Let's ponder for a moment …

What was Pete Maravich's nickname? Pistol Pete.

What do folks call a guy who shoots a lot? A gunner.

What is a guy who is really ready for a game? Loaded for bear.

What was the nickname of former NBA player Travis Grant? Machine Gun Grant.

What does a quarterback have when he has a strong arm? A gun.

What is a close, high-scoring game? A shootout.

What offense did Jim Kelly run in Buffalo when they lost all those Super Bowls? The K-gun.

What was Tom Heinsohn's nickname? Tommy Gun.

What is a deep pass in football? A bomb.

What is an offense when the quarterback drops back for the snap? The shotgun.

These references happen. They've happened for years, and they'll keep happening. Periodically folks get all weepy and moralistic about it. It usually happens during times of war, when in reality war references as applied to sports are simply out of place.

But in sports, the weapon references are as old as Babe Ruth, and nobody means anything nasty or irreverent or negative by them.

And I don't think Peyton Manning dropping back in the shotgun is condoning any kind of gun violence.

So in this case, I'm going to agree with James when he says that Bryant and he and Nike were not referring to guns in the ad, and that sometimes slang gets interspersed with regular language and twisted.

The timing of Nike's ad is bad, yes.

But this had to have been in the pipeline for weeks.

Nobody could plan that Gilbert Arenas and Jarvis Crittenton would actually … you know … take guns into the locker room. And nobody could predict two months ago when Nike's campaign was being developed that the same week it came out would be the week Crittenton and Arenas were suspended.

I don't particularly like the ad, with its combat theme. I'm glad the city of Cleveland decided not to allow a 10-story poster of it downtown. That seems sensible. This is basketball, not combat.

But there's a difference between not liking it and getting all moralistic over something that was not intended or even present in the ad itself.

A little bit of this high-minded moralism goes a long way.

At this point, it's time for me to shoot on over to YouTube and figure out the weekend music.

Shaquille O'Neal had his way with the Indiana Pacers inside and dominated defensively — including a block of Roy Hibbert in the second half that was near humiliating.

Those were the main plotlines in the Cavs 94-73 win over Indiana on Friday.

The Cavs scored 36 points in the first quarter behind James' nine assists and never looked back. There were times they were sloppy — as 20 turnovers attest — and times they got a little lazy. But anytime the Pacers even threatened to make things a game, James or O'Neal would make a block or a steal or a play to seal the win.

The Cavs two superstars carried the team on a night when the Cavs started fast and then cruised through the rest of the game.

After the game, James was asked about the hullabaloo over a new Nike Ad that features him and Kobe Bryant in scaly body armor.

In the ad, Bryant is quoted saying: "I'll do whatever it takes to win games. I don't leave anything in the chamber."

It caused a mini-star coming on the heels of the suspensions of two Washington Wizards for taking guns into the locker room.

The NBA called the ad inappropriate, and Nike issued this statement: "The Nike print ad featuring Kobe Bryant was intended to illustrate his all out play and commitment on the basketball court. It is a commonly used reference for shooting the basketball and no offense was intended."

At issue is the Gilbert Arenas situation. Arenas and Jarvis Crittenton were suspended for the rest of the season earlier this week after both brought guns into the locker room.

Gun and war references are not uncommon in sports. Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said after the loss that his team didn't have enough bullets in the gun to beat the Cavs. The ad's theme is "Prepare for Combat."

The ads and the reaction all can get a bit silly, but given the Arenas situation, there is a heightened sensitivity to guns, and gun play.

James was asked about the ad.

His comments:

"I think one thing we have to understand is that Kobe did not reference a gun, at all. Slang gets caught up into just regular English. We say a lot of things as basketball players that make a reference into, I don't know, guns or violence, but it's really not guns or violence.

"Kobe said every night I go out, I'm going to give it my all. I'm leaving nothing on the court, I'm going to do everything I've got to do to win basketball games. I'm leaving nothing in the chamber.

"That has nothing to do with guns. Nothing.

"Me being a big Kobe Bryant fan, me being a big supporter of Nike, of course … that has nothing, zero, to do with guns. At all. At all. Zero.

"For somebody even to say that … that's a basketball term. You go on the basketball court, I'm leaving everything on the court, I'm leaving nothing in the chamber.

"That has zero to do about guns.

"To try to highlight Kobe and say that he was representing guns is totally ridiculous."

James' frustration is understandable in many ways. He did nothing wrong, and clearly some of these sensitivities can go a bit far. Nowhere in the ad is there a gun, and nowhere is there a direct reference to a gun.

But … this might be a situation where what matters most isn't what was said, but what people hear. We've all been there (especially we males). We say something we think is innocuous, but it comes across totally different to those listening. So we get in trouble not because of what was said, but because of what was heard.

