Hello from the Q.  It’s about five minutes before tipoff and there’s some extra energy in the building already.  But I can tell you that it is nowhere near the level of excitement before Game 1 last year.  Perhaps that is natural, not only is this series have a lower profile, but the fans are preparing for a longer run.  Nonetheless, there’s a difference.

Here’s what to watch for early in the game:

1. Will LeBron attack?  I expect the Wizards to use Jarvis Hayes, in his first playoff game, on him.  He needs to take advantage and test him early.
2. How do Antonio Daniels and DeShawn Stevenson start?  The Cavs have all sorts of trouble with AD and Stevenson is very streaky.  I expect Antawn Jamison to play well all series.  But the Wizards have no chance without these two guys playing very well.
3. Will Big Z get off to a good start?  The Cavs will go to Zydrunas Ilgauskas often early, if he plays well it will set the tone.
4.  Who has more energy?  The Cavs have come out flat in games like these before.  Putting the Wizards down early on the road could set the tone for a blowout.  Let them say in it and it could get interesting.

I will be updating after each quarter.  Feel free to e-mail me at bwindhorst@thebeaconjournal.com and I may use some comments/questions.

Cavaliers-Wizards, 12:30 EDT.  I will be live blogging during the game, please return early and often.  Oh, and I’d love to post some of your clean but certainly witty comments during the game.  Fire them in to me as we go.  Cheers!

–I’ve tried to build a persona as your friendly neighborhood realist over my career, yet I’ve been cracked as being too negative of late.  So today, I put on the rosy glasses and patted the Cavs on the head for everything they’ve done this season.  Drink it in and savor for the moment.

–Speaking of optimism, or at least searching for it, the Wizards are attempting to draw confidence from the fact that they were competitive in the last nine games without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, even though they were just 2-7.  Such as, they only lost at home to the Cavs by five points.  I firmly believe they will be competitive and may win a game in this series.  Their win in Indy the other night was gutty and they are a gutty team.  But, slipping back on the realist suit, if the Wizards are saying they are confident they’ll be competitive, what are they really saying?

–ESPN’s Chris Sheridan taught me how to flush my toilet in Japan last summer and, for that, I am forever grateful.  He’s also taught me a lot about my profession.  However, this was the first year he got to vote for the NBA Annual Awards and now I need to give him some guidance.  He voted for Tracy McGrady as a forward (not that I’m a Duke fan, but Shane Battier is the small forward in H-town) and put Dirk Nowitzki on his All-NBA Team as a center.

–The D.C. Sports Bog (yes, it’s Bog and you have to ask Ralph Friedgen why) wants a fight.  OK, Steinberg, we’ll fight.  Now, he’s all over most things that go on in D.C., but I find no reporting today of the Great D.C. Nugathon of ‘07.  According to my Washington Post sources, and Steinberg they are extensive, two Post sports staffers squared off at 2 a.m. at McDonald’s this morning in central D.C. and started ordering 20 pieces.  Bet this made Shannon Brown happy.  Anyway, with the score tied 56-56, I am told, the eventual winner declared: "Watch me eat these nuggets, sucka" and roared ahead to a 79-68 nugget victory.  That’s 3,318 calories to 2,856 calories.  The names have been spared, but I think it tells exactly what we’re telling with in this Post-Beacon Journal blog war.  The first salvo goes to me.

–If you all get bored, you catch catch me tonight on Cleveland Rants, listen tomorrow from 9-noon on ESPN 850, and view Channel 3’s Sports Tonight on Sunday.   

I will be the first to admit, I didn’t foresee the Cavs falling into the position they did tonight.  I had been so impressed with the way the Bulls had been taking care of their business and frankly, I wasn’t sure karma was on the Cavs side.  But they had the easier final game, which is what it came down to, and it played out that way.  The Bulls do not deserve to be No. 5 and neither did the Cavs, but everybody knew the score for a long time.

Plus getting the banged up Wizards in the first round is a double bonus for the team, which will be much discussed in the coming days.

