Cavs Re-Writing the Record Books

The milestones keep piling up for this year’s edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Yesterday’s blowout of the Dallas Mavericks marked the team’s first 60-victory season, and it also was a team record 12^th straight triumph.  The public relations people who chronicle the Cavaliers’ record book have had a busy season with rewrites for next year’s media guide.

Despite being down 15 points early in the second quarter (35-20), the wine and gold punished the Mavericks the rest of the way, outscoring them by an amazing 82-39 for the rest of the contest.  And it wasn’t LeBron James who started the comeback.  Veteran Joe Smith, signed as a free agent after buying his way out of his contract with Oklahoma City following Ben Wallace’s broken leg, scored 10 points in the first half to get things going, and wound up with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Even better news was that the Lakers lost to Atlanta, so the Cavs now have a two game lead over Los Angeles for the league’s best record, and more importantly, home court advantage throughout the playoffs. 

While the Cavaliers are piling up wins, and will likely finish the regular season with more than 65 wins, putting them among the elite regular season teams of all time.  To rank among the all time greats, however, the wine and gold must win the title, which is exactly the mantra of the squad’s veteran leaders:  LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. 

Those two know that no matter how many regular season wins the Cavs achieve, it doesn’t mean anything unless they hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy after the last game of the season.  And that’s the proper attitude for this team to have.

The only things to be concerned about with the wine and gold right now are Ben Wallace’s return and how that will affect the playing rotation, and getting Delonte West’s shot back up to snuff.  My guess is that Mike Brown will return Big Ben to the starting lineup when he returns, but Anderson Varajao will continue to get the bulk of the minutes.

As for West, he just has to keep shooting.  I noticed he was getting hesitant with his shot last week, but it looked yesterday like he was looking to put it up when he was open.  I would only be concerned if he starts passing up open looks.  Perhaps taking the ball to the hoop a little more would get him going. 

JK