More than a long time ago, four Miami Dolphins players — including Troy Vincent and Marco Coleman — posed as cowboys, holding rifles and labeling themselves "The Young Guns."

Their plan was to sell the posters — which were quite nice — and donate the proceeds to charity.

But at that time there were drug and gang wars in Miami, and a mini-furor ensued about players posing with guns.

The players all backed out of the plan, and the posters were never sold. Charity wound up losing.

Nobody doubted their intentions, and nobody doubted they meant no harm with their cowboy pose with the guns. It was what people saw and heard more than what they did that mattered. As one of the players back then said: "It's really hard for me to believe that photo caused anyone to be offended." His point of view was not wrong; others just viewed the poster differently.

It will be interesting to see what Nike does with this latest ad (it may do nothing). Earlier, the city of Cleveland turned down making the photo of James into the new downtown poster of James.

Clearly a lot of other phrases could have been (and could be) used. How Nike deals with the fallout of the words it chose will be interesting.

The good thing about the roster is that in the regular season Shaq does not need to play big minutes. Mike Brown can keep him at 20-to-25 per game, because he has depth — and will gain more depth when Leon Powe returns. But if Shaq is needed more, the Cavs can play him more. Which will happen against teams like Orlando, San Antonio and the Lakers.

This is the beauty of the way the Cavs are built. They can put many different lineups on the floor, and feel good about them. Quite frankly Brown deserves credit for the way he's managed all the different lineups. Last I looked the Cavs have the best record in basketball — in a season when it took a fair amount of time for all the parts to come together.

I really feel good about this team, and its postseason chances. Barring injury of course.

But then LeBron James entered the game following his second-period break, and scored on consecutive driving layups.

He then added a dunk on a breakaway as Miami's Dwayne Wade sent James sprawling while trying for the block. James' teammates jumped up and celebrated as if they'd won the lottery. Wade was as high as James on the play, and had his hands above the ball. James muscled his way to the rim and slammed it down with both hands.

That play set off one of the more incredible scoring flurries between two guys a fan can see.

Wade scored 17 of the Heat's final 19 points in the first half, James scored 20 of the Cavs final 22. One would make a shot, the other would match. The crowd seemed stunned by what it was watching, because what it was watching was ultra-special.

The Heat's Michael Beasley called it "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life … I have never seen anything like that live. It was just amazing to watch."

But it was only prelude to an amazing finish — provided by James.

It all started when an eight-foot turnaround jumper he attempted with the Cavs down one was slightly blocked by Wade. The shot went up with  about 27 seconds left, and the Cavs chose not to foul when Wade grabbed the loose ball.

Instead, they defended, with James taking Wade for the first time in the game.

When Wade tried to go behind his back on a pass off a pick and roll, James shot his hand out and knocked down the pass. He then grabbed the loose ball with about 7 seconds left and headed to the basket.

There, Quentin Richardson sent him flying, and Wade leaped, grabbed the rim and accidentally kicked James in the head.

How's this for drama? Two of the league's superstars both prone during a timeout, with a game in the balance.

But when the timeout ended James calmly strode back on the court and drained both free throws.

And he wasn't finished.

James went to the huddle and said he would guard Wade, to forget about a double-team. He did. Miami got the ball to Wade, who got a good shot off. But it hit off the back of the rim.

The ending obscured so many other amazing plays in quite an amazing game.

There was the Wade-James second quarter, when the two matched shot after shot after shot, then strode off the court smiling at each other — almost in awe at what had happened.

There was the James dunk.

There was Shaquille O'Neal knocking the ball and Jermaine O'Neal to the ground on a key block as time wound down. The block followed a play when O'Neal missed a shot and was late getting back. When he arrived, he arrived with force.

This was quite a game, closed out by one of the NBA's premier closers.

It's a game to remember.

It started slow — the Cavs played the first quarter like they were on South Beach — but picked up in intensity in the second quarter and finished with playoff-level excitement.

And it finished with James doing what he seems to do so often: Making the plays that win games.

Two defensive plays, one driving effort to win that ended in a violent collision and then taking the time to calm himself to make the free throws.

Wonder where the MVP news conference will be held this spring.

–Anderson Varejao had a very strong game with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel Gibson shot well, making four-of-six threes and scoring 15 points. And O'Neal was strong inside, scoring 19 points.

–Wade missed two free throws with the Heat up 91-90 and 41 seconds left. He then had the pass to Haslem stolen by James. "We had what we wanted," he said. "A one-point lead with the ball before I turned it over. … It's just unfortunate I got careless with the ball …"

–Mike Brown on the huddle prior to Wade's last shot: "We were in the huddle and (James) said: 'Don't send him the double-team. I got him.' I said, 'OK, go get him.'"

