It was another virtuoso performance by LeBron James last night in the Cavaliers overtime victory over the previously once beaten Boston Celtics at The Q yesterday. The King had his own pair of helpers as Zydrusas Ilgauskas had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Drew Gooden scored 24 points in the 109-104 triumph. The wine and gold have won four straight, and the concern, which swirled around the team after the first week of the season should be subsiding.
Why? Because the Cavs winning record comes despite playing a difficult early schedule. There are currently 15 teams in the NBA with over .500 records. Cleveland has played nine games against those teams. Of the squads thought not to have any chance at the playoffs this season, the Cavaliers have played just three games (New York, Minnesota, and Sacramento). Eventually, the wine and gold will play those teams, and can give their record a boost by collecting wins against the league’s dregs.
Also, the Cavaliers have won five road games in the young season. Only three other squads have won more to this point of the campaign: Orlando, Phoenix, and New Orleans. Winning on the road is an indicator you have a pretty good basketball team. The combination of a difficult schedule and winning on the road means you should be very optimistic about this team, which of course, won the Eastern Conference title last season.
That’s the thing we forget about the Cavaliers, they are the reigning conference champs. And they played like it last night. They played the Celtics to send a message to Boston that you still have to come through Cleveland if you expect to get to The Finals. They showed a swagger that has been missing all season long. Also, it helps to have the best player on the planet. It almost sounds crazy, but he most definitely has improved from a year ago, and he is still just 23 years old. ESPN’s Chris Broussard said it is frightening to see how good LeBron will be in a year or two, because he is clearly the best player in the NBA.
Speaking of frightening, that’s the word to describe the delusion that Anderson Varajao is suffering from. The Wild Thing’s contract demands are ludicrous for someone who averages 6 points and 6 rebounds per game. It would be interesting to see if Varajao would be as effective on a bad team. Some guys are good players on bad teams and can’t adjust if they are on a contender. The same is true for good role players on very good teams. They go to a team that is losing and suddenly they are required to do more than they are capable of. I think Varajao is in that class. If he were dealt to Sacramento, for example, would he be a 15 point, 12 rebound guy? Maybe? Maybe not. Either way, we all will get an opportunity to find out because my guess is he has played his last game with the Cavaliers.
The brutal schedule continues for the wine and gold with a three game road trip to Detroit, Toronto, and Boston, three of the better teams the East has. That makes last night’s win even more important. If and when GM Danny Ferry can get a quality defensive oriented big man to back up Ilgauskas and Gooden, the Cavaliers will take their place in the upper level of NBA teams. In the meantime, I can’t wait to see what #23 has in store for us each and every night.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
i would just as soon see the cavs pickup dale davis to help out on the front line. by the same token, they still need some scoring help off the bench, especially from the point guard spot. wouldn’t earl boykins just fit that role fine and dandy???
They don’t like Boykins and neither do I because he can’t play defense. I definitely like picking up Davis and/or P. J. Brown, though.