I still think the Cavs underachieved during the regular season and, to a man, those in the organization would agree.  But their position in the playoffs, No. 2, is a significant achievement.  So are two 50-win seasons.  Only five teams in the league — Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Detroit and the Cavs — have done it over the last two years.  Does that make the Cavs an elite team?  Perhaps.  Will a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals?  Indeed.

In the end, the Cavs had a chance and they took advantage.  Now they have a great chance for a playoff run.  Will they take advantage?  It is yet to be seen.

What I will remember from tonight was being in the locker room after the game.  It was surreal and bizarre.  The players were openly cheering for the Nets, especially LeBron "It doesn’t matter who we play" James.  He was antsy and acting as if he was on the Jersey bench.

When Ben Wallace made a layup he chirped: "You gotta foul that guy, man!"
When Ben Gordon was backing down Vince Carter he pleaded: "Stay home, Vince, stay home baby!"
The best was when Bostjan Nachbar drilled two 3-pointers, LeBron was like:  "Buh, buh, buh, Bostjan!" and "That was an eyeball sammich."

Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, and Daniel Gibson were all at their lockers watching but the rest of the team was in the trainer’s room.  After each Nets’ big basket, you could hear an audible roar from behind the wall.   Next door to the locker room is the Cavs family lounge and everyone was packed in there and going through the same emotions.

It was the definition of not having control, yet still quite intense.  The Cavs had just won a key game, their fourth straight, got their 50th win, broke a franchise attendance record and it could’ve easily turned very hollow very fast with the massive difference between No. 2 and No. 5.

I remember two years ago in Toronto when the Cavs beat up the Raptors to finish with their first winning season in seven years on the last night of the season.  They tied for the eighth playoff seed at 42-40 (which would be sixth this year) with the Nets and lost on a tiebreaker when the Nets came back to beat the Celtics in the fourth quarter.  The locker room was dead.  Tonight it was wired and alive, just like the Cavs themselves.

Colleague Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News said this to me today:

"Today is the biggest game for the Bulls since Game 6 of the 1998 Finals."

Perhaps, although the pivotal Game 5 of their series with the Heat last season was pretty large as well.  Nonetheless, as I prepare to leave for tonight’s game against the Bucks at the Q, I have a feeling it could be one of the weirdest nights in recent team history.  All expect the Cavs to smash the seriously depleted Bucks (and if they don’t, wow, is there going to be a nasty blog entry) and then may have to wait 30-45 minutes to see if it will be Miami, Washington or the Orlando Magic coming this weekend.

If it is a close game in Jersey with the Bulls and Nets, which I think it will be, I can only imagine the sights and sounds coming within the arena and the locker room as all twist and turn with destiny out of hands.  Ohhhh, could be wicked good fun to watch…and relate to you, of course.

It’s the difference between being matched with the Wizards or Magic and then potentially the Toronto Raptors in the second round with homecourt advantage vs. being on the same side of the bracket as the Heat and Pistons.  Not to overstate things, but whether this season is a success or failure very well could be determined tonight and everybody knows it.

My predition: I decided last Friday when I saw Ben Wallace hit an off-balance 18-foot jumper that this is the Bulls year.  Everything has been going their way.

However, some think there will be a conspiracy for the Cavs to get the No. 2 seed (thanks to Henry at Truehoop for the link).

Meanwhile, Bill Simmons votes Larry Hughes the 297th best player in the NBA and instructs me to start on a book.  Between you and me, blog readers, there may indeed be a LeBron/Cavs book coming and well before 2010.  Around about late 2007?  We’ll see, I’ll have to check with Terry Pluto, who was kind enough to go back to his roots and cover the Cavs game in Philly for me last night.

This morning I submitted by annual awards ballot to the NBA office.  As has been my custom in the past, I am posting my votes.  Many voters keep theirs secret, but I am voting on behalf of the fans and I shouldn’t be if I’m not willing to share.

