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2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season

NBA professional basketball team season

Field	Value
team	Cleveland Cavaliers
end_year	2010
DivisionWin	yes
wins	61
losses	21
division	Central
division_place	1
conf_place	1
coach	Mike Brown
gm	Danny Ferry
owner	Dan Gilbert
arena	Quicken Loans Arena
playoffs	[Conference Semifinals](2010-nba-playoffs-bracket)
(lost to [Celtics](2009-10-boston-celtics-season) 2–4)
bbr_team	CLE
radio	WTAM

(lost to Celtics 2–4)

Fox Sports Ohio
WUAB

The 2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 40th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Cavaliers finished with the best record in the NBA at 61–21, earning them first place in the East. The season saw LeBron James win the MVP Award for the second straight year. The Cavaliers had the fifth best team offensive rating in the NBA.

After defeating the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls in the first round in five games, the Cavs faced the 4th-seeded Boston Celtics in the Semifinals where the Cavaliers were favored to beat them, yet they lost in six games despite being up 2–1. The Celtics would advance to the NBA Finals and lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Following the season, Danny Ferry stepped down as general manager, head coach Mike Brown was fired, James signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat, Shaquille O'Neal signed as a free agent for his final season with the Boston Celtics, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas left to play his final season with the Heat.

After LeBron's departure, the Cavaliers struggled greatly without him for four seasons, and entered a state of rebuilding. The Cavaliers would not make the playoffs again until 2015, when LeBron returned to the Cavaliers, who drafted All-Star Kyrie Irving and traded for All-Star Kevin Love.

Until 2025, this was the last time that the Cavaliers had won 60 or more games. This was also the last time that LeBron did not appear in the NBA Finals until 2019, and the last time his team would be eliminated before the Finals until 2021, when the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games in the first round, which was also the first time in James' career that he exited in the first round.

Key dates

June 25 – The 2009 NBA draft took place in New York City. The Cavs also acquire Shaquille O'Neal, in a trade with the Phoenix Suns.
July 8 – The free agency period started.
July 13 – The Cavs sign with Anthony Parker.
July 19 – Jamario Moon signs with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
August 12 – The Cavaliers sign with Leon Powe.
October 6 – The Cavs open the Pre-Season, with a victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, in The Q.
October 21 – The Cavs close the Pre-Season, losing to the Boston Celtics, in the Value City Arena.
October 27 – The Cleveland Cavaliers open the Regular Season, and are defeated by the Boston Celtics, in Quicken Loans Arena.
February 17 – The Cavs acquire Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair, in a three-team trade, with the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers.
March 17 – The Cavaliers clinched the Central Division title for the second straight year, and the third time in franchise history.
March 23 – The Cavs waive Darnell Jackson and sign with Žydrūnas Ilgauskas.
April 2 – The Cavaliers clinched best record in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year, and the second time in franchise history.
April 4 – The Cavaliers clinched the best record in the league, and thus home court advantage throughout the playoffs for the second straight year, and the second time in franchise history.
April 14 – The Cavs close the Regular Season, with a loss against the Atlanta Hawks and a 61–21 record.
April 17 – The Cleveland Cavaliers open the First Round of the Playoffs, with a 96–83 victory, over the Chicago Bulls, in The Q.
April 27 – The Cavaliers close the First Round Series at 4–1, with a 96–94 victory over the Bulls, in The Q.
May 1 – The Cavs open the Eastern Conference semifinals, with a 101–93 victory, over the Celtics, in the Quicken Loans Arena.
May 13- The Cavaliers lose in the Eastern Conference semifinals, at 4–2 to the underdog Boston Celtics.
May 24 – Head Coach Mike Brown was fired.

Draft picks

Main article: 2009 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Club Team
1	30	Christian Eyenga	G/F	COD DR Congo	CB Prat
2	46	Danny Green	G/F	United States	North Carolina

Roster

Mike Brown
Hank Egan
Melvin Hunt
Chris Jent
Michael Malone

Pre-season

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 || October 6 || Charlotte Bobcats || 87 – 92 || || || || Quicken Loans Arena 20,403 || 1-0 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 || October 10 || @Charlotte Bobcats || 102 – 96 || || || || North Charleston Coliseum 11,489 ||2-0 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 || October 12 || Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece) || 94 – 111 || || || || Quicken Loans Arena 19,791 ||3-0 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 4 || October 14 || Washington Wizards || 109 – 104 || || || || Quicken Loans Arena 19,672 || 3-1 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 5 || October 16 || @San Antonio Spurs || 98 – 105 || || || || AT&T Center 17,186 || 3-2 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 6 || October 17 || @Dallas Mavericks || 82 – 93 || || || || American Airlines Center 18,525 || 3-3 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 || October 20 || Dallas Mavericks || 66 – 96 || || || || Petersen Events Center 10,011 || 4-3 recap |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 8 || October 21 || Boston Celtics || 96 – 82 || || || ||Value City Arena 18,021 || 4-4 recap |-

