Do we focus on the big picture, the little picture, or worry about the offensive flaws the past two games exposed? Perhaps all the above — though when a team sweeps consecutive series and the team's standout appears for his postgame news conference with a Cheshire-cat grin on his face … well … there's not much to worry about.
In order:
—The big picture states that the Cavs swept Atlanta and Detroit in convincing fashion. They won every game by double-figures, never really were threatened and played outstanding defense in both series.
In these eight games the Cavs have held opponents to 78.1 points per game and 39.7 percent shooting. The Cavs outscored the Pistons and Hawks by an average of 16.8 points per game, and limited the two teams to 31.3 percent shooting from three-point range.
That 16.8 margin per game is pretty astounding.
This is called complete domination. And it's a level of sustained excellence that might just be enough to carry the Cavs to their goal.
It's easy for an opposing coach to praise the other team — because it makes him look better after he lost. But Mike Woodson pretty much gushed. He said the Cavs are a legitimate championship team, and said over and over the way they defend and share the ball makes them a special team.
—The little picture states that the Cavs won a pretty ugly Game 4. They did not play their best, especially offensively where it appeared the approach from Saturday carried over. They didn't shoot well, missed a bunch of free throws and were very inconsistent.
Mike Brown knew it. But the fact that that the Cavs won pretty much validates everything he and Danny Ferry have tried to establish in Cleveland, and that is to have a defense-first team.
Because offense can be off, a team can have a bad shooting night — but like Judd in the old days, the defense never rests. It always travels.
This game is summed up in these numbers: The Hawks scored 22 points the first quarter, then scored 16, 19 and 17 points the following three. They shot less than 30 percent the final three quarters.
For the game, the Hawks shot 31.5 percent. That figure is the lowest by an opponent in Cavs playoff history.
Enough said.
—It would seem that Brown should pay some attention to the offense in these days leading to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs did not play fluid on offense these two games.
In Game 3, they got away with it because James carried them. In Game 4, they got away with it because of their defense.
But the offense needs some attention. The Cavs need to get back to ball movement and player movement, because stagnation on offense takes us back to last year, and as the competition gets better the offense must not revert.
I don't think this will be a big problem, but I think it should be addressed in practices and film sessions. And I think Brown will do that.
Quick aside …
Went to dinner Sunday night with three colleagues from other papers at an outstanding Italian place called Veni, Vidi, Vici. Fabulous Italian food; if you're ever in Atlanta, check it out.
At any rate, while dining we noticed that Brown and Ferry were seated at the bar, enjoying dinner. Thinking it'd be a thoughtful gesture, we offered thru the waiter to buy them a drink.
They declined, but sent us one.
Four glasses of milk.
Random thoughts …
—James shot 55.6 percent in the four-game series, the best in a playoff series in his career.
—The Cavs outrebounded Atlanta 48-33 in Game 4 after outrebounding them 46-23 in Game 3. Cleveland outrebounded Atlanta and Detroit in every game of both series.
—The hustle was huge in the final minutes, as Anderson Varejao (11 rebounds, seven offensive) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas both came up with huge offensive rebounds after misses.
—Brown said James' on-court on-the-sideline leadership was huge. No surprise there.
—Four … glasses … of … milk.
—Milk.
—M-i-l-k.
—Milk.
—I'm wondering if Ferry and Brown were on the list of 800 for LeBron's party Saturday, and if so whether they bought him some milk.
—Wally Szczerbiak had a strong game in his 15 minutes. Included was a pump-fake and drive that led to a two-handed slam. On the play, Szczerbiak went through three Hawks.
—At one point, the refs reviewed a Szczerbiak jumper to see if it was a two or three. Z came over to watch over their shoulder from a distance. Two Atlanta police officers came over and told Z to sit down. Apparently they take their replays very seriously in Atlanta.
—The Hawks shot 4-for-17 in the fourth quarter.
—As in Detroit, the game ended with loud cheers from many Cavs fans in attendance. They did not take over the place like they did in Detroit, but they were heard — especially as the game wound down.
—On to Boston or Orlando.
—Wonder how the milk tastes in those cities.
would you have preferred milk of magnesia?