Considering how yesterday’s match developed, it’s clear that the Cavaliers are still a work in progress. Facing the lowly Nets — who had hitherto lost eight of the last nine games sandwiching the All-Star break — at home, they found themselves in a dogfight and needing some breaks in the crunch to eke out a much-needed victory. For all their supposed improvements on defense, they allowed their otherwise-overmatched opponents to shoot 53.7% from the field and actually take the lead with under a minute left to play. Had there been a little more time on the game clock, the outcome may well have been different.
Parenthetically, the Cavaliers needed yet another outstanding showing from All-World LeBron James to prevail for the fifth time in seven outings since pulling the trigger on a stunning trade deal that all but rebooted their roster. Not that he went above and beyond his usual exertions; in finishing the set-to with a triple-double, he ensured that he would average the same for the entire month of February. It’s no small achievement given his advancing age and increased wear and tear. If anything, it’s telling that he accomplished the feat for the first time in his 15-year career.
Needless to say, James is the Cavaliers’ engine. In light of his myriad contributions on and off the court, it isn’t even much of an embellishment to argue that he is the Cavaliers, period. They go where he goes, and it’s to their benefit that he’s extremely engaged of late. Since being informed that personnel changes were to be made early last month, he has been on a tear. Conventional wisdom doesn’t have him as the front-runner for Most Valuable Player honors, but no matter. He remains the National Basketball Association’s best of the best. It’s why speculation is already rampant on where he will be plying his trade next season, never mind that the current one is still to be finished. And it’s why the requisite wooing — the three Pro-Sixers billboards along Interstate 480 in Cleveland included — is already under way.
In the meantime, James is focused on keeping his streak of Finals appearances since 2011 alive. Unless injury woes befall the Warriors or Rockets, he isn’t likely to claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but darned if he won’t try. If nothing else, he’s enjoying himself anew, confident that the Cavaliers are getting better contest by contest.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
