No Delonte, No Zydrunas, No Problem

I’ll open up and say it…I was terrified going into our 4-game west coast trip.  I thought it would be a slump for us, and the cat-calls would begin about us being overrated.

It wasn’t a pretty picture, when you look at what we were facing;

• No Zydrunas Ilgauskas, out with an injury
• No Delonte West, out with an injury
• Three road games against playoff-bound western teams
• Back-to-back nights in Oakland and Salt Lake City

Start this trip out with a bad loss to the Lakers, and it was looking like a 2-2 trip at best.  But the Cavaliers are stronger than ever, having rebounded for a 3-1 trip after knocking off Utah 102-97.

This team is deep and even the rookies are filling their roles faster than expected.  Guys like Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao are finding their niche and taking over for their injured comrades.  But in the end, it’s all led by one man, LeBron James.  Take a look at what he did in a 26-hour span against two teams in two time zones;

• 65 points
• 23 rebounds
• 17 assists
• 4 steals
• 4 turnovers

Those are the numbers of an MVP.  No doubt about it.

Plus, THIS is what an MVP does when the clock hits zero;

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The amazing stat of the season;

The Cavaliers have topped 100 points 21 times this year.  They are 21-0 in those games.

As a matter of fact, if the Cavs score 96 points, they’re unbeaten.  That’s pretty damn impressive

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The rest of the road before the All-Star break is a roller coaster.

• Sacramento (10-34)
• at Orlando (33-10)
• L.A. Clippers (10-32)
• at Detroit (24-18)
• Toronto (17-28)
• at New York (18-25)
• L.A. Lakers (34-8)
• at Indiana (16-27)
• Phoenix (23-18)

The home schedule is against three cellar-dwellers, followed by tough battles against the Lakers and Suns.  Win all five and the NBA will be VERY fearful of the Q.

The road games are going to be harsh.  At Orlando will be a war (pay no mind to Orlando’s 2-game losing streak), and at Detroit…well, that’s always fierce, despite the sub-par year the Pistons are having.  Going into New York and Indiana will produce loud crowds but no defense.  Win all four and the All-Star game will be nothing but discussion about LeBron’s title chances.

My guess?  7-2 or 8-1.  We shall see.  Either result will get us 41 wins before the break.  Damn, that would be sweet.

Story By The Buckeye Battle Cry