Since the beginning of the new year, all of the talk around town has been complaining about football teams. If it’s not the Browns needs and whether or not Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel are the people to lead the team out of the muck, then it’s what went wrong in the BCS Championship game for the Buckeyes. Quietly, the Cleveland Cavaliers have put together an impressive stretch of basketball, winning six of seven, including four road victories. They currently have the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers started out their West Coast swing with wins over Sacramento and the LA Clippers sandwiching a blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns. Once again, after five straight wins, the loss to the Suns was overblown. First, Phoenix is a tough matchup for any team because they play a different style than almost every NBA team. My biggest reaction to the game was disbelief that LeBron James scored 14 points in the 4th quarter. Why?
The wine and gold was losing 91-59 going into the last period. With the extended minutes James had been playing in the win streak, and the fact the Cavs are on a seven game road trip which spans two weeks and culminates with a four games in five nights stretch this week, why was he in the game? Mike Brown should have sat LBJ for the entire quarter. What’s the difference if you lose 109-91 (the final score) or 110-70? There was no reason for James to play six extra minutes.
As for those who say the Cavs would have no chance against Phoenix if they met them in The Finals, I would say playoff basketball is much different than the regular season. The coaching staff would pour through the tapes to see what the Cavs could do to combat the up and down style of the Suns. In the regular season, coaches emphasize what their team does well. In the playoffs, you try to take advantage of your opponents weaknesses more often. I’m not predicting the Cavs would win in a series against Phoenix, but every game would not be a 30 point Phoenix blowout.
David Wesley has seen action in the last three games, and the only reason I can fathom is the Cavs are showcasing him. He might be attractive as a throw in to balance salary in a bigger trade, since he has no value otherwise. There was a rumor that the Cavs and Clippers were talking about a deal for Corey Maggette, with the wine and gold dealing Sasha Pavlovic (who started against the Clips Saturday, supposedly because Larry Hughes’ leg was bothering him) and Wesley and a future first round pick. That has to be the only reason the team has knocked the rust off of the veteran Wesley.
A split in the final for games would mean a very successful 4-3 record on the trip, which would bring the club’s overall record to 25-15. They would also have played four more road games than home games for the season. Continued good play and a trade for a point guard (Steve Blake, perhaps?) would put the Cavaliers in an excellent position for a division title and home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, at least. Too bad everyone is concerned about the Browns to notice.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 