Jersey Girl

Finally! The CAVS played a playoff game that actually had me interested and really into the game. I don't know why it has take so long, they have won 7 post season games now, all of them close, but I haven't gotten that excited until last night. I know the Wizards series they were supposed to win easily so that accounts for my disinterest there. and I was definitely looking forward to the second round, but even in those first 3 games my heart wasn't into it. I guess I needed them to lose Saturday to add some pressure to last night's game.

Now the first thing on my mind last night in the CAVS 87-85 victory was how in the world were they letting Mikki (Mike-E) Moore (25 points) look like he was Wilt Chamberlain inside? I know that he was getting the wide open shots in the paint because of the need to double team Vince Carter, (who had 9 assist most of them to Moore), but at halftime this problem should have been corrected. He's got a good enough jumper without giving him clean dunks.

Beyond Mikki Moore the CAVS continued to play outstanding defense Hell, the only other bad part of their D was when they kept giving offensive fouls at the end of the game allowing New Jersey to shoot free throws without facing the D and without time running off the clock. This drove me nuts, however nut as nuts as the stupid “Tyler Perry's House of Payne” commercials which run during every single timeout. I read in the PD that without MM's 25 points the Nets were 16 of 61 from the field for 26.2%. I'd say that's good defense.

Now the other issue that stuck out last night, which I'm sure Skip Bayless is whining about as I write this, was LeBron's performance at the end of the game. Was he clutch at the end of the game? Certainly not. He missed shots and more importantly free throws. Yet, the fact that people will consider last night a bad game for Bron Bron is only a testament to his ability. He had 30 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists, if that's a bad night, what would his averages look like if he had all good nights? He may not have been on in the 4^th but they certainly aren't even in the game if it wasn't for his play in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters. He had a slow 1^st period, but wasn't shooting so how could he score? The 10 for 15 from the line is one of those things we'll just have to live with. But how about the now look pass from the corner into Z for the easy dunk? A pass so sweet, LBJ was already running up court before the ball got to Z, knowing the outcome.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but appears the CAVS will move on the the Eastern Conference Finals. This is the “next step” that Owner Dan Gilbert, and most of the team have been talking about all season. To me this is not the next step, the next step is beating the team that knocked them out last year in 7 games, the Detroit Pistons. This will be the real measure of where the CAVS stand as a franchise. They were within a rebound of closing out the series in 6 games, before losing in 7. Most say Motown has a better team this year without Big Ben Wallace, having added Chris Weber. But I believe the Cavaliers are also a better team. They have basically the same team, but now have playoff experience, a health Larry Hughes, an Ilgauskas who is playing in rhythm, an improved Anderson Varejao, and a much better defense. And we all know what wins championships...