Regular season

Standings

Game log

61–21

Playoffs

4–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
May 1
Boston
W 101–93
LeBron James (35)
Antawn Jamison (9)
LeBron James (7)
Quicken Loans Arena
20,562
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
2
May 3
Boston
L 86–104
LeBron James (24)
James, Varejão (7)
Mo Williams (7)
Quicken Loans Arena
20,562
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
May 7
@ Boston
W 124–95
LeBron James (38)
Antawn Jamison (12)
James, Williams (7)
TD Garden
18,624
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
May 9
@ Boston
L 87–97
LeBron James (22)
LeBron James (9)
LeBron James (8)
TD Garden
18,624
2–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
5
May 11
Boston
L 88–120
Shaquille O'Neal (21)
Anderson Varejão (8)
LeBron James (7)
Quicken Loans Arena
20,562
2–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
May 13
@ Boston
L 85–94
LeBron James (27)
LeBron James (19)
LeBron James (10)
TD Garden
18,624
2–4
-

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Daniel Gibson	56	10	19.1	.466	.477	.694	1.3	1.3	.4	.1	6.3
Danny Green		20	0	5.8	.385	.273	.667	.9	.3	.3	.2	2.0
J. J. Hickson	81	73	20.9	.554	.000	.681	4.9	.5	.4	.5	8.5
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	64	6	20.9	.443	.478	.743	5.4	.8	.2	.8	7.4
LeBron James	76	76	39.0	.503	.333	.767	7.3	8.6	1.6	1.0	29.7
Cedric Jackson1	5	0	2.0	.000	.000	.250	.2	.4	.0	.0	.2
Darnell Jackson	27	0	4.2	.320	.333	.667	.7	.1	.1	.1	.8
Antawn Jamison1	25	23	32.4	.485	.342	.506	7.7	1.3	1.1	.5	15.8
Coby Karl	3	0	1.7	.	.	.	.7	.0	.0	.0	.0
Jamario Moon	61	2	17.2	.462	.320	.800	3.1	.5	.3	.2	4.9
Shaquille O'Neal	53	53	23.4	.566	.000	.496	6.7	1.5	.3	1.2	12.0
Anthony Parker	81	81	27.5	.434	.414	.789	2.9	1.9	0.8	.2	7.3
Leon Powe	20	2	11.8	.429	.000	.587	3.0	.0	.3	.1	4.0
Sebastian Telfair1	4	0	19.3	.457	.222	.833	1.0	3.0	.5	.0	9.8
Anderson Varejão	76	7	28.5	.572	.200	.663	7.6	1.1	.9	.9	8.6
Delonte West	60	3	25.0	.445	.325	.810	2.8	3.3	0.9	.5	8.8
Jawad Williams	54	6	13.7	.393	.323	.711	1.5	.6	.2	.1	4.1
Mo Williams	69	68	34.2	.442	.429	.894	3.0	5.3	1.0	.3	15.8

Stats with the Cavaliers

1Did not start or finish the season with the Cavs.

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Daniel Gibson	5	0	4.6	.286	.250	1.000	.6	.2	.0	.0	1.4
J. J. Hickson	11	0	7.2	.626	.000	.688	.8	.1	.0	.0	3.5
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas	6	0	9.0	.364	.000	.667	1.8	.3	.0	1.0	1.7
LeBron James	11	11	41.8	.502	.400	.733	9.3	7.6	1.7	1.8	29.1
Antawn Jamison	11	11	34.1	.467	.256	.732	7.4	1.3	.6	1.0	15.3
Jamario Moon	11	0	10.3	.583	.500	.667	1.5	.5	.4	.4	3.5
Shaquille O'Neal	11	11	22.1	.516	.000	.660	5.5	1.4	0.2	1.2	11.5
Anthony Parker	11	11	30.1	.436	.455	.733	2.4	1.3	.8	.3	8.3
Leon Powe	3	0	3.0	.250	.000	.750	.7	.0	.0	.0	1.7
Sebastian Telfair	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	0
Anderson Varejão	11	0	23.2	.417	.000	.742	6.5	.6	1.0	.8	5.7
Delonte West	11	0	24.5	.418	.158	.938	1.9	2.6	.8	.9	6.7
Mo Williams	11	11	37.4	.409	.327	.804	3.1	5.4	.6	.2	14.4

Awards, Records and Milestones

Awards

LeBron James – NBA Most Valuable Player (2x)
LeBron James – All-NBA First Team (4x)
LeBron James – NBA All-Defensive First Team (2x)
Anderson Varejão – NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1x)

Week/Month

LeBron James – Player of the Week (6x)
LeBron James – Player of the Month (4x)
Mike Brown – Coach of the Month (December)

All-Star

LeBron James – NBA All-Star Game Selection (6x)

Records

December 2, 2009: Zydrunas Ilgauskas set the record for most games played as a Cavalier with 771 and moved into third place on the Cavaliers' all-time scoring list behind LeBron James and Brad Daugherty.
On March 19, 2010, LeBron James set a record as the youngest player in NBA history to record 15,000 career points.
At the end of the season, LeBron James was the all-time scoring leader of the Cavs, with 15,251 points.

