Prior to the start of the Cavaliers’ homestand against the Raptors yesterday, newly minted East Player of the Week LeBron James was asked about his assessment of the visitors. “They’re in a better place than we are right now because they’ve had more consistency and they’ve had their guys in the lineup for the majority of the year,” he said in acknowledgment of the red and black’s standing atop the conference, 11 and a half games ahead of the wine and gold. “So they know what they want to accomplish. They know who they are at this point in the season.”
Certainly, James made the statements in the context of the Cavaliers’ travails. For the 71st match of their 2017-18 campaign, they would be missing five rotation pieces, not to mention head coach Tyronn Lue, and the development seemingly placed them at a disadvantage. Which was why a follow-up query which would have been deemed borderline insulting proved appropriate. What did he think the prospects of victory were under the circumstances? His reply: “What is known is I’ll be available, so we have a chance.”
Considering how the set-to unfolded, James wasn’t just “available,” he was ubiquitous. Even as the first half seemed to underscore the Raptors’ superiority, his sterling play indicated that the Cavaliers weren’t going anywhere. And he stepped up even more after the break, so much so that the 15-point deficit he and his teammates faced had been whittled down to one after the third quarter, and so much so that he put up 14 markers and five dimes in the last nine minutes of the payoff period to engineer a triumph.
Naturally, scribes crowded James in the aftermath, eager to get his opinion on the kind of statement the undermanned Cavaliers’ performance made on the real score. “It’s a good win for us against a very good opponent, but I don’t need to remind anybody about what my teams are capable of doing,” he argued. Which is to say unless and until he’s toppled from his perch, everybody else is effectively playing catch-up regardless of regular-season standings.
Quizzed on the matter, Raptors top dog DeMar DeRozan had no choice but to admit as much. The Cavaliers “are still a top team in our conference, and in this league. You can’t overlook them or ‘underlook’ them no matter what type of changes they made.” And he’s right. After all, James just so happens to be their one constant.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
