Ohio Lottery Winning Time

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One of the biggest issues – from maybe the All-Star Game through the end of the regular season – was whether or not the Cavaliers would get enough rest heading into the postseason.

That hand-wringing seems pretty silly right now.

While the Celtics and Wizards duke it out in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, the Cavs – who came into the postseason as healthy as they’d been all year – have the week to gear up and gameplan for the next round.

And while the pundits can talk about the Finals collision course that seems to be shaping up, the King and Co. will be sharpening up for Washington – who they went 2-1 against this season – or top-seeded Boston – against whom Cleveland took three of four, including a 23-point mauling in Beantown in their final meeting.

After two completed rounds this postseason, the Cavs have left two teams shaking their heads. Both the Pacers and Raptors head into their offseasons with several question marks. Not long after Cleveland swept the Pacers out the Playoffs, Larry Bird stepped down as team president. The Raptors made specific deadline moves – acquiring free agents-to-be, Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker – specifically to slow down LeBron James.

For the current Cavaliers and specifically their leader, it’s good to be King. But the franchise knows what it’s like to be on the other end of a dominated Conference.

Lenny Wilkens’ Cavs of the late-80s and early-90s were some of the deepest, most talented squads of the Era – featuring three perennial All-Stars and one of the league’s top sixth men. But Michael Jordan ruled the roost – and the Price-Daugherty-Nance Cavaliers are memorialized in terms of what-might-have-been.

LeBron was asked if he gets satisfaction from that role – thwarting another Eastern Conference team constructed specifically to stop him – following Sunday’s Game 4 victory in Toronto.

”I think once I’m done (playing) I think I’ll be able to have a long conversation about this series or that guy or whatever the case may be, but as I am in the midst of it, it’s not satisfying,” said the future Hall of Famer. “It is rewarding when you can advance – it’s not given to you; you have to go out and earn it."

”Once again, I’m part of a team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s going to be my ninth time in 14 years so, I’ll take those numbers.”

LeBron has been otherworldly through the first eight games of the postseason – having now scored 30-plus points in six straight contests. He averaged 20.0 points in just the second halves of each game in the Eastern Conference Semis – posting eight quarters of double-figure scoring in the series.

But James has gotten plenty of help keeping his team unblemished through the 2017 Playoffs.

Kyrie was a cold-blooded killer on Sunday afternoon – dashing the Raptors dreams of extending their season in a lethal three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his 27 points to secure Cleveland’s second straight sweep.

”We understand that it’s never easy, especially in a closeout game; it’s always the hardest game,” offered Irving after the win. “There’s a sense of desperation – not only on their end but our end, because we want to close out the series but they’re trying extend it to another game.”

Irving hasn’t been at his best shooting the basketball through the first eight games of the postseason – hitting on 40 percent of his shots, including 28 percent from long-range. But Uncle Drew’s found a way to get it done when Cleveland’s needed a big bucket. And he averaged a team-best 8.5 assists in the four-game sweep over Toronto.

The third member of Cleveland’s Big Three – Kevin Love – has also had an up-and-down postseason so far. He’s grabbed double-digit boards in three of the Cavs’ eight postseason contests and scored in double-figures on five occasions. But he hasn’t shot the ball particularly well either -- .430 from the floor; .405 from deep – and heads into the East Finals averaging 13.8 points and 9.1 boards.

The good news for Love is that he’ll match up with one of two clubs that he’s had excellent success against this season – averaging 23.7 points and 13.0 boards against Boston; 23.3 and 11.7 versus the Wizards.

The Cavaliers have flexed their depth through the first two rounds – with Tyronn Lue getting outstanding production off their bench.

After struggling initially on arrival, Deron Williams parlayed a 35-point performance in the second-to-last game of the regular season into an extremely efficient Playoff run. He’s been the added playmaker that Cleveland coveted while shooting .621 from the floor, including an NBA postseason-best .600 from long-range.

In various roles, Channing Frye has been rock-solid all season and that’s continued right through the start of the postseason. He’s notched double-figure scoring in half of Cleveland’s eight games – shooting 60 percent from the floor, .552 from beyond the arc.

Kyle Korver was kind of quiet through the First Round against an Indiana squad he tormented all season. But he was deadly over the last two games against Toronto – going 11-for-15 from the floor, including 8-of-12 from long-distance.

”The first couple of games, (the Raptors) were staying home with all the shooters and there wasn’t really a lot of opportunity,” said Korver following the series-clinching win. “But LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin have been playing so good – especially LeBron knocking down shots. At some point they’re like: OK, we have to help, we have to try something different and I just caught more opportunities that last couple of games and I tried to take advantage of it.”

Iman Shumpert has contributed to the cause without posting big numbers – unless you count the +27 he posted on Friday night, holding DeMar DeRozan to a single point in the fourth quarter after netting 36 through the first three.

