I just got home after driving in from Detroit after helping to cover last night's Cleveland Cavaliers-Detroit Pistons game - one that the Cavs should have won. 

What what was interesting on the drive back was to hear all of the undeserved criticism that LeBron James has received in some quarters.  I saw WKNR's Kenny Roda at the Palace of Auburn Hills and he told me that many fans were frothing at the mouth because LBJ didn't take the last shot, instead kicking it out to a wide-open Donyell Marshall for a game-winning three.

Some may disagree, but I have little problem with what James did.  Everyone has been complaining that LeBron hasn't been attacking the basket enough all season and that may be true.  But in setting up what everyone in Northeast Ohio hoped to be a game-winning shot, he drove to the hoop, felt the defense collapse around him and dished off - the smart play.

Some have argued that he should have tried to finish and take the foul, but the way that game was called last night, there's little guarantee that he would have gotten the call. The refs in the game let both teams play.  It was physical, grind-it-out basketball. 

As I sat watching the Cleveland Cavaliers look like a CYO basketball team last night, something else struck me - the fans - or more appropriately, their expectations and behavior.

I sometimes wonder what state of reality Cavaliers fans live.  Judging by comments from other posts on this blog, it's a state of denial.  Let me start off by saying that right now the Cavs are a good - not great - young team.   But from the reactions of some fans you'd expect them to be contending for the NBA Championship series this year.   Ummm…hold on…it's reality check time.

Former Cavs guard gave a sobering assessment of this year's team when someone asked him how the 1992-93 Cavs that went to the Eastern Conference Finals would do against this one.  He said that other than LeBron James, his team would hold an advantage over this incarnation of the Cavaliers.  Sounds about right to me.

To anyone who thought LeBron James and his teammates would steamroll the Nets think again.  This is a team that features three front line players in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter all of whom could be all-stars.  From the start this was going to be a tough one, but from the grumblings of Cavs fans you'd think the opposite were true. 

 You could feel and hear it last night at Quicken Loans Arena in the boos directed the team's way, most of which were deserved because the team played dismally.  Considering the "quality" of the basketball they played, refunds could have been in order.

But one aspect of fan behavior last night that proved troubling to me was the reaction to a hard foul that Sasha Pavlovic laid on Mikki Moore in the early going of the game.  There is this misconception that basketball isn't a physical sport.  This black-and-blue series that the Cavs and Nets are currently playing should debunk that myth.  However, when Pavlovic laid Moore out, it was completely unnecessary for the the crowd to behave like beer-drenched cretins.

No, Northeast Ohio, right now you don't have a championship caliber basketball team, but, to be quite honest, I'm not sure you deserve one.

I was sitting in the press area at Quicken Loans Arena Sunday, I looked up and suddenly realized that Larry Hughes had dropped 27 points on the Washington Wizards.  Normally that would be LeBron James, but this afternoon, Hughes was on display.  Maybe that $2 million bonus he got for the team's 49th win put a little pep in his step.  Or, perhaps, there's something else.

In his second season with the Cavs, Hughes suffered through an injury plagued first season and the tragic death of his brother.  There exists some validity to the argument that he never got into any kind of playoff groove last season because of that.  If his performance today is any indication of what the playoffs could be, then Cavs fans will be saying "Welcome, Larry." 

Since being moved to the point guard position, Hughes and LeBron James have played in harmony - certainly a little out of tune on occasion - but for the most part it seemed as if they are on the same page.

Dare we think that Hughes might be LBJ's Scottie Pippen?  No one is likely to go that far, but if Hughes can continue the consistent play, the Eastern Conference Finals are certainly attainable.

So I arrived at The Q tonight and I'm greeted by one of the Cleveland Cavaliers' public relations staff with the news that LeBron James is out with back spasms for this evening's festivities against the Sacramento Kings.  Of course I react with disbelief because James' play has been as close to perfection as you get in recent weeks (33.3 points per game since Feb. 11).  He obviously knows what time of year it is.

Most fans would expect that given play like that the Cavs would fall flat tonight.  Some could have considered it a test.  I considered it more like a quiz.  If the team is indeed in full playoff mode than they should have been able to knock of the Kings who owned a record of 28-34 coming in. 

