Let's Get Physical

They say a playoff series doesn’t start until the home team loses a game. Of course, the home team’s starting center planting the opponent’s two-guard with a mid-air shot to the chest tends to kick a playoff series into high gear as well.

Like the Suns-Spurs battle out West, the Cavaliers and Nets series is beginning to get a little hairy, punctuated by Mikki Moore’s flagrant foul on Sasha Pavlovic on Monday night. Aside from the bruise on Pavlovic’s backside, the foul worked wonders for the Wine and Gold.

Before that play with 8:48 left in the third quarter, the Cavaliers were trailing by five. Two-and-a-half minutes later, they were up by seven.

“That foul that (Moore) had on me changed the game and made us play together and stick together and play more physical,” said the soft-spoken Serbian. “And that’s why we won the game.”

It’s been a relatively clean series for an Eastern Conference battle, but seeing the same team every other night can certainly breed some bad blood. And the Cavaliers – who can clinch a spot in the East Finals with a win on Wednesday – have frustrated New Jersey’s superstars on a pretty regular basis.

“You see the team over and over and over again; they know what we’re doing, we know what they’re doing,” quipped Coach Mike Brown. “So you’re not going to trick one another too many times. You get sick of seeing the same jerseys night in and night out. It’s like Training Camp – after a while, you’re ready to go against somebody else.”

The Cavaliers will go against the winner of the Bulls-Pistons series if they can get past Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Co. Of course, New Jersey will really pull out all the stops on Wednesday night as they’re in a win-or-go-home situation. In other words, Wednesday’s game could be even more physical.

“We have respect for them and they have respect for our team, but more than anything I think it’s just frustration,” said Zydrunas Ilgauskas. “But you have to be smart because one stupid move or one swing could change the series and just like that you can be going home. So you have to protect yourself and your team, but you also have to be smart.”

The Suns – and to a lesser extent, Spurs – know what Z’s talking about. Following Robert Horry’s hip-check of Steve Nash in the closing seconds of their Game 4, Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire left the bench and were given the mandatory one-game league suspension. Horry got two games, but is obviously less vital to his team than the Suns’ duo.

What was most impressive following Mikki Moore’s physical play on Pavlovic – besides the 13-2 run that swung Monday’s game – was how quickly LeBron James stepped in to defend his teammate. After the Pistons’ Rasheed Wallace bloodied Z with no retribution last year, the Cavaliers were once again labeled “soft” by local and national media.

LeBron was determined not to let one of his teammates be intimidated this year.

“I guess (the Nets’) intent was to go at Sasha in a harmful manner in Game 3 and I didn’t notice it until I watched film the next day,” said James. “And I think they tried to do the same thing in Game 4 and it really ticked me off that they would do that to Sasha and try to hurt him. Me, as a leader, I had to stick up for my teammate. I didn’t like it at all.”

The Cavaliers are one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 15 years. They’ll expect a physical and aggressive Nets team on Wednesday. Cleveland will respond, in-kind. But it’s a safe bet that they won’t let New Jersey – and Mikki Moore – distract them from the bigger picture.

“They probably think I’m good for our team and they’re trying to mess with me,” said Pavlovic. “But Monday’s game is over and I’m just thinking about (Wednesday) and trying to get to the (Eastern Conference) Finals.”