The Cavaliers might see a completely new set of contributors in the next series and beyond that. It’s a veteran squad that knows exactly what’s at stake and egos have gone out the window.

Tyronn Lue’s squad gets back to work on Wednesday. And they’ll be ready to rumble against whichever opponent sorts it out on the East Coast this week.

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Movin' On Up

A former Cavaliers head coach used to preach the importance of this – and he did so unintentionally enunciating every syllable. (Maybe that’s why it stuck with so many members of the media.)

And the World Champs haven’t had much of it during the latter half of the regular season.

For the first time since just before Christmas, the Cavaliers have finally had some continuity. It took four months of hard work and handwringing in between, but the Wine and Gold are finally fully loaded.

Even with J.R. Smith having to miss the second half of Monday’s Game 2 win over Indiana at The Q, the Cavaliers didn’t even switch assignments – inserting Iman Shumpert, who held Paul George to 4-for-11 shooting after intermission while going 2-of-3 for five points in relief.

Shumpert has been solid all season for Cleveland. He was healthy right from the start of Training Camp, jumped into the starting lineup in mid-January and shot better than 50 percent from three-point range over his next eight games – just as Cleveland needed a lift after a long road trip. He came back down to Earth offensively, but still shot a career-best .411 from the floor on the season. And, as usual, he was still one of the squad’s nastiest defenders.

In Game 2 on Monday night, Shump bounced back from a DNP-CD two days earlier to bring some serious juice to the squad after halftime.

”Shump was unbelievable,” praised Tyronn Lue after the 117-111 win. “Just staying ready and being professional, he came in and made it tough on Paul George. We held Paul George to four points in that third quarter. Our defense was really good and Shump sparked that. He made a couple of shots for us also.

”His tenacity was really good for us. We needed that spark.”

In terms of continuity, Coach Lue hit the mother lode with his Big Three – with Kyrie Irving (37), Kevin Love (27) and LeBron James (25) becoming the first trio in Cavaliers postseason history to top 25 points apiece.

LeBron continued his historic march through the record books – becoming he first player since steals and blocks were first tracked in 1973-74 to tally at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four blocks in a Playoff game.

Kyrie is beginning this postseason run the way he ended the last one – topping the 20-point mark for the 21st time in his last 24 Playoff games, topping the 30-point plateau for the ninth time and making some history of his own, passing Mark Price for the 2nd-most points in franchise postseason history – and the meter’s still running … fast.

Love got off to his normal strong start – netting 10 points in the first period – then went on a personal 10-0 mission, tormenting Lance Stephenson in a decisive third-quarter run that drove the crowd berserk and gave the Cavs some breathing room – (they’d need all of it) – to take the two-game lead.

After the loss – the Pacers’ ninth straight at The Q – Coach Nate McMillan explained Indy’s ill-fated decision.

”We were trying to cool off Kyrie,” said McMillan. “He had a big quarter, so we went to a matchup to cool him off. I think we put Paul (George) on Kyrie, and Lance went to Love. They do a great job of recognizing matchups and taking advantage of it. I thought that was huge.”

Lue has found some favorable matchups over the first two games of the series and was able to get the ball out of George’s hands at the end of Game 1. He also drew up another outstanding late-game in-bounds play – springing Kyrie for an almost-uncontested layup with under 30 seconds to play.

The Cavs got good contributions from elsewhere in the win. Tristan Thompson grabbed half of his 10 rebounds off the offensive glass, including a crucial contested board off a Kyrie three-point miss with 48 ticks remaining. Deron Williams netted nine quick second-quarter points that helped Cleveland hold off Indiana before intermission.

The Cavaliers undoubtedly have some things to clean up before heading to Indiana – where the Pacers have taken 12 of the previous 14. Cleveland is averaging 15.0 turnovers through two games and missed 13 free throws on Saturday afternoon. They’ve almost squandered double-digit fourth-quarter leads in each game.

And of course, Swish’s hamstring, originally though not to be serious, is always a concern.

But the offense is humming right now – averaging 113.0 points per, shooting .545 from the floor, including .407 from long-range while handing out 22.5 assists through the first two.

The Cavaliers finally have some continuity.

And their leader knows that they’re close to where they need to be.

”We’re right there (near) what we know we can become and we’ll figure it out,” said a confident LeBron after Monday’s win. “We make plays down the stretch to win a ball game, and in the postseason that’s all you can ask for. But we’re right there on turning the switch on what we really can become.”

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Holding Home Serve

When Tristan Thompson lost his Canadian cool in the huddle in the first overtime session in Sunday night’s 135-130 win over Indiana – no one thought he didn’t have just cause for going off. Even the guy he was going off on.

It was almost as if Thompson was blowing off the steam of an entire season. And it almost looked like it felt good.