I don’t get a vote on every award, the NBA selects who votes on what, but I did have an MVP and Rookie of the Year vote.

Here it is:

Most Valuable Player

1. Steve Nash, Suns
2. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs
3. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
4. LeBron James, Cavs
5. Tim Duncan, Spurs

I know this is Dirk’s year and he’s probably going to win it.  Unlike other awards, the NBA does not give criteria for how this honor should be judged.  It is simply for the "most valuable player." I firmly believe, as I did two years ago, that Nash is that player.  His stats are fantastic, of course, but his contribution to the Suns style of play and success in unquestioned and he seems to only get better.  I wrestled whether to put LeBron fourth, fifth or off the ballot.  I put him ahead of Duncan because Duncan is not on my first team All-League as you’ll see below.  I also gave serious consideration to Tracy McGrady as well.

Last year (you can see that ballot here) I gave LeBron my first place vote.  I thought this would be the year he’d win it, but he turned out not to be close.  I suspect after finishing second last year, LeBron will be totally left off lots of ballots this year.  We’ll see if that motivates him.

Rookie of the Year

1. Brandon Roy, Blazers
2. Andrea Bargnani, Raptors
3. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies

Sort of a no-brainer.  Roy impressed me a great deal in summer league last year and again when I saw him in person this season.  He was great when the Blazers smashed the Cavs in Portland in January.  Also, I think Rudy Gay has great upside and he didn’t get much notice this year because he was on the worst team in the league.

Most Improved Player

1. Al Jefferson, Celtics
2. Monta Ellis, Warriors
3. Sasha Pavlovic, Cavs

This will get the most debate, there’s probably about a dozen players who deserve a vote.  I think Jefferson is on his way to being a beast and a future All-Star with Dwight Howard in the East.  I thought about Luol Deng with my third place vote, but decided to go with Sasha because no one else will vote for him and I think he’s deserving.  In my opinion, Kevin Martin of Sacramento, who may win it, actually made his big jump last season, not this year.  I also considered voting for Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets, who I predict will have a massive year next year even though, like Martin, he made his major strides this season.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Bruce Bowen, Spurs
2. Ben Wallace, Bulls
3. Marcus Camby, Nuggets

I am voting for Bowen and Wallace largely for their body of work.  Bowen is due to win it, Wallace took a bit of a step back overall this season.  I love Ruben Patterson of the Bucks as a defender, I am high on Greg Buckner of the Mavs, and was impressed this season by Ime Udoka of the Blazers among others.  But none bump out these top three I don’t think.

All-NBA Teams

First team

G - Steve Nash, Suns
G - Kobe Bryant, Lakers
C - Shaquille O’Neal, Heat
F - Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs
F - LeBron James, Cavs

Only tough call was at center, but I give Shaq credit for lifting the Heat when Dwyane Wade went down.  LeBron had a bit of a down year compared to last season, but he’s the best small forward in the game.

Second team

G - Dwyane Wade, Heat
G - Tracy McGrady, Rockets
C - Yao Ming, Rockets
F - Carlos Boozer, Jazz
F - Tim Duncan, Spurs

I debated between Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh for second team, but tilted it when I considered overall conference toughness.

Third Team

G - Gilbert Arenas, Wizards
G - Chauncey Billups, Pistons
C - Amare Stoudemire, Suns
F - Chris Bosh, Raptors
F - Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves

Last year I left off Arenas in favor of Vince Carter.  I did the opposite this year.  Also, I was upset at Garnett last year because it appeared as if he’d quit on his team down the stretch and left him off.  It will foolish to do so and I will not make the same mistake this year.  He made it over Josh Howard.

I regret not finding a place for Luol Deng of the Bulls, who may make it next year.  I also really wanted to get Deron Williams on there.  I’m super high on that guy, he’s going to be a regular All-Star starting perhaps next year.  Also couldn’t get Shawn Marion on, he’s deserving as well.

