L’chayim, friends and well-wishers. By now, you know who I am. You are Cavalier fans. Late-Comers are welcome; Early-Leavers should follow that instinct and beat the traffic. Only the Faithful need apply today, and you know who you are.
We know each other too well for me to start lying to you people at this point in the postseason. The team is up against it – and the breaks are beating the boys.
Following Tuesday’s tough 75-72 defeat in Game 3 at The Q, the Cavaliers are one loss away from elimination. The first NBA Finals game in franchise history ended in heartbreak as four Cavalier starters netted double-figures, but couldn’t hit the big shot down the stretch. Drew Gooden and the Large Lithuanian doubled-up. TheBron netted 25, but his young ward, Daniel Gibson, went 1-for-10 in his home Finals debut – subbing for an injured Larry Huge.
That loss – like the previous two – is ancient history, and useful only for film study. As far as the Cavaliers are concerned, tonight’s matchup with San Antonio is a single-elimination Championship Game. So is Sunday night’s and the one after that. The Wine and Gold have to win four heavyweight fights in a week.
It all starts on Thursday night. We’ll slug it out with the Spurs tonight. We’ll meet back here on Sunday to re-gird for Game 5.
As you know, big game hunting like the NBA Finals brings the likes of Uncle Dave and some of the league’s best and brightest Mathematicians and Scientists. And on Wednesday, one of them reminded me that no matter how many points the Cavaliers win by on Thursday, it only counts for one game. And the man’s right, by gum.
It wouldn't be the Finals without Uncle Dave breaking off a little "Danke Schoen" for the collective media.
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So let’s take this thing one day, one game at a time like Coach Brown tells us to. (You want to be running line-touches? Because I don’t!)
The last thing our Cavaliers want is some other club hoisting the Larry O’Brien on our home floor. The Spurs want the four-game sweep no matter where it is and have already brought in the champagne for what they hope to be, what Tony Parker would call, ze fait accompli – and you know he demands only the best fancy-pants French stuff be poured on his precious little head.
Seniors like TheBron and I have other plans, however. And we’ll get to the whys and wherefores of Thursday night’s dramatic victory in just a darn second.
First, I’m obliged to post just a few of the rabid e-mail correspondences that have completely jammed up the sprockets on the E-Master state-of-the-art’s "HATE MAIL" dispenser.
I would categorize this group as, shall we say – agitated?
Stooge,
Cavs are going down. They have no chance at winning this series and they deserve to be swept! Bye-bye Cavs when they get swept on Thursday. Have fun fishing!
Cody
San Antonio, TX
Optimist,
Are you still calling him Larry Huge? Cause if you are, I know its just out of courtesy. He sucks.
Your team is a joke, your idiot King is a letdown. Witness, my (expletive for buttocks) .... he's going to need the Witness Protection Program before this is through.
Rise Up? Rise up to what? A sweep? You're going to enjoy that. I'll predict that for you right now. Enjoy your sweep. It must be fun having Mr. Potato Head as a coach. And don't think for a second that the Pistons won't be right there again next year, battling for the East, and I highly doubt they will play that poorly ever again in the Conference Finals, regardless of roster.
I’m willing to bet that he gets his first Ring the year he leaves your sorry team and your sorry town. Wouldn't that be a punch in the gut? But y'all know how to deal with that kinda stuff down there, hehe.
Adios, loser.
Jeff
Detroit, MI
Optimist-
Just wanted to say this is all your falt. (sic) The Drive, the Fumble, and the Shot were also your falt. (sic)
I hate you.
