Ugly #13

It was ugly, painful, and at times downright annoying. But the Cavaliers slogged their way through a night when they shot just 38% from the floor and still managed to get their 13th consecutive win, a 79-73 triumph (highlights) over the Pistons. In a game that Mike Fratello would be proud of, the Cavs again turned up their defensive pressure when they needed to, allowing only 29 second half points after giving up 44 before halftime.

LBJ could be eyeing Rasheed in the first round this year

The victory gives the Cavs their 61st win of the season, and is even more meaningful when you factor in the Lakers' loss to the Bobcats. The Cavs are now firmly in the driver's seat for home court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 3-game lead over LA with just 8 games to play. Finally the Lakers' lack of road games has caught up to them as they've had to endure a 7-game East coast trip and have dropped two games when they really couldn't afford to do so. I love it. The win also ties all-time record for a division lead, with the Cavs now 25 games ahead of the second-place Pistons. Wow.

Last night's game was a good reminder why it would be entertaining, yet also annoying to be matched up with the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. I have no doubts the Cavs would win the series, likely in 5 games at the most. They are just a superior group of talent right now and they can win in a number of ways. Detroit has no answer for LeBron and when they double- and triple-team LeBron he always finds the open man. I just worry that if it does come down to these two teams in the first round, should we be concerned with how dirty things would get? Rasheed is still a ticking time bomb and the once-proud Pistons would certainly not enjoy being dominated by the Cavs. This is one team I want to avoid for that reason alone. Gimme the Bulls or the Bobcats - teams just happy to share the brief stage in the playoffs without any chip on their shoulder. Only 8 games left until we know who it will be. Go Cavs.

Lots of updates...

First order of business - the Cavaliers got themselves back on track with another blowout win at home, this time a 111-81 drubbing of the Bobcats (highlights). They found their shooting touch again, finishing at a tidy 60% from the floor and 50% from three point range (7-14). When the Cavs shoot like that I don't think there's a team on the planet that can beat them. I found myself at times last night wishing we could bottle that performance up and save it for Friday night. And I have to admit, the Cav Fanatic blue jerseys that they broke out for the game first puzzled me at first glance earlier this week, but then grew on me as the game wore on last night.

Boobie regained his shooting touch on his bobblehead night on Wednesday

So with the easy win the Cavs have now run their home record to a perfect 18-0. That sets things up for Friday night's huge home matchup with the Celtics. Boston has managed to lose 6 of their last 8 games, and with last night's win the Cavs are now the #1 seed in the East, a half-game ahead of Boston, and tied with the Lakers for the best record in the entire NBA. I don't want to get too worked up just 34 games into the season and with still two more matchups with the Celtics left prior to the playoffs... but you can't help but think that Friday night will have a special playoff-type feel to it. And it could go a long way toward deciding the all-important home court advantage this spring... unless you listen to ESPN's John Hollinger's latest predictions where he surmises that, "I don't think seeding will even matter -- because I doubt they'll play a seventh game while storming to the title." If that doesn't give you a couple goosebumps then you're not really a Cleveland fan. More on the big game vs. Boston tomorrow.

Browns Update: Since this is fairly significant news, I'm going to breach my own self-imposed ban of Browns talk to say that Eric Mangini has been hired as head coach of our Browns. All I can think is that I hope I'm not sitting here three years from now describing how Mangini was fired in yet again, another rebuilding phase for this franchise. For the collective sake of all of us, let's hope Rebuild #4 works out. Still no GM, but that's only a minor detail, right?

Tribe Update: As if not wanting to be left out of the sports buzz in Cleveland, the Tribe has also made some noise in the past week. They traded for their third baseman, Mark DeRosa from the Cubs. They also signed free agent pitcher Carl Pavano to a contract. Pavano has a scary injury history and was extremely disappointing in New York so I don't know what to think of him. And DeRosa is by all reports a great clubhouse guy and a solid player. And we didn't have to give Casey Blake a 3-year $11M contract like the Dodgers did. Casey's a great guy and all, but yikes. There are so many financial problems in the MLB today, it's just plain scary.

And if you were wondering, Mark Shapiro is happy his brother-in-law is in town.

Polar opposites

At this exact moment can you think of two sports franchises that are more opposite than the Cavs and Browns? While the Browns continue to flounder through another lost season the Cavaliers are only getting stronger. They extended their impressive run with two more easy wins over the weekend, running their current winning streak to 8 and their overall record to 17-3. On Friday night the Indiana Pacers were the victims of a 97-73 drubbing (highlights) at the Q. Then the Cavs followed it up on Saturday night in Charlotte with a 94-74 thumping (highlights) of the Bobcats. Their routine blowouts of the opposition are reaching historic proportions - the Charlotte victory was the team's 8th straight win by at least 12 points. That ties an NBA record with one team you may recall... the 95-96 Chicago Bulls that finished the year 72-10.

LBJ and the Cavs are soaring to new heights this year

That's not to say the Cavs are going to win 72 this year. I just don't see any reason to push the pedal that hard all year long, especially given their already swelling 5-game lead in the Central division over the Pistons. But with the Celtics at 20-2 and showing no signs of slowing down, the Cavs will likely be pushed all year. Both teams will be gunning for the all-important #1 seed in the East, and home court advantage that goes along with it. So it will be interesting to see just how high the win total can get this year. And to put this season into perspective, when the Cavs finally reached 17 wins last season (not until January 6th) they also already had 17 losses. Buckle your seatbelts Cleveland, we're only a quarter of the way through the regular season and this is going to be a long, enjoyable ride.

Browns Update: As I said, at the opposite end of the sports spectrum you have our Cleveland Browns. Pathetic in every way, now 4-9 after their 28-9 loss in Tennessee. I know that Ken Dorsey is our starting QB now and of course I didn't expect a win over the far superior Titans yesterday. But is it too much to ask for the coaching staff to mix things up a bit? Try something new offensively (before the 4th quarter when the game is out of reach) and make it at least bearable to watch?

Some of my favorite highlights from yesterday's game:

• Jamal Lewis' 7 total rushing yards on 7 carries.
• The Browns' total offense of 178 yards.
• Romeo Crennel's flat-out refusal (or disinterest?) in challenging a close call in which Josh Cribbs actually threw a great pass that Braylon Edwards appeared to catch on the sideline for a long gain in the fourth quarter.
• Crennel's insistence in calling a timeout in the last minute of the game when the Browns were still near midfield and Tennessee just wanted to celebrate winning the AFC South title.
• The Browns then following that timeout up by not even getting a Hail Mary pass off as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The mess of this organization is now visible in virtually every aspect of the game for this team. From the front office, to the coaching staff, to the undisciplined and quitting players (save for a handful of them) this franchise is everything the Cavaliers are not. Let's hope some of this speculation is accurate and we can get some professionalism and control back on this team.