Joe Jurevicius: Operation #7
December 9, 2008Kerry Wood to the Tribe?
December 9, 2008
Given tonight’s big game against the Toronto Raptors, I thought I would look into when the Cavaliers have been actually losing at any point in a given basketball game. By now, we know the results of the last month of basketball. But when you take a look at how dominant this team has been, there is good reason why Raps fans are not really looking forward to tonight’s shindig.
From our friend Cuzoogle:
We suggest going out and getting your Christmas shopping done and avoid checking out the game. The Cavs are hotter than Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel mixed together and the Raptors are about as cold as the god d*mn weather here in Halifax. Add the two up and it will be a miracle if LBJ is still in the game come the final quarter. Cleveland was a hated team before this season thanks to Floppity Flop and Damon Jones but now they are hated because they are a good team. The outcome is going to be brutal and it kills us to be so negative towards the Raps but they have earned it for now.
Aside from the obvious dig at Anderson Varejao, I can’t say I disagree. This team has been on an absolute mission over the last 30 days. Losing isn’t something that has been commonplace in the final score. But even in the midst of a game, there has not been many times that the Cavs have not been in the drivers seat.
Since the loss to Detroit, when were the Cavs actually losing? I decided to do some digging…
December 6th vs. Charlotte: Never
December 5th vs. Indiana:The Pacers were up 29-28 with eight minutes left in the second quarter, the Cavs then went on a 16-4 run and never relinquished the lead again.
December 4th vs. New York:Al Harrington made it 11-9 with seven minutes left in the first quarter. Mo Williams tied it up five seconds later, Zydrunas Ilgauskas put the Cavs up 13-11 with six minutes left. New York would never lead again.
November 29th vs. Milwaukee: Never
November 28th vs. Golden State:The Warriors came out swinging with a 15-4 lead. With six minutes left in the second quarter, LeBron James made it 42-41 – a lead that would never be relinquished.
November 26th vs. Oklahoma City: Never
November 25th vs. New York: Never
November 22nd vs. Atlanta: Never
**
Five games in which the team never was on the losing side. Not even at the tip-off. Three of these games were in a row!
Sure, the schedule hasn’t exactly been the most difficult. The combined winning percentage of the abovementioned teams is not pretty. But factor in that the Cavaliers loss to Detroit was the second of back-to-back games on the road, and that they had a double-digit lead at the half, and this is a pretty impressive run.
This team is beating the opponents that it is supposed to – and beating them in a fashion that I’ve never seen as a Cavaliers fan. Starters not playing the fourth quarter. The bench putting up unreal amounts of points. An actual offense. It’s all crazy.
And I love it.
11 Comments
Cavs are making me prouder than ever this year. Now if we can just beat a good team on the road.
tampabrett – they do have a win at dallas. thats nothing to scoff at
Maybe it is the Clevelander in me, but I am still keeping my expectations tempered because of the quality of the opponents we’ve played on this run. We’ve played a lot of Eastern Conference chumps, and I’ll be more inclined to believe that we are an elite team when we start beating down some quality opponents. I’m not even talking about the Celtics, Lakers, Magic, or even Spurs of the world… I am talking about teams like the Nuggets, the Jazz, the Rockets, etc. Toronto, despite it’s record, is still a good team and I am hoping Cleveland will continue with the woodshed beatings. You can’t deny that to the naked eye, this Cavs team looks like an NBA title contender though, and that’s freaking exciting.
Very good analysis, Scott…it’s unbelievable how dominating this squad has been during this recent stretch. Protecting your homecourt to this extent is a mark of a true champion, and if this continues, the Cavs are going to coast to 60 wins.
Do you have a link to a larger version of that Lebron pic? I want it as a background.
I’m looking forward to seeing them live on Wed against the 76ers. Their record doesn’t really show it, but they’ve got some talent.
@ P, we HAVE beaten the Nuggets and Jazz already this year (haven’t played the Rockets yet). We’ve also had leads in our 3 loses (Celtics, Hornets and Pistons), but weren’t able to hold onto the lead in the end.
This is the best chemistry I’ve seen on a Cavs team, ever!
@ Matt, that is sort of true. We beat the Jazz without Deron Williams, which to me, is a very different team. We did beat the Nuggets at home though, and that’s a good win.
and now that we’ve discussed this, they will lose tonight.
OMG people. Don’t let the suckfest of a football team affect your outlook here. When was the last time we had a dominant team in any sport? If I remember correctly the 95 Indian’s pitching staff was questionable, although 97 was solid. That’s all I can think of, 2 teams in about 60 sports seasons.
So what if the schedule is weak. We are KILLING teams, (the reason for this post). There is such a huge difference between battling a bad team for 48 minutes to eak out a win and sitting the starts for the entire 4th quarter while the bench maintains a huge lead.
This team has reached ELITE standing in the National Eye. Embrace it, it may even keep you warm on Sunday…
Couldn’t agree more, Swig. This is still the NBA, and these are all elite players the Cavaliers are playing against. The Cavaliers have now tied a record by winning 8 straight games by a 12 point margin or greater. Team just don’t blow out other teams as consistently as the Cavaliers are right now.
Weak opponents or not, the Cavaliers are one of the NBA’s 3 best teams right now.