Nice to get an easy one

After an average margin of less than 3 points in their previous 7 games, it was nice for the Cavaliers to get an easy one last night against the Timberwolves. They won their 6th straight overall and pushed their record at home to 18-3 with a 14-point win. They have won 16 of their last 17 in the friendly confines of the Q.

It's not often that LeBron James will be your 6th leading scorer, but such was the case last night as the King only attempted 8 shots in just 30 minutes of action. That was still enough time to put together a tidy stat line of 12 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds. Player of the game honors went to JJ Hickson for his career-high 23 points and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes. His +17 for the game was a nice turnaround from his atrocious -17 he put together just two nights before in Miami. But that's what you get with JJ - wild inconsistency. Shaq also put together his 6th straight game in double figures and Jamario Moon chipped in 14 off the bench.

In my boredom on a snowy Thursday morning I put together some numbers below to see which category most affects Cavalier wins. Most astounding to me is the fact that we have had less turnovers than our opponents in only 25% of our games, yet still have the league's best record. If they can clean that up and improve the FT shooting, last year's mark of 66 wins might still be attainable. Stay tuned.

	Wins	Losses	Frequency	Win Pct	% of Total Wins
More Assists	30	1	66.0%	0.968	0.833
More Rebs	26	9	74.5%	0.743	0.722
More Blocks	25	7	68.1%	0.781	0.694
More 3PM	22	7	61.7%	0.759	0.611
More FTA	21	3	51.1%	0.875	0.583
More FTM	20	3	48.9%	0.870	0.556
More Steals	19	1	42.6%	0.950	0.528
Less Fouls	15	4	40.4%	0.789	0.417
Less TO	11	1	25.5%	0.917	0.306

The records keep falling

I'm running out of superlatives to use for the Cavaliers. It has truly been a magical season so far and I'm hoping the ride doesn't end until somewhere around June 18th (the last possible day for the Finals to end). They finished up another outstanding weekend with two more easy wins at the Q. The first was on Friday night with a 107-85 dispatching (highlights) of the Timberwolves. Then they followed that up yesterday afternoon with a 102-74 thumping (highlights) of the Dallas Mavericks. In the process they notched their 12th straight victory (yet another franchise record) and their 60th win.

The recipe for the final 9 games: wins & rest for everyone

They were outscored 30-20 by the Mavericks in the first quarter and it honestly would have been worse if not for a buzzer-beating three-pointer by of all people, Joe Smith. After sleepwalking through that slow start, the Cavs really poured it on in fashion that was reminiscent of all the early season drubbings they were handing out at the Q. They outscored the Mavericks 82-44 the rest of the way and sprinted to another fun win. It was almost too fun, aside from a couple of scares in which LeBron was left crumpled in a heap on the floor. The first came on a vicious dunk in the 2nd quarter in which he was slightly undercut and took a hard spill. The second came in the third quarter when he plowed into a referee as he was racing back down the court on defense. These are the type of tense moments we really don't need with just nine games left before the playoffs start.

The goal from here on out should be to protect the #1 overall seed for the playoffs, but to do so with caution. We don't need any injuries to derail such a great season so far. The team now has a firmer grasp of home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs, thanks to the Lakers slipping yesterday in Atlanta. So the margin for error is a little greater, and hopefully so too is the opportunity to rest some key players. Most of the starters were able to rest for almost the entire 4th quarter yesterday afternoon. Let's hope that's a trend that is able to continue. The guys hit the hardwood again tomorrow night when the once-mighty Pistons pay a visit to the Q, in what could possibly be a preview of the 1 vs. 8 matchup in the playoffs. Go Cavs.

Streaking to another record?

The Cavaliers extended their latest winning streak to 10 with a 98-87 win (highlights) over the Nets at the Q on Wednesday night. The win also gave them a franchise-best 58 wins on the year, with still 11 games yet to be played. I've been saying here for some time that the franchise record for wins was just a mere formality this season, but it is nice to officially get that record out of the way. They now hold a five-game lead over both Boston and Orlando and they have quietly crept ahead of Boston in conference record, an important tiebreaker should the wheels fall off down the stretch. Not that I think that will happen, but it seems like only a couple of weeks ago it was a foregone conclusion that we had already lost that tiebreaker to the Celtics.

LBJ flexed his muscles with a 22/8/11 line Wednesday night

Wednesday's win wasn't a thing of beauty by any stretch of the imagination. The Cavs let the Nets hang around for far too long and only finished them off with a 17-5 run in the final four minutes of the game after New Jersey actually took the lead. But I'm not really complaining - at this point of the season, wins are wins. And the Cavs need to keep piling them up because it looks like the Lakers aren't going to cooperate and lose one for us. We still hold a razor-thin one-game lead over LA for the best record in the NBA and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The good guys take the court again tonight at the Q vs. the Timberwolves and I'll be in attendance. Hopefully this one will be easy and we can look forward to setting yet another franchise record on Sunday when the Mavericks pay a visit to the Q and they notch their 12th consecutive win. Go Cavs.