Shakespeare wrote that “heavy is the head that wears the crown” and the NBA’s reigning Champs have felt the weight of that accomplishment all year long. And although they’ve been atop the Eastern Conference for most of the campaign, it hasn’t been easy.

At times, it’s felt like an 82-game preseason – a sense of just “getting through it” with everyone healthy. Cleveland’s getting there, with Kyle Korver expected to return this week. That’s the good news. The bad consists of the Andrew Bogut Experiment, which lasted less than a minute and put even more pressure on the big man barking in that huddle on Sunday night.

In the postgame locker room, it was business as usual for Cleveland’s blue-collar big, who’s poised to appear in 82 games for the fifth straight season.

”We’re family,” deadpanned Thompson. “Little miscommunication in the huddle. Move forward. We’re family. We’ve got each other’s back always. Got the win, on to Orlando.”

In terms of the team/family dynamic of the Cavaliers, LeBron James and Thompson have kind of a big brother/little brother relationship. And anyone who’s had either knows that as an older sibling, it’s good to see some push-back; and as a younger sibling, it’s good to finally bow up when you’ve been pushed.

“I had good intentions, but a little bit too demonstrative at that point in the game,” said a subdued James after Sunday’s win. “So I can’t show up my teammates, that’s for sure. Especially Double-T. He works hard for our team. He’s a big-time player for our team. So I had good intentions on what I wanted to happen, but the way it came out probably didn’t look good on TV.

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    Barreling Toward the Break:

Wine and Gold hit the road as the midway point approaches.

Cavs head into the New Year with a head of steam.

Cavs deal with having a target on their backs.

After a sluggish month of March – one in which LeBron lost 10 games for the first time since his rookie season – the Wine and Gold needed a catalyzing moment or game or stretch. Sunday’s Central Division slugfest might be just the thing that jumpstarts their stretch run.

Playoffs, in any sport, on any level, are about three words: Who’s. Hot. When.  Can a team get hot when it matters most?

Cleveland has won its first two games in April after returning home from a brutal seven game stretch that had the Cavs traversing time zones for the better part of two weeks.

The Cavaliers are right there – and it’s visible in spurts.

Their defense in the first half of last Friday’s game in Chicago. Kevin Love crashing the glass and finding his range. The way J.R. Smith is starting to shoot the ball over the past week.

Swish might be the biggest factor moving forward. Coach Lue has maintained that these last few weeks of the regular season are essentially his “training camp” – and it looks like he’s close to his old self of late, going 14-for-25 from long-range and averaging 14.7 points per over his last three games.

“(Smith)’s working every day trying to get in shape, get his legs and shoot the ball,” affirmed Lue. “He’s putting in the work. When you put the work in, you’re going to get results. He’s getting in better shape now and getting his legs under him. He continues to shoot the ball the way he’s capable of doing and we’ll be hard to beat.”

The Cavaliers lost three of their last four regular season games one year ago – clinching the top spot in the East in the second-to-last game, a 15-point win over Atlanta at The Q.

Can they put it all together before the regular season wraps up in six games? Can they catch the Celtics and re-claim the top spot?  Do they need to?

In less than two weeks, the Cavaliers will attempt to piece together all these moving parts – plus work in the returning Kyle Korver – and make another run at the Ring.

If they need to blow off a little regular season steam along the way … so be it.

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Gathering Steam

Those of us who’ve lived through enough NBA seasons over the years have gotten used to the schedule.

Not the schedule the NBA puts out that converts into a printable PDF or a refrigerator magnet or a foldable paper version that you put in your wallet.

The schedule for a team led by LeBron James is different – at least over the last six years. The four-time MVP has played an average of almost 98 games per season over that span. And the Cavaliers know in their heart of hearts that if they’re playing the way they can, the 2016-17 season should be no different.

Since Number 23 returned before the 2014-15 season, the Cavaliers have gone through some rough regular season patches. Every team goes through them. (Excluding last year’s Golden State squad, who hit their three-game skid at a very inopportune time.)

In that two-and-a-half season period, the Cavaliers have never had a sub-.500 month like they just experienced in January. En route to the NBA Finals in the past two seasons, the Cavaliers have gone a combined 70-36 before the All-Star Break; 38-19, afterward.

Over the final three months of the past two seasons, the six Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards for February, March and April have gone to two players: LeBron James five times and DeMar DeRozan once.

In other words, as much as we want to place importance on what happens before the Break, it’s what follows the midseason classic that really matters.

The Cavaliers can't coast to that point. Over the past month, the squad has had its issues – some self-inflicted, some a byproduct of the injury bug. But Tyronn Lue’s team also knows that it’s got loftier goals than being percentage champs. And if they stay on schedule, they know the best is yet to come.

