The Cleveland Cavaliers went and did what I didn’t think they could do. They won at Washington last night to avoid a Game 7 match up with the Wizards, and now will go to Detroit to take on the Pistons in the second round of the NBA playoffs. I thought the wine and gold would get this far, but after the win in overtime on Wednesday, I figured the series would go the distance.
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a player who has not appeared in the entire game, come off the bench to make a game winning shot. Damon Jones can’t play a lick of defense, but he can stroke the "j", so the Cavs are going to the Palace tomorrow afternoon.
I don’t expect Cleveland to win this series, but it will give them added experience for the future. Also, the Pistons will thug them up, so Mike Brown’s crew will realize they need to get tougher to advance in the post season.
By the way, it would be nice for Zydrunas Ilgauskas to show up for this series. I am a big Z supporter, but his offense will be needed by the wine and gold in this series. It will be interesting to see if Brown decides to play up tempo with Detroit since the Cavs do not match up well in a half court game. The James Gang’s best bet might be to push the ball at every opportunity.
Cleveland needs to stand up and not let the Wallace boys kick sand in their collective faces. In the last three games against the Pistons, Detroit didn’t take the Cavs seriously. They need to wipe that stupid grin on Rasheed’s face when he clubs a Cav, or gets clubbed.
The Cavs won their first playoff series since 1993 last night. That’s a good first step to winning the title, and also to keeping LeBron James here in Cleveland for a long time to come.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 