It's a quiz they passed with ease and left an impression.  Someone needed to step up tonight and instead everyone in the starting line-up did so, as each rang up double figures.  Larry Hughes had 25 points, Sasha Pavlovic dropped a career high 25, Z ripped off 19 and 10 boards for a double-double and Drew Gooden also contributed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  But the most impressive job of them all may have come from the guy given the unenviable task of stepping into James' shoes.

Ira Newble, whose named has been associated with the letters D-N-P for much of the season, came up with 12 points (including 3-for-3 shooting on three pointers) and seven rebounds.

Was it a perfect win?  Nope.  The team looked sluggish for much of the first half and they hoisted treys as if they were soon to be banned by the league.  Still, what they accomplished without James bodes well for the continuing run to the playoffs.

Last week LeBron James made the statement that he was getting ready for the playoffs when asked about his production in recent games.

Apparently one statement has never been so true - at least after tonight.  I purposely held off judgment on LBJ and crew until after this particular game.  This game is a benchmark for the second half of the season.  It showed Cavs fans a number of things.

Including:

LeBron James has a switch that shifts to "on" after the All-Star Break.  I'm not suggesting that James has been dogging it for much of the season, but you cannot deny that there's a certain intensity that you see in his eyes that was lacking for much of the season.  Read tonight's stat sheet and you'll find 41 points. Just as importantly, however, look at the intensity in his eyes and in those of his teammates.  That was lacking for much of the season.

Will that guide the Cavaliers deep into the playoffs?  No one knows, but I certainly like what I see of this version of the team than I do the one who played from the beginning of the season until mid-February.

I don't know whether he was slacking or pacing himself, but LeBron James has found a second wind and is ready to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers on his back and carry them into the playoffs.

Consider tonight that LBJ tallied more than 29 points for the eighth game in a row when he dropped 32 on the Houston Rockets.  The difference in his game has been noticeable since just before the All-Star break.  While he settled for jump shots much of the time then, he's being more aggressive going to the hoop more now, yet his the jump shot is still working.  When he's able to drive and hit the J, he's unguardable.  What continues to be troublesome, however, is the inability to hit free throw shots. 

Also give some much deserved respect to Larry Hughes, the man brought in to be James' Scottie Pippen.  So far - primarily due to injuries - Hughes has been missing in action.  Apparently not anymore because as go  James, so goes Larry.  And Hughes knocked down 22 points Monday night.

It's tempting to think what could be if James and Hughes, along with help from Andy Varejao, Zadrunas Ilgauskas, Sasha Pavlovic and a benched bolstered by two rookies - Daniel Gibson (though currently injured) and an energized Shannon Brown.   But I'll wait, thanks.  There are six weeks left in the NBA - an eternity and the Cavs' current surge of energy could dissipate as quickly as it arrived.

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.

I love my new job.  I really do, but some things just don't change between covering movies and sports.  It my estimation they're essentially the same gig - entertainment - but fans of local sports teams have a deeper attachment than some piece of fluff that shows up in movie theaters for an average of six weeks.

And how do things not change?  Oh, I still get snarky, anonymous e-mails from readers who are offended by something I wrote.  Take this one for instance:

"Feel free to tell me everything I need to know about sleaze right after you convince your employer to stop running ads from nude dancer bars and happy ending spas."

The reader was talking about a recent column of mine regarding a couple of sleazy stories that appeared on WKYC and WOIO respectively.  Ummmm…this blog entry is meant as little more than a public service announcement.

I am but a mere journalist.  I get paid to express my thoughts in a way not meant to put people asleep.  Although it's becoming less and less the case, there is this invisible line between editorial and advertising departments.  In short the rule is: they're not supposed to bother us and we're not supposed to bother them.  I kinda like that little agreement.  It keeps people from stifling my voice.  And for that rare privilege I do them the courtesy of not telling who they can sell advertising.  It's a simple plan, but it works for us.

Some people want to moralists.  I'm not one of them.  You wanna booze it up, I say have at it (just make sure you invite me).   You wanna smoke, go for it (just don't sit next to me and do it) and if you want to visit a massage parlor (I'll pass on that one), enjoy.

The point is they're all legal and therefore advertising for them is legal.  Tada.  In short: leave me out of it.  Of course, considering the email came to me from a webmail account and was unsigned, I'm inclined to believe that it came from the staff of one of the parties I offended.  Naaaahh…they wouldn't do that.

Just like they wouldn't delve into the life of a superstar athlete without facts or continue a vendetta against the owner of the Cleveland Browns.