Right now, the Wine and Gold stand atop the East with a 33-15 mark. The surging Celtics – winners of five straight – are now 2.5 games back, followed by the struggling Raptors and the club Cleveland faces on Monday night: the red-hot Wizards, winners of nine of their last ten.

Naturally, the Cavaliers want to take the top seed and get homecourt throughout (at least) the Eastern Conference bracket. But it’s also worth noting that they won each round of last year’s Playoffs – including the Finals – away from The Q.

After taking down the T-Wolves on Wednesday night, the Cavaliers head out for a four-game, six-day trip beginning with Saturday night’s showdown in New York. They return to play five of their next six at home to close out the month of February.

“This is a big road trip for us,” said LeBron following Friday’s practice. “We have a four-game roadie, closing out, getting close to All-Star (Weekend). We’re going to some really good buildings. Obviously starting at MSG, then going into Washington where I believe they’ve won 10-plus straight at home. Indiana’s been playing good and OKC to finish it off. So we gotta bring it.”

After the All-Star Break, Cleveland makes one more trip out West – including their annual Staples Center back-to-back against the Lakers and Clippers in mid-March. And they still have two traditionally tough stops in Texas – versus Houston to wrap up a three-game trip in early March and San Antonio later in the month.

The Cavaliers have the best home mark in the East at 22-5 and have gone 11-10 on the road. Cleveland has 14 home games remaining, 20 more on the road. Including Saturday night’s meeting at Madison Square Garden, they have six more games against Atlantic Division squads – who they’ve gone 12-0 against already this season.

Kevin Love will return to action on Saturday night, Kyle Korver is getting more comfortable within the offense, J.R. Smith is gradually getting himself ready for his return and, if the past two years are any indication, David Griffin probably has an ace up his sleeve.

The rubber hits the road this weekend – when the Wine and Gold try to win their ninth straight over the Knicks (and make it seven straight at the Garden). And while the pundits can concern themselves with trade rumors, the Cavaliers will concern themselves with re-establishing their role as the beasts of the East.

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Barreling Toward the Break

More than a few folks are glad to see the year 2016 beginning to grow smaller in the rearview mirror.

But for the Cavaliers – who have that year emblazoned across their Championship ring, it really doesn’t matter.  They started this season like they ended last season and started the calendar year the way they ended the calendar year – winning ballgames.

At the start of 2017, here’s where we stand with the Wine and Gold one home game away from taking off on their longest road trip of the season on Friday …

*Starting at the top, the Cavaliers haven’t lost a game since December 5 – the last time Cleveland faced the Bulls – with LeBron James in the starting lineup. (And that was as unhappy as the King’s been after a loss this year.) That’s 13 victories in their last 15 outings, propelling the Cavs to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 26-7 mark.

They’re a league-best 18-2 at Quicken Loans Arena, averaging 113.8 points per game – including six outings topping the 120-point mark. When they score more than 100 points at home, they’re 17-1, and when they make more than half their shots in their own gym, the Cavs have won 39 straight, including an 8-0 mark this year.

* Aside from a Nov. 8 home loss to the Hawks, the other four Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference defeats have come within their own Division (3-4).

But in terms of the other three top seeds in the Eastern Conference, they’re 3-0 against Toronto, 2-0 against the Celtics and 3-0 against the Hornets.  They’re a perfect 10-0 against the East’s Atlantic Division this year. The Cavs are 7-2 against the Western Conference so far in 2016-17 – including a 6-1 mark at home, where they’ve won 27 of their last 31 games against the West.

* With seven weeks to go before the All-Star Game in New Orleans, it’d be a crime if each of the Cavaliers’ Big Three weren’t suited up for the Eastern Conference.

Everyone expected Kyrie Irving’s offensive numbers to stay on an upward trajectory. But this season, he’s sharpening his all-around game. Before tweaking his hamstring last Thursday night against Boston, Irving – who’s averaging a career-best 23.9 ppg – posted five point-assist double-doubles in his last seven games, averaging an even 10.0 helpers over that span. In a recent two-game span against Brooklyn and Golden State, Irving swiped a combined 13 steals.

Kevin Love, who looks like a new man this year after winning a title last June, is having easily his best season as a Cavalier – notching a team-best 21 double-doubles, including each of his last four outings. Love even managed a 12-point, 11-board game in Monday’s victory over New Orleans despite dropping 10 pounds in a losing battle with a stomach bug. He’s the only player in the Eastern Conference averaging 20.0 points and 10.0 boards this season.

Then there’s LeBron, who will be starting for the Eastern Conference in February’s midseason classic. And it’s not a ceremonial pick; the Cavaliers’ four-time MVP is at the top of his game – leading the Cavaliers in scoring, assists, steals and +/-. And just when you thought the King couldn’t add something to his Hall of Fame game, he’s been very good from long-distance of late, shooting 46 percent from deep (10-22) in his previous three games before taking the collar in Monday’s win over New Orleans.

