Rounding Third, Headed Home

If the Cavaliers are to rediscover the late-season magic that propelled them headlong into last year’s playoff run, they need to get busy – the clock is ticking.

Last year, they started the month of April at 2-3 before rattling off their final four to earn the three-seed in the Eastern Conference tournament. Cleveland rode that momentum all the way to San Antonio.

This year, they have just about zero momentum heading into their final five games. A couple of wins early last week – against Philly and Charlotte – seemed like they would turn things around. But two tough, uninspired home losses have the Cavaliers wondering where this road will lead them, and where will it end?

The haters have been lined up all season, ready to label last year’s run a “fluke.” And after two anemic nationally-televised collapses, they’re eagerly anticipating validation. The Wine and Gold lost a 17-point lead to the Bulls on Thursday night and blew an eight-point advantage on Saturday.

On Thursday, Larry Hughes was the most intense player on the floor. On Saturday, the only field goal Dwight Howard had was the opening dunk of the game and Cleveland lost by 15. Combined, the Cavaliers were 10-of-46 from the field in the fourth quarter. These are not good things.

LeBron James has been “Mr. Fourth Quarter” all year long, but back spasms have hampered him in the past two games as well. LeBron has gone 1-for-9 in the fourth quarter over his last two outings and was 2-for-13 in the second half on Saturday.

“I definitely haven't had the lift that I've had in the past with my back tightening up,” said James. “But I don't use that as an excuse. I've just not been able to come through for my team in the fourth quarter the last two games.”

But the fact is that one game, one quarter, one play could turn it all around.

The Cavaliers have refused to use their injuries as an excuse and still feel like there’s plenty of time to turn it around. Delonte West – who’s played very well lately – insists the team isn’t concerned.

“Not at all,” said West. “We’re a no-excuse team. Last two games, we lost – teams beat us. We’re a real good team, but sometimes we get up on teams and go through the motions and allow people to get back in the game. We just have to get that killer instinct where we don’t want to win a game by four – we want to blow teams out.”

Coach Mike Brown has shortened his rotation – so much so that Sasha Pavlovic and Damon Jones, integral parts of the process just two weeks ago, got DNP-CDs over the last two games.

Asked if he will re-visit his new rotation after Saturday’s loss, Brown was particularly terse: “No.”

Aside from his much-publicized missed dunks, Ben Wallace seems to be rounding back into form, and his work on Dwight Howard – (along with Anderson, Joe Smith and Z’s) – is one of the reasons he was brought to Cleveland.

“We just have to go out there and play basketball and everything will take care of itself,” said Wallace after Saturday’s loss. “We’re just turning the ball over too much.”

Big Ben is a man of few words, but he hits the right chord with them. The Cavaliers turned the ball over 16 times on Saturday, leading to 25 Magic points. These are not playoff numbers and will add up to a postseason loss every time.

“I don’t know if we’re looking forward to the playoffs or what it is, but we’re letting some close games get away,” said Devin Brown, who had another strong outing on Saturday. “But we’ll work on it in practice, fix a couple more things and get ready to go again.”

There is still time to get the kinks worked out. It’s ugly now, but everything can turn around as quickly as Wednesday night against the Nets. The Cavaliers ended the season with four straight wins one year ago – and that was all the juice they needed for their run. Five straight sounds just as good.