Cleveland Cavaliers: What a Weekend It Was
Posted February 12th, 2007 by George Thomas
Two nationally televised games and two victories.
Yes, that's a good thing. In dismantling the Miami Heat this past Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers accomplished what they should have in the prior week - they spanked Dwyane Wade and his crew. In the prior meeting, the Cavaliers gave the game away. In Friday's they chilled the Heat. LeBron outplayed D-Wade and all is right with the world.
Sunday LeBron lost the battle to Kobe Bryant, but the team beat the Lakers 99-90. It wasn't a dominating performance, but it was - for the most part if you don't count the third quarter - consistent basketball. LeBron didn't play particularly well and that's a good thing because we're finally seeing other players - Booby Gibson, Anderson Varejao - step up. What has been most noticeable, however, is two things.
First is the fact that after begging Coach Mike Brown to allow them to play a more uptempo game, the players' instincts appear to have been dead on. And then there's Sasha Pavlovic, who has displaced Damon Jones as the first ''small" off the bench. Pavlovic, whose play lacked consistency in the past, has been the epitome of it in recent games. He hit for 21 against the Lakers and over the past seven, he's averaged 14.3 points per game.
What the Cavs have been showing in recent games is that they can win when LeBron isn't at his best. That is something they will need if they're going to go as deep or deeper into the playoffs this season.