* It hasn’t been all good news for the Cavs so far this season. Backup big, Chris Andersen, was lost for the year with a knee injury and not long after, in a Dec. 20 win in Milwaukee, J.R. Smith broke his right thumb – undergoing surgery that will keep him out until spring.

But the Cavaliers have gone into ‘next-man-up’ mode and the results have been a revelation.

DeAndre Liggins – the D-League’s two-time Defensive Player of the Year – has brought that true grit to the Wine and Gold. He doesn’t bring all the things that Matthew Dellavedova did, but he’s as lean and mean on the defensive end as Delly ever was and he’s shown he can knock down the open trey when it’s available.

If he didn’t already prove it in last season’s 36-point outburst on Fan Appreciation night, Jordan McRae continues to show that he can fill it up at the NBA level – and did so once again on Saturday night, filling in for the injured Kyrie Irving and finishing with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark from deep.

And then there’s Cleveland’s little big man, Kay Felder, who’s now netted double-figure scoring in four straight games – including a 13-point outing on Saturday night in Charlotte and 12 more in Monday’s win over the Pelicans, going 4-for-6 from the floor in the final period.

* Tristan Thompson has just kept chugging along this season. He recently played in his 400th consecutive contest and combined with Kevin Love, is one-half of the most potent rebounding duo in the East. Thompson – whose 40 blocks are more than double the next-closest Cavalier – has grabbed double-digit boards 19 times this season and has doubled-up eight times, with Cleveland going 8-0 in those contests.

* The Cavaliers veteran reserves have picked up where they left off last year.

Over the last few weeks, Richard Jefferson has done his best Benjamin Buttons impression – turning back the clock with a pair of Christmas Day dunks and some clutch defense. And R.J.’s been on a roll ever since, netting double-figure scoring in two of his last three games, including a 12-point, 12-rebound performance in Monday night’s win.

Channing Frye has excelled off the bench all season. His .463 mark from beyond the arc is the second-best mark in the league this season. The 11-year veteran – who’s overcome some unthinkable personal tragedies this season – has posted double-figure scoring on 15 occasions this season, including six of his last eight.  He led all reserves with 14 points in Monday’s win. And with Birdman on the shelf, Frye’s been better than expected on the defensive end.

Iman Shumpert had been having his best shooting year of his career before falling into a recent funk – going just 4-for-22 (.182) from long range over his last six games after shooting a career-best .436 in his previous 26. Just minutes after Monday’s win over New Orleans, Shump went back out onto the main floor to get up some extra shots.

Mike Dunleavy’s been going in the opposite direction. After struggling early, the 15-year vet has shot 56 percent from the floor over his last six outings, including 54 percent from long-range.

And finally, there’s the man they call “Champ” – James Jones.

Aside from his day-in, day-out professionalism from the practice court to the pressure-packed in-game situations, all Champ has done this season is shoot .625 from three-point range – canning 15 of the 24 triples he’s attempted this year.

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: State of the Union

Since LeBron James returned to Cleveland before the 2014-15 season, the Cavaliers haven’t spent much more time being the “hunted” than the “hunters.”

Those roles have reversed in mid-June the past two years, but among Eastern Conference foes, the Wine and Gold are definitely the squad with a target on their back.

Naturally, opponents get up for the World Champs – and always have for LeBron James-led teams, anyway. And this past week, after Cleveland got off to a 13-2 start to their season – best in franchise history – the Cavaliers saw teams coming after them with a new level of aggression.

The Sixers, as they always seem to, gave the Cavaliers difficulty in the first half of an afternoon affair in Philly. That seemed to snowball into a Tuesday night drubbing in Milwaukee, an extremely rare home loss to the Clippers and a tough-to-swallow Friday night defeat against the Bulls – who’ve won the season series over Cleveland in five of the previous six seasons.

So when the slumping Wine and Gold rolled into Toronto on Monday night to face off against a white-hot squad that had won their last four home games by an average of 29.8 points per, it looked like the Cavs’ recent skein might just continue. That feeling was only compounded after a first  quarter that saw LeBron James tweak his knee but eventually return to action and J.R. Smith injure his knee and eventually return to Cleveland.

But the World Champs looked like World Champs on Monday – taking it to Toronto in a gym that has given them fits of late.

After the game, the Raptors MVP candidate, DeMar DeRozan acknowledged that the Raptors saw an opportunity in the reeling Cavaliers.

”We did, especially with a team like that losing a couple in a row,” said the Eastern Conference’s leading scorer. “They had to be on high alert, especially knowing that we've been playing well this past week-and-a-half. They came out, took advantage of it and they got the win.”

DeRozan finished with 31 points despite a rock-solid effort by the D-League’s two-time Defensive Player of the Year, DeAndre Liggins – who played 21 productive minutes when J.R. was forced from the game.