Also, there’s no Allen Iverson.  He did what he had to do, but I don’t like players demanding trades.  Even if that was what the 76ers wanted.  I held a grudge against Carter on this for awhile.

pa·thet·ic    /pəˈθɛtɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciati[puh-thet-ik] adj. — - Show I 

But enough about the Atlanta Hawks.

–Mike Brown sat down the whole game Saturday.  He never sits down, he always stands.  I think that tells you what he thought of the task at hand.
–You may have noticed LeBron James just taking a small little hop on his long-range jumpers.  LeBron has been working on this at practice over the last few weeks.  And he’s been pouring in the extra shooting practice. Seriously, he often is the last guy to leave practice.  I think you may see him go to this style when he has room to shoot, which often happens because teams sag off him encouraging him to do so.  All just band aids.  LeBron’s jump shot form often changes within games, which is one of the reasons he isn’t a great shooter.
–The Cavs did their best to downplay some new post plays they put in during extra practices this week.  It was easy to get lost in the blowout on Saturday, but the Cavs called middle post ups on four or their first six or so halfcourt plays.  These deep posts to the big men and backdoor plays were part of the offense in the preseason that disappeared a month or so in.  The Cavs are going back to them now.  Again, not sure it will last. 
–It is hard to evaluate anything that happened last night, so focus on trends.  Such as Zydrunas Ilgauskas has made 26 of his last 41 shots.  The defense has allowed 86 points a game over the last 6.  There are other positive indicators as well.   The Cavs have generally been playing well since they lost in Boston.  The loss to the Heat was due to bad game management and the loss to Detroit wasn’t bad.  Still, though, I’m not sure it will save them.
–Luke Jackson is back, he signed a two-year deal with the Raptors yesterday after a successful 10-day stint.
–Speaking of back, the other night Ilgauskas was walking down the hallway at the Q in his bare feet before the game.  Two things here, in his bare feet Z isn’t a millimeter over 7-foot-2.  Secondly, it was one of those little reminders of how Z’s moved past all those foot problems.  He still takes all sorts of precautions, including a 15-minute ice down after every single workout — now, think about that, 90-100 games, probably around a 100 practices and shootarounds, we’re talking ice by the tonage.   Take your shots at the big guy, but he’s carved out an amazing career following those foot problems.
–I decided Friday night when I saw Ben Wallace make an 18-foot jumper that the Bulls will not lose again in the regular season.  Today, they killed the Wizards.  Cavs fans, prepare for the Heat.

A NOTE: As an FYI, I will be guest hosting Tony Rizzo’s show Monday from 10-noon on ESPN 850.

Some video breakdown will be required to confirm this, but I think LeBron James scored three baskets out of deep post plays in the Cavs’ win over the Nets tonight.  That isn’t many in the grand scheme, but it made such a major difference in the Cavs’ offense in the second half.  Not only did it make James unstoppable for a period there, it opened up the rest of the scheme.

It doesn’t have to work 10 times a night, three times is enough.  The ability to go to that play, especially in the middle of the lane — which I honestly have not seen run so effectively since the preseason — gives the Cavs another option and the opposition another worry.   As a I mentioned in the linked story, just having James post on the block and not 20 feet from the basket creates problems for the defense.  It totally messed up the Nets, who had been doing a great job of defending the lane in the first half and all the Cavs did in the third quarter was attack the rim for and-one plays.  Plus, of course, LeBron is unstoppable around the rim.  Give him post position too and it’s game over.

Who knows if this strategy will last or even continue to work (once bitten, twice shy after I praised the new offensive system in October), but willingness to go to these plays could totally change how the Cavs operate in halfcourt sets in the postseason.  Or not, we’ll see.

