Relaxed, ready, and resolute
I’ve been to six Cavalier games this year, and have watched 70+ more. At this point, I’ve feel like I’ve reached the point that I can tell what LeBron’s going to do by his body language at the top of the key.
Last weekend, I went to Game 2 with my brother and his wife and daughter. At the time, I believed that I witnessed the greatest moment in Cleveland sports history. I still believe that, but I’ve now come to the realization that I also saw something much, much worse.
I saw a team playing scared. For the first time this season, I saw the Cavaliers playing like they were afraid to lose. I didn’t like it one little bit, but I didn’t fully recognize I had seen that until last night.
Many of us believed that if we lost Game 2, our season was over. No way would we come back from that 2-0 deficit with two games in Orlando upcoming. But the game was not at all an elimination contest….it just felt like one.
Last night, the Cavs actually DID play in an elimination game, and they returned to their smooth form of basketball. They were looking like the same team I had watched all year long, and as a fan, they made me feel better about our chances. Looking back, I can’t recall a single moment where I was genuinely scared that my teams’ season was about to end. The Cavaliers were scared, and neither was I.
I think that’s really bad news if you’re an Orlando fan. The Magic had the Cavs in a bad position and the Cavs may have now taken themselves off the hook. Cleveland is 75-19 on the year and there’s a good reason for that. They’re a damn good basketball team and they know how to put away teams.
Now that the Cavs are playing the way they want to again, I expect to see more solid performances tomorrow night. No more being scared, no more fear.
But….if you need more encouragement, I have a great stat for you.
The Cavaliers dropped two straight games last week, the third time this year that the wine and gold lost two in a row.
The only other times we lost back-to-back, we responded with five straight wins.
That’s bad news for Orlando….and possibly the Western Conference champion in the first two games of the Finals.
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