”I like the energy (Liggins) brings defensively, I thought we needed that,” praised Coach Lue after the victory. “I thought we needed the toughness that he brings and him just flying around. It may not be the right coverage all the time but just his activity, the way he plays and how he plays hard, it’s just big for us.”

With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 3-0 against last year’s Eastern Conference Finals opponent, with one matchup remaining – an April 12th date at The Q, the season’s final game.

”(The Cavaliers) won a championship last year, so for us – a team that is chasing the best team in the NBA last year – our margin of error is small,” lamented Toronto’s Kyle Lowry. “They beat us three times so far this year and they have our number right now, but we have a long way to go and a lot more regular season games to go and continue to play.”

The Cavaliers got big performances from the Big Three, who combined for 86 points in the win – led by LeBron James’ season-high 34-point outburst. The four-time MVP, who’s scored more points against Toronto than any NBA player since the team’s inception (1,324),  went 12-of-26 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the stripe, adding eight boards, seven assists and a pair of steals.

“We just carried on with what we did yesterday in practice,” said James, whose announcement that the team’s “honeymoon” was over after Friday’s loss in Chicago. “We got down to the basics, had a lot of grit from start to finish and it definitely helped us get this win.”

Kyrie Irving improved on his career-best, 10th straight game of 20-plus points, netting 24 on 9-for-18 shooting, adding seven assists – including one of the slickest passes of the season, a precise behind-the-back dish to LeBron between two Toronto defenders on a full-on fastbreak.

Kevin Love doubled-up for the first time since the loss in Milwaukee – netting 13 of his 28 points in the first quarter and tying Tristan Thompson with a game-high 14 boards.

”We didn’t feel like we started off the road trip well, naturally with a loss (in Chicago),” said Love after Monday’s win. “We didn’t play our game and we hadn’t played our game in a couple games prior to that, so we felt like we got back on track tonight. We beat a good team away from home that plays well here. Now we have to just take tomorrow, get better, watch film and then get ready to go against the Knicks.”

Cleveland can’t let up after taking their third straight against Toronto. They’ll be facing a different Knicks team than in years past on Wednesday night – one that’s taken eight of their last 11 heading into a Tuesday night meeting in Miami.

And so goes the hunt in the Eastern Conference …

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Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Thrill of the Hunt

It sounds like an oversimplification, but winning the championship in almost any (American) sport is about three words: “Who’s. Hot. When.”

Yes, a championship team has to be extremely talented and well-coached. They have to play well at home and have chemistry and all the other sports clichés to win a title.

But mostly it’s about peaking at exactly the right time.

LeBron James is making his sixth straight trip to the NBA Finals, a stretch unmatched since the days of Bill Russell’s Celtics. And he knew exactly what time to shift the season into overdrive – winning Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors in each of the season’s final three months.

Kevin Love started heating up after a simple game off against Denver in late March – returning to notch seven double-doubles over the last 11 games of the regular season, then adding eight straight to start the Playoffs.

Kyrie Irving came on the latest – exploding for 35 points in the regular season’s penultimate game against Atlanta – as the Cavaliers wrapped up the top seed in the East. And he hasn’t slowed down since, notching his fourth 30-point game of the postseason on Friday night in Toronto.

Going 12-2 through the Eastern Conference bracket, the Cavaliers were a machine over the last two wins over Toronto – devouring them again at The Q in Game 5 and leaving nothing to chance in the series-clincher on Friday. The Big Three combined for 71 points in the former, 83 more in Game 6. (Kyrie finished one assist from all three posting a double-double; his nine helpers were one less than Toronto as a team.)

At this point last year, Kyrie was hobbled by a battery of nagging injuries – with the one that’d end his season still to come in Game 1 of the Finals. Love had already undergone surgery to repair the shoulder he injured in Game 4 of the First Round. LeBron was posting superhuman numbers, but his supporting cast was limited.

“We wouldn't be at this point today going to the Finals without (Love and Irving),” said LeBron, deferential as always. “Throughout the first three rounds, they've been the reason why we've played at such a high level. They've accepted the challenge.

“They wanted to get back to this moment. Ky being out seven months, this guy [Love] doing rehab for three-and-a-half months on his shoulder, they just had so much built up -- anxiety or rage or excitement or whatever the case may be throughout the whole process, just to be back on the floor and to show why we were all put together.”

This year, with a huge upgrade at the backup 3 in Richard Jefferson and the added firepower off the bench in Channing Frye – (another midseason home run by GM David Griffin) – the Cavaliers head into the Finals on an absolute roll.

In fact, the story of Jefferson and Frye – friends since high school – has become one of the most interesting subplots of the 2016 Playoffs.