Other stuff:

–What you saw tonight was partly due to what amounted to a mini-camp this week.  The Cavs got a day off, then two days of practice and a shootaround.  That is honestly the most time they’ve had to work on stuff since January.  There’s no doubt this contributed to the cleaner game tonight.
–Though I still think the offense is the story of the night, it was the fifth straight game I thought the Cavs gave a solid defensive effort.  Even in the losses to the Heat and Pistons, the defense was pretty good.  Tossing out the overtime scoring to the Heat, the Cavs have held opponents to 85.6 points per game over the last five.  Look, the offense is going to come and go, that has been painfully clear.  The Cavs are at their best when the defense shows up every night and slowly that is coming around after a really bad spell.
–In my opinion the best play LeBron made all night happened without the ball.  Right at the end of the first quarter the Cavs pulled off a home run play — possibly something cooked up in practice recently since I’ve ever seen this before from them — after the Nets made a free throw with 1.2 seconds left.  First off, Eric Snow threw a great long pass.  But instead of catching and then having to rush a jumper, LeBron let the ball bounce so the clock wouldn’t start.   He judged the angle and skip perfectly and picked the ball up and dunked it ahead of the buzzer.  It was an innate/instinct play that was easy to overlook but I thought was superior.
–In the first half Boki Nachbar totally flopped and got a charge call against Anderson Varejao.  Now, from what I’ve seen over three years Varejao never thinks he commits a foul.  He’s like Bill Laimbeer in that regard, he’ll protest or give a shocked look at about every whistle.  But didn’t say a word after that call.  Protesting would, after all, be bad for business.

Auburn Hills, Mich. — A few weeks ago I was talking to an executive from an Eastern Conference team on the phone and he asked me: "Why does LeBron stand out on top of the the key and dribble so much?  You know, that’s exactly what we all want him to do."  This, of course, is a subject that has been bandied about here and in many other forums over the last few years.  But it is, after all, a simple question.

I was thinking about it today when I was watching the Cavs’ last three possessions as LeBron was dribbling and his teammates were all standing and looking at him, or running around him trying to figure out how to set a pick.   The Pistons (the victors of this afternoon’s affair) were all watching him too, heck half of them were guarding him.  I’m sure other plays are called, but no matter what happens in crunch time LeBron always seems to have that ball by himself far away from the basket with defenders everywhere.   It usually doesn’t work.   It so obviously doesn’t work that every team in the NBA knows it celebrates when they get the Cavs to try to make it work.

Twice this year I’ve had players say to me that it wouldn’t matter if the Cavs had a great point guard if LeBron ended up with the ball isolated at the top of the key in pressure situations.  Not that LeBron is a selfish player.  But without a trusty jump shot and with teammates that don’t seem to want to do anything but watch, it always turns to a at least a 1-on-2 ordeal, often 1-on-3.  I’ve had GMs, scouts and coaches from other teams tell me it seems like the Cavs stop running their plays when LeBron gets the ball late in games.

So, after seeing LeBron jack up a terrible 3 and then throw a desperation pass to Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a missed 20-footer at the end of the shot clock in the two most important possessions of the game today, it led me to wonder.  Why does LeBron have to be the one getting the ball all the time there?  Why can’t LeBron move without the ball so the defenses can’t set up against him.  Why can’t he force double teams away from where the ball actually is so the Cavs can gain an advantage?  Why can’t someone else set up the final play if LeBron can’t get it done because the defenses won’t let him or he can’t pull off the clutch play?

So here we come to Sasha Pavlovic.  To me, the entire second half of the Cavs season has been about Sasha.  The Cavs didn’t make a formal announcement or anything, but back in February they pretty much figured out their team wasn’t working too well.  So they decided to go young, so at least they were developing while they were underachieving.  It was then Daniel Gibson, Pavlovic and Andy Varejao got minutes increases.  It was then Damon Jones stopped playing and Eric Snow’s and Donyell Marshall’s minutes were cut.  It was then Sasha started to blossom and now he looks as if he’s got the brightest future on the team outside of No. 23.

Sasha has played very well for more than two months now.  He had a little hiccup when he got sick and was in about a weeklong slump in March, but he pretty much shows up every night.  At this time, he is a better 3-point shooter than LeBron.  He’s also a better free-throw shooter.  And after LeBron’s great talent, he’s the second best driver and finisher the Cavs have.  Plus he has the massive advantage of not having to play against two and three players at a time.

