. And when he came out on the floor [Wednesday], it's a big shot he made at that time [cutting the Hawks' lead to two points]. It gave us great momentum.''
No protest, yet
The Hawks left Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday planning to protest to the league over an error in the shot clock. With about two minutes left in the game and the Hawks ahead by one, Cavs point guard Mo Williams missed a shot. The Hawks rebounded, but the shot clock didn't reset properly, denying them the allotted 24 seconds.
Hawks coach Mike Woodson said they would lodge a protest with the league, but as of early afternoon Thursday, they hadn't. A league spokesman said it would investigate should there be a protest.
A quick payoff
A 3-point shot clinched the sixth victory in a row for the Cavs on Wednesday but it certainly came from an unexpected source in forward Anderson Varejao.
It was his first 3-point basket in 19 attempts in his career and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time, with the Cavs and Hawks tied and 17.2 seconds left in the game.
Varejao, LeBron James and Brown all joked that the play to Varejao was the plan all along. What few realize is that the Cavs forward, along with center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and former Cavalier Joe Smith, all used to practice the shot when John Kuester was an assistant with the Cavs.
''You just worry that he'll fall in love with that shot,'' Brown said.
Birthday celebration
James' 48 points Wednesday on his 25th birthday were the third most scored by a player on his birthday. He came close to second-place holder Dominique Wilkins, who had 53 points on his birthday on Jan. 12, 1987. James didn't come close to the record held by teammate Shaquille O'Neal, who scored 61 points on his birthday on March 6, 2000.
James, however, does have the highest point average for games played on his birthday, with 35.3 points in four games.
All-Star results
James continues to lead the Eastern Conference in votes for the NBA All-Star Game and ranks second only to Kobe Bryant of the Lakers in overall balloting.
James has 1,579,530 and Bryant enjoys a relatively slim lead with 1,606,032.
James leads all of the East's forwards and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat leads the conference's guards. The top center in the East: Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, followed by O'Neal.
The All-Star Game will be played in Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium on Valentine's Day.
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