When the Cavaliers made their difficult midseason head coaching change, Griffin spoke of the team not finding any “joy” in their success. Jefferson and Frye, aside from being consummate professionals, are also the team’s most lighthearted and humorous guys who understand and appreciate the situation they’re in.  And as RJ proved to Jonas Valnciunas on Friday night, he can also be not-so-lighthearted.

”You’re gonna need everything hitting on all cylinders to win a Championship; and everybody has to be locked in,” said Jefferson is the soggy Cavaliers locker room. “It’s the seventh guy, the eighth guy, the ninth guy and when you can find a groove with a second unit that plays well, gives you good minutes and even wins games for you, that’s a luxury that not a lot of teams have.”

In the postseason, Jefferson has shot 53 percent from the floor and 46 percent from long-range. Frye has been absolutely deadly from beyond the arc. After hitting just one three pointer (in two attempts) in the four-game sweep of Detroit, the 10-year vet has gone 25-for-43 (58 percent) from deep over the next two rounds.

Heading into the Finals this year, Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert won’t have to concern themselves with picking up the scoring slack and can remain locked in on the defensive end.

In last year’s Finals (and in much of the run-up), LeBron needed to post Herculean numbers to keep the Cavaliers in it – incredibly leading both teams in scoring, rebounding and assists. This year, it took him 14 postseason contests to notch his first 30-point game.  And it’s exactly where he wants to be.

And pushing all the buttons masterfully is Coach Tyronn Lue, who’s steady demeanor has kept Cleveland even-keeled through the wins and the losses.

Lue’s rotations have been completely consistent, his X’s and O’s work (especially through the first two rounds) has been sublime and his game-management – calling timeouts to stem the tide or get a good late-quarter possession – is exactly what you’d expect from a guy who matriculated under Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.

“Every night the Big Three, two of the three are going to play great,” said Lue following the Conference clincher. “Then we need someone else to step up, and guys have been stepping up throughout the course of the season. Channing Frye, J.R. Smith, Dellavedova. Guys come in, they step up. It's not just the Big Three, it's a team effort.

”That's when we've really been able to play our best basketball, when the Big Three understood and trusted the rest of the guys that are around them. That's when we really started taking off playing great basketball.”

Distractions aside, the Cavaliers were the best team in the Eastern Conference all season, and that played out on Friday night in Toronto, with the Wine and Gold reaching their second straight Finals, third in franchise history.

The first time they reached the Finals in 2007, they had just shocked the Pistons and were no match for the seasoned Spurs. In 2015, they were limping into their best-of-seven against Golden State. This year, they’re peaking at exactly the right time.

Out West, the Spurs won 67 regular season games and the Warriors won 73, an all-time NBA record. But they both ran into the hottest team, with the hottest player, as the Playoffs have progressed.

We’ll find out soon enough which team is really the hottest.  If Golden State can ride the momentum of Thursday’s win the rest of the way, they’ll welcome the Wine and Gold to Oakland on Thursday night. If not, for the first time in franchise history, the NBA Finals tip off right here in The Land.

ohio-lottery-winning-time-unleashed-from-the-east

Ohio Lottery Winning Time: Unleashed From the East

When the Cavaliers brass replaced the squad’s head coach in late January with an East-leading 30-11 mark, some fans and pundits might have been shocked; others saddened and angered.

But nobody – nobody – doubted that Tyronn Lue would master the job in almost exactly the way he has since taking over. And if someone back then suggested that Lue would take the first eight games of the Playoffs and push all the right buttons along the way, that same group – nobody – would be surprised.

The Cavaliers haven’t just won the first eight games of the postseason. They’ve won them in record-setting fashion.

On the way to their sixth Eastern Conference Finals in franchise history, the Cavs – who’ve never faced either Toronto or Miami in the postseason – set the NBA’s all-time mark for back-to-back three-point shooting games and canned 77 triples in the series, two fewer than the 2013-14 Hawks, who did so in seven games.

They were the first team in NBA history to can at least 15 treys in four straight (regular or postseason) games and went 77-for-152 in the series, canning an average of 19.3 per contest. Through only eight games, they lead the 2016 Playoffs with 134 triples made (28 more than the team they just eliminated) and are 26 percentage points better than the next-shooting team, San Antonio, shooting at a .462 clip.

Kevin Love has doubled-up in all eight games of the postseason – averaging 19.0 points and 13.0 boards per. Kyrie Irving has topped 20 points in seven of those eight games. And LeBron James has been … LeBron James.

On Sunday, James posted another masterful performance – nearly netting his first triple-double of this year’s postseason with 21 points, 10 boards and nine assists. He went 10-for-23 from the floor, which is slightly deceiving, considering that the game’s greatest finisher missed an astonishing four straight point-blank attempts at the rim with 1:17 to play (something that had to be perplexing, even to him.)