Team Records

On May 11, the Cavaliers suffered their worst playoffs defeat, against the Boston Celtics, by a margin of 32 points, 88–120.
On December 23, the Cavaliers set a franchise record and tied with the NBA record of fewest points allowed in an OT period, against Sacramento Kings.

Milestones

Daniel Gibson reached 200 career games and 5,000 minutes.*
Danny Green played his first season in the NBA.*
J.J. Hickson reached 100 career games and 2,000 minutes.*
Zydrunas Ilgauskas reached 21,000 minutes and 4,000 field goals made.*
LeBron James reached 15,000 career points, 500 career games, 22,000 minutes, 5,000 field goals made, 11,000 field goals attempted, 2,000 three-point shots attempted, 3,000 defensives rebounds, 1,000 fouls and 2,000 Playoffs points.*
Cedric Jackson played his first season in the NBA.*
Antawn Jamison reached 17,000 career points and 31,000 minutes.
Jamario Moon reached 200 career games, 5,000 minutes and 1,000 rebounds.
Shaquille O'Neal reached 41,000 minutes, 11,000 field goals made, 19,000 field goals attempted, 11,000 free-throws attempted, 3,000 assists and 4,000 fouls.
Anthony Parker reached 300 career games, 10,000 minutes, 1,000 three-point shots attempted, 1,000 defensives rebounds, 1,000 rebounds and 3,000 career points.
Leon Powe reached 200 career games.
Anderson Varejão reached 9,000 minutes, 1,000 field goals made, 2,000 field goals attempted, 1,000 free throws attempted and 1,000 fouls.*
Delonte West reached 10,000 minutes, 3,000 field goals attempted and 1,000 rebounds.
Mo Williams reached 14,000 minutes, 5,000 field goals attempted, 1,000 free-throws attempted, 2,000 assists, 1,000 turnovers and 6,000 points.

*Spent the entire NBA Career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, until reach these Milestones.

Team Milestones

On December 30, the Cavs reached 3,200 regular seasons games, against the Atlanta Hawks.
On February 4, the Cavs reached 1,500 regular seasons victories against the Miami Heat.
On April 14, the Cavs reached 1,800 combined regular and post-seasons defeats, against the Atlanta Hawks
On May 7, the Cavs reached 70 post-season wins, against the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers reached 30 playoff series, against the Boston Celtics.

Injuries, Surgeries, and Absences

Leon Powe – Knee surgery (before arriving Cleveland)
Jamario Moon – Abdominal (Side) Injury
Mo Williams – Left Shoulder Injury
Anderson Varejão – Left Hamstring Injury
Shaquille O'Neal – Right Thumb Surgery
LeBron James – Right Elbow Injury

Transactions

Free agents

Additions

Date	Player	Signed	Former Team
July 13, [2009](2009-10-nba-season)	Anthony Parker	Free agent	Toronto Raptors
July 17, [2009](2009-10-nba-season)	Jamario Moon	Free agent	Miami Heat
August 12, [2009](2009-10-nba-season)	Leon Powe	Free agent	Boston Celtics
October 22, [2009](2009-10-nba-season)	Coby Karl	Free agent	Joventut Badalona

Subtractions

Date	Player	Reason Left	New Team
August 25, [2009](2009-10-nba-season)	Tarence Kinsey	Free agent	Fenerbahçe Ülker
March 23, [2010](2009-10-nba-season)	Darnell Jackson	Waived	Milwaukee Bucks

Trades

February 17, [2010](2009-10-nba-season)	To Cleveland Cavaliers----	To Los Angeles Clippers----

On February 17, the Cavaliers completed a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers, acquiring Antawn Jamison from Washington and Sebastian Telfair from L.A. The Cavs sent Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Wizards, plus a first round draft pick in 2010 and the rights to Emir Preldžić.

On March 23, the Cavaliers re-signed Ilgauskas for the remainder of the season after his contract was bought out by the Wizards. The Cavaliers also waived Darnell Jackson to make room on the roster.

References

"Offensive Rating". [[NBA.com]].
"2010 NBA Playoffs Series Prices". Sports Odds History.
Stein, Marc. (February 18, 2010). "Jamison goes from Wiz to Cavs=ESPN".
(March 23, 2010). "Ilgauskas signs with Cavs".
nba.com

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