–Said James of guarding Wade on that last possession: "Anything else would be uncivilized."

–You expected him to be sipping tea as he spoke.

–"It's like my responsibility," James said of the defensive assignment.

James dominated the final minutes — scoring seven consecutive points, making a key block on Pau Gasol, putting the Cavs ahead on a powerful driving layup, and making an out-of-this world save on a ball going out of bounds with time running out.

With Mo Williams, without Mo Williams, when James closes games like that there's not much the other team can do.

His attitude after the game showed maturity as well. In past years, the Cavs might have exulted over this win.

Make no mistake — they were pleased.

"It was huge," James said of the second win over the Lakers in as many games.

But he also said he didn't "want to look too far into it."

"As a player you don't want to look too far into one team, beating one team twice, no matter who they are," he said. "The championship still goes through LA. No matter if you beat them four times in a year, in the playoffs you have to beat them in the Finals to take that trophy from them.

"It's a huge win. I can't say it's just any other game, because it's not. But at the same time it's one win and I'm happy we got better tonight."

Added coach Mike Brown: "They have the best record in the league and it could give guys some confidence. It is a win and it's one of 82. You feel good about it because we won the game and I thought we won the game the right way. Other than that, I don't know how much weight it carries."

—Bryant started the game like he was going to score 50, making six of his first eight shots — and barely moving the net with every make. But he finished 12-of-31, meaning after the fast start he shot just 6-for-23.

—It was curious that Phil Jackson rested Bryant the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. During one stop in play, James returned after a rest and Jackson called for Ron Artest, to guard James. Bryant stared at Jackson the entire time, as if to say: My turn too?

–Mike Brown said the way Delonte West ran the offense in Mo Williams' absence was "terrific."

—Now we know why the Cavs treated West so delicately following his offseason arrest. They need him.

—Well, they also did it because they like him, and they support him.

—But with Williams out, the Cavs need West more than ever.

—Bryant on the game: "Their bigs were very active and very physical and wore us down." When is the last time an opponent had that to say about the Cavs?

—Bryant went on to talk about how physical the Cavs have become. "That’s not part of our DNA," Bryant said. "We have to step up and match that and still play skillful basketball."

—The Lakers shot 33.3 percent the final three quarters.

—James certainly seems to be reprising his MVP season. Anyone for a back-to-back news conference at St. V?

Wrote Frank Hughes on SI.com: “Not going to happen, Wade said. Not because he doesn't think it couldn't. But because he's not willing to take a pay cut.”

That's the latest, but this might change again by the time the Cavs play in Miami on Monday.

Some thoughts:

–All season long I've been wrestling with the idea that either the Cavs were lacking one small element this season, or they were simply not expending as much energy in this regular season as they did last. The latter seemed most likely. It's a veteran team and it learned last season that regular-season celebrations don't overshadow postseason disappointments.

So they Cavs have been giving effort this season, but not overdoing it or getting too caught up in the regular season. But … when the big games come they hone in their focus and concentration.

This seemed to be what happened Christmas Day in Los Angeles. They upped their focus, played well and — combined with the Lakers having a bit of a blasé attitude about the game — played much better.

The Cavs now have won in Orlando and Los Angeles, and they had an outstanding four-game holiday swing.

At this point, I think I'm abandoning 96 percent of doubt. Because the Cavs certainly seem to have what it takes to be among the elite.

They can play several different lineups — notice what Z and Shaq were able to do against the Lakers big guys when they were on the court together, and notice the damage some small lineups have done? — and they have LeBron James. The only concern — and this is miniscule — is that a team best be very aware of itself to be able to turn the switch on and off and make it work.

So far there's every reason to believe this will not be an issue.

So far there's every reason to believe this will be another fun April, May and June.

–Have to like how LeBron said the game was not really a message to the Lakers, but it was a message "to ourselves" about how good the Cavs could be.

James has that superstar's quality of condensing the issues and the elements of game to their essence.

Listen to him after a game and he always gets the key facts right.

–It was kind of entertaining to see the Lakers disintegrate in one game becuase of officials' calls, no?

–Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy on ESPN, wrote a lengthy tome last week about possible trading deadline moves. Many of his rumors and proposals included the Cavs trading Shaquille O'Neal.

Some of the deals might make sense. Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood and another player for Shaq's expiring contract?

Not too bad.

Adding Antawn Jamison to the Cavs would improve the team.

But then you watch Shaq against some matchups and you see why the Cavs acquired him. He was effective against Dwight Howard, and against the Lakers he had a very strong game.

And when you think of the playoffs you realize that's when he'll be needed more than ever.

Trade Shaq?

It would have to be one unbelievable offer.

–Here's one national view of the Cavs from ESPN's J.A. Adande, who writes: "It's time for Cleveland's team to be considered elite again."