Kevin Love’s monster third quarter was the difference, as the Big Three all topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time in this year’s Playoffs. Kyrie Irving didn’t have his usual outburst on Sunday. He was just deadly all afternoon long – illuminated by his incredible lefty layup after driving right baseline late in the third.

Defensively, the Cavaliers weren’t at their best in the early-going on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. But as they usually do, the Wine and Gold got better with age – improving as the game went along.

After sweeping Detroit, Wine and Gold gear up for Round Two.

Recapping Some of the Season's Best Wins.

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After killing Cleveland with 15 points in the first period, the Cavs held Paul Millsap to just four more points and no field goals for the rest of the way. They held Atlanta to just 19 points in the third and every player not named Dennis Schroder to a combined 4-of-11 shooting in the fourth. In the regular season, the Cavs allowed the fewest fourth-quarter points in the NBA (23.7) and have been even better in the Playoffs (21.6).

All those numbers add up to another piece of the record books – with the Cavaliers notching their 12th straight win over Atlanta in the postseason, tying the mark they set against the Pistons one series earlier (and the Lakers against the Sonics in the ‘80s) for Playoff domination against one franchise. Last season they beat the Hawks by an average of 13.25 points per game; this season, it was 12.5.

”You have to give them credit, they had an answer for everything we tried to throw at them,” said Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore. “LeBron did a tremendous job of getting his guys shots. Kevin Love was on fire tonight. He did exactly what we dared him to do. They have a special group over there, they’re peaking at the right time. You have to give them credit.”

So how does this come back to Tyronn Lue?

Just about everything Lue and his staff has done has worked to perfection.

“(Lue) just kept us even-keeled,” praised LeBron James. “Anytime we come to a timeout, if we’re up or down, or if the game is close or if it’s a game of runs that a team is making on us, he’s always talking about the next possession. ‘Let’s not worry about what happened the previous possession or a couple of possessions before, let’s try to figure out how we can get better’ and he keeps us calm in those moments.

”It’s definitely beneficial for our team.”

Players at all levels crave a coach that doesn’t rattle easily and Coach Lue – blessed with a veteran roster in which Kyrie Irivng is its youngest player – is as cool as they come.

On Sunday, he was asked if anything dents that placid exterior.

”When we’re not playing the right way – when we’re not competing, not sharing the basketball – that’s what gets me mad,” he replied. “Though the course of the game, there’s going to be turnovers, there’s going to runs, there’s going to be missed shots. It’s part of the basketball game. But if we’re playing hard, playing the right way, I’ll stay the same. If we’re not competing and sharing the basketball, then I can get upset.”

Eight games into the Playoffs, he’s gone with a steady nine-man rotation – and all nine have produced consistently.

Among the second unit: Richard Jefferson shot 75 percent from the floor (9-of-12) and 83 percent from deep (5-of-6) against Atlanta. Channing Frye averaged 13.8 points per in the series, highlighted by his 27-point Game 3 outburst on Friday night. Matthew Dellavedova handed out 13 assists and committed just two turnovers – continuing to lead the Playoffs with a 9.63 ratio. Iman Shumpert lead all reserves with 10 points on Sunday, held Kyle Korver to  1-for-4 shooting to follow up his Dunk of the Year entry from Friday night.

Lue used the Hack-a-Drummond strategy to great benefit and avoided being stung by the Hack-a-Tristan strategy in the Second Round, subbing his offensive rebounding machine for Frye down the stretch. Cleveland’s small lineup flummoxed the Pistons and its frontline was too big for Atlanta, with LeBron, Love and Tristan Thompson dominating the boards over the last two games, each grabbing double digit rebounds.

The coaching staff’s X’s and O’s have been outstanding throughout the Playoffs, although especially in the Detroit series – when they executed one critical out-of-bounds or end-of-quarter play after another, culminating with Kyrie’s Game 3 triple to beat the shot clock and give Cleveland an eight-point edge with 43 seconds to play.

Catchers often make good managers in baseball because they see the entire game from the point-of-attack. It’s why point guards like Lue – and his mentor Doc Rivers, among countless others – have been so successful in the head coaching profession.

He won two titles as a player. He’s played with and coached superstars like Shaq, Allen Iverson, Kobe and Kevin Garnett. His staff includes a pair of coaches who’ve helmed a team before and one (James Posey) who won two titles as a player. There’s nothing that the NBA life can throw at Tyronn Lue and his staff that they haven’t already seen and/or experienced.

And if you don’t think all that adds up in a big way when the NBA’s final four line up next week for a shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy, you might want to pick a new sport to follow.

Once again, the Cavaliers have to play the waiting game as Toronto and Miami duke it out in their Conference Semifinal series.

The good news is that both teams could be a little beat up by the time they reach the Eastern Conference Finals. The bad news is that the Cavaliers are a combined 0-4 this season in both of their buildings this year.