Sunday, Sasha scored 11 points on the first half.  He got two shots in the second half.  Against Miami the other night, he had 12 points in the first quarter and only got four shots the rest of the game.  This happens often, Sasha gets forgotten even though he’s astoundingly efficient.  Over the last six weeks, he’s averaged 12.5 points on just over nine shot attempts per game.  That’s insane.  Sunday he had 14 points on nine shots.  He can finish with either hand around the basket, he can pull up and he can spot up.  Not to mention, he’s one of LeBron’s favorite players.

So I am left to wonder.  Why not give Sasha a chance to create in these tight games the Cavs seem to be losing at a shocking pace?  Instead of having LeBron dribble, why not set up a play for Sasha and see if LeBron can get open away from the ball.  Or why not see how Sasha handles himself in the clutch.  Surely he commits bad turnovers, but an aggressive turnover any better than a wild 25-footer over a double team.  I know it is cliche, but why not put LeBron in a better position to be successful and Sasha as well?  Maybe it will fail, but what’s going on now is broken and everybody can see it.  They just can’t, apparently, see No. 3.

That’s all.

If you’ve got some time, Andy talked to me about his upcoming contract situation and I broke it down here.  A lot more to be written about it this summer.  Also, the Detroit News worked up a pretty good piece on the plight of former Cav Robert Traylor, a guy who has never seemed to avoid shady money dealings and now is headed to prison for it.  Incidentally, in the year I got to know Tractor I found him to be a warm and engaging guy who really took care of a lot of people in his life.  Too many, as it seems, and with poor judgment.

Washington — After getting on Mike Brown for some issues Thursday night, I felt it was important to give him credit last night in the win over the Wizards.  Surely it should’ve been an easier win than it was, but  right now the sickly Cavs need anything they can get.

–When Brown put Ira Newble in for Eric Snow with six minutes left I was a little puzzled.  Snow had just made two big plays, a driving layup and a steal, and I wondered about it.  Eric certainly wasn’t pleased, he stalked over to the end of the bench and shot a glare down to the coaching staff.  But after Antawn Jamison had stopped scoring in the second half, Eddie Jordan pushed him to small forward, had Darius Songalia at the 4 and Etan Thomas at 5 and the matchups weren’t working.  So Mike made the move to Ira, who delivered at both ends.  It directly helped the Cavs win the game and for that the head coach deserves credit.
–There were still way to many jumpers cast up by the Cavs (Larry Hughes is 8-of-20 the last two games, ahem, "All roads…") but they did drive late and they did make their foul shots.  LeBron especially put ups some bad shots especially considering he knew by the fourth quarter his jumper was off.
–The Wizards cannot win when they don’t play their style of ball.  They cannot win a game played in the 80s or 90s and they couldn’t do it with their full lineup (5-20 when scoring under 100).  This is why they will never be a serious playoff threat regardless of their health.
–No seems to be noticing, but Zydrunas Ilgauskas has really played well over the last month.  He needs to redeem himself in the playoffs after last year.  Also, Z said before the game that he’s 7-foot-2.  He’s always been listed at 7-3.  Hmmmm.
–Scot Pollard should get at least a few minutes every game, if not for anything else he’s a good changeup.  The Cavs have a good front line, but they are a little bit soft up there.  Varejao and Gooden are strong players, but Pollard is rougher than both of them.
–Finally, here’s two things I’ve learned on the road over the years that is in full effect on holiday weekends.  When the average once or twice a year flyer gets to the airport, their IQ drops by 50 points.  Seriously, I’ve never seen so many people mindlessly walking around.  Also, take this tip: always, always, always lock and bolt your door in your hotel room.  These hotel employees come walking in all day long.  It happens in every city.  Why do they always need to be coming into these rooms?  You’ve cleaned it, leave me alone!