Morgenstern
Charlestown, SC
… and finally …
OPTIMIST-
I WOULD PERSONALLY LIKE TO BLAME SECTION 208 IN QUICKEN LOANS ARENA FOR TONIGHT’S LOSS. I SAT IN SEAT NUMBER X OF ROW XX AND OF COURSE I CAME WITH THE INTENSITY OF A BULLFIGHTER!!!! ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE 1ST QUARTER I GET REPRIMANDED BY A SECURITY GUARD. HE TELLS ME I NEED TO SIT DOWN BECAUSE PEOPLE BEHIND ME CANNOT SEE. I ASK HIM IF HE IS GONNA KICK ME OUT FOR CHEERING, HE STARTS COUNTING DOWN FROM 5 LIKE HE’S GONNA TOSS ME. SO I SIT ... FURIOUS! 5 MINUTES LATER HE RETURNS AND TELLS ME THAT I CAN DO AS I PLEASE. SO I GET MEGA-ROWDY AGAIN! 10 MINUTES LATER AN USHER COMES TO MY SEAT AND ASKS ME IF THERE IS A PROBLEM? I SAY NO, I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP THE CAVS WIN AN NBA FINALS GAME! I TURN AROUND AND HALF OF SECTION 208 IS SCREAMING AT ME TO SIT DOWN. ONE OLDER MAN IS FLICKING ME OFF AND SWEARING AT ME. THE USHER TELLS ME TO WRITE DAN GILBERT AN E-MAIL IN COMPLAINT AND SHE TELLS ME I NEED TO SIT DOWN. AT THIS POINT I'M READY TO FIGHT MY ENTIRE SECTION. I WALK OUTSIDE TO THE CONCOURSE AND ABOUT 10 USHERS AND SECURITY GUARDS ARE HAVING A MEETING. THEY CALL ME OVER AND TELL ME THAT THEY APPRECIATE MY EFFORT AND THAT I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG. BUT IT WAS TOO LATE!!! THE WIND HAD LEFT MY SAILS!! FORGET ALL THOSE "CAVS FANS" THAT WANTED TO SIT DOWN FOR EVEN ONE SECOND. IT IS 1:30 IN THE MORNING AND I'M STILL TICKED!! I WAITED FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE AFTER THE GAME AND BLAMED THEM FOR THE LOSS.
NO TEAM HAS EVER NEEDED THEIR HOME CROWD LIKE THE CAVS NEEDED US TONIGHT. WE LET THE CAVS DOWN!
Kyle
Warren, OH
USE THE BEARD!
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In order …
Cody, thanks for reading and supporting your team. And thanks for wishing me an enjoyable fishing trip. After the Cavaliers win the Championship, I’m getting my dad and I on a charter off Marblehead as a Father’s Day present.
Jeff, after the Cavaliers smote the crap out of your Pistons, I would think you’d have a wee bit more humility. And I love Mr. Potato Head, but I feel that you mean it in a less-than-complimentary sense in comparing him to Coach Mike Brown. I don’t like your tone.
Morgy, you love to hate me and you know full-well I’m not responsible for any of those heinous acts. And I will continue to turn the other cheek on accounta that’s what I’m about.
Finally, I can tell you that I lived in Warren, Ohio for a year-and-a-half, and that every single one of those people – including women and children – are JUST as ape-S crazy as Kyle. Warren is chock-full of mean mofos and I’d recommend going around it if you’re headed to Pittsburgh.
But Kyle – who seems like a pretty cool guy to me – has the kind of red-meat-raw energy we need on Thursday night in Cleveland with the Cavaliers’ backs against the wall.
Frankly, I feel great about tonight’s victory. Seniors like TheBron and I are at our best when the chips are down.
And that’s exactly the case when the Spurs – looking to demoralize the Cavaliers early – take a six-point lead after one quarter. Manu Ginobili drills three threes in the period.
But TheBron begins taking over in the second quarter, knifing through the Spurs’ defense and around or over Bruce Bowen. The young King attempts seven shots in the stanza and only one of them is beyond outside the paint. Cleveland leads by one – 52-51 – at intermission.
Tim Duncan’s huge third counters TheBron’s continued brilliance and the teams are tied heading into the final quarter of what’s potentially the final quarter of the Cavaliers' season. At this point, the Hero of our story takes over.
TheBron puts on a fourth-quarter performance for the ages – not simply scoring like he did in the epic Game 5 in Detroit. Instead, the young King does a little bit of everything. He sweeps the boards and really rips the chords – tallying nine points, six boards and four dimes in the fourth quarter alone.
After a Francisco Elson dunk, the Cavaliers go on a 13-4 run and Zydrunas Ilgauskas does the rest from the free throw line. The X-Factor, Donyell Marshall, finishes with two three-pointers and three big rebounds in the final period as the Wine and Gold get back in the series with a dramatic 91-83 victory.
TRUST TheBRON.
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The celebration is muted as the Cavaliers know there is much more work to be done.
As for you people, let’s show the world what we’ve got.
That we shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Use that underdog anger, Cleveland. And keep two words in your head – maybe throughout the workday or while you’re having a pre-game brew …
Not tonight.
It’s simple enough and it just means that the Spurs aren’t winning that Championship tonight. Maybe – just maybe – they will one night down the road. But not on Thursday and not in our house. Not tonight.
I’m going to need every last one of you people tonight. Attendance is mandatory. No gang colors.
Like my old chess partner, Andy, once told me – hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. Remember that at tip-off and for the full 48.
The Cavaliers begin to shock the world at 9 p.m. ET. Are you fully prepared to …
Keep the faith, Cleveland
Your pal,
The Optimist
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