By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

Let’s be honest — since they first laced them up in the fall of 1970, the Cleveland Cavaliers have never been the first and last name in NBA excellence. Still, despite its largely bleak history, the franchise has had its moments, and here are the best of them. The five greatest playoff-series wins for the Cavaliers:

5.) 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals - Cleveland 4, Boston 3
The Cavaliers won their first best-of-seven series since the Miracle Year of 1976 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history as they outlasted an aging but still potent Celtics team. It wasn’t a particularly close series on a game-by-game basis — four of the seven games were decided by 16 or more points. But amidst the blowouts stood one certified thriller. That was Game 4, a 114-112 white-knuckle classic won by the Cavaliers in overtime to tie the series at two games apiece. Cleveland won that game despite the best efforts of the late Reggie Lewis, who scorched the Cavs for 42 points (Lewis averaged 28.1 points per game in the series, proving that Michael Jordan wasn’t the only wing player whose eyes lit up at the sight of a Cleveland uniform.) In the deciding seventh game at the Coliseum, six Cavaliers scored in double figures and Cleveland rang the curtain on Larry Bird’s career with a dominating 122-104 victory.

4.) 2006 Eastern Conference First Round - Cleveland 4, Washington 2
Making their first playoff appearance since 1998, the Cavaliers made their return to the postseason a stylish one, as they squeezed by the Wizards in a series that saw three games decided by a total of three points. LeBron James won two of those games with last-second shots. In Game 3, his contested leaner in the lane gave Cleveland a 97-96 victory. In Game 5, he tiptoed (some would say traveled) along the baseline and hit a lay-up just before the buzzer to win the game 121-120. And in Game 6, Damon Jones — who had entered the game for the first time just 14 seconds earlier — drilled a corner jumper with five seconds left in overtime to give Cleveland the game, and the series, 114-113. It was the first time since 1992 that the Cavaliers had advanced in the playoffs.

Image: Newscom

3.) 2007 Eastern Conference Finals- Cleveland 4, Detroit 2
Playing in their first East Final since 1992, the Cavaliers fell behind 2-0 with a pair of heartbreaking losses at the Palace of Auburn Hills. But then the series shifted to Cleveland, and LeBron James took over. In Game 3, he punctuated his 32-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist performance with the play of the series, his fourth-quarter dunk in the face of Rasheed Wallace. In Game 4, he went for 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as the Cavaliers tied the series with a 91-87 win. Game 5 saw LeBron’s performance for the ages, as he scored 29 of his team’s last 30 points and hit the game-winning lay-up with 2.2 left in overtime. And in Game 6, it was the Daniel Gibson Show, as the rookie poured in 31 points on just nine shots to lead Cleveland to a series-clinching 98-82 victory in front of a delirious crowd at the Q.

2.) 1976 Eastern Conference Semifinals - Cleveland 4, Washington 3
The Miracle of Richfield. More than three decades removed, the first playoff series in franchise history is still the best playoff series in franchise history. Four of the seven games in this marathon were decided either in the last five seconds or in overtime, and the Cavaliers won three of them. In Game 2, Cleveland prevailed 80-79 when Bobby “Bingo” Smith drilled a 25-footer with two seconds to play. In Game 5, the Cavaliers trailed 91-90 and Washington’s Elvin Hayes had an opportunity to put the game away at the free-throw line with six seconds left. But he missed both foul shots, and Jim Cleamons dropped in a put-back lay-up at the buzzer to give Cleveland a 92-91 victory. In Game 7, played in front of 21,000 screaming Cavaliers partisans at the old Richfield Coliseum, Dick Snyder broke an 85-85 tie when he banked in a left-handed runner with four seconds to play. When the Bullets’ Phil Chenier missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, fans poured onto the floor, mobbed the Cavaliers players, and in an unconscious homage to Cleveland’s reputation as a football town, tore down the baskets.

1.) ???
And the number-one Cavaliers playoff-series victory? It hasn’t been played yet. Maybe we’ll see it in June.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.

By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

It took a while — more than seven periods, to be exact — but we finally got a glimpse of some drama in what had been a wholly un-dramatic first-round series between the Cavaliers and Pistons. After being punched around for a game and three periods, Detroit finally counterpunched.

Image: Newscom

It began early in the fourth period of Game 2 with Cleveland cruising along with a 79-50 lead and the starters, including LeBron James, tucked securely on the bench. The Cavaliers had jumped out to a 12-2 lead, pushed the advantage to 14 at the halftime break, then blew things wide open with a 31-point third quarter. Beaten to loose balls and offensive rebounds and with the old Detroit fire a mere mass of cooling embers, the Pistons appeared to be floating lifelessly through the evening’s proceedings like a dead goldfish.

Then they suddenly came back to life, thanks in no small part to Cleveland’s reserve corps, which took its foot off the gas way too early. In a seven-minute span in the fourth quarter, the Pistons ripped off a 27-5 run to cut that once-gigantic lead down to seven, at 84-77, with 3:50 to play. The catalyst for the spurt was turnovers: the Cavaliers committed five in the span, including three by Delonte West. They also went more than nine minutes without a field goal, missed free throws, gave up offensive rebounds, and basically stopped competing. It was an all-encompassing meltdown, wholly uncharacteristic for a team that has given consistent effort, 48 minutes a night, nearly every night in this magical season.

Eventually Mike Brown brought the starters back onto the floor, and the run stopped. The Cavaliers restored order, pulled away, and won by 12 points. But for the first time in this series, they had shown themselves to be vulnerable. Now the question remains … will that vulnerability carry over into Friday night’s Game Three at Auburn Hills?

Based on recent Cavaliers playoff history, that question can be answered in one of two ways. Twice in the last four postseasons, the Cavaliers have been on the other side of a fourth-quarter rally to tighten up a Game 2 rout. In the 2006 East Semifinals, Cleveland’s 27-12 run cut a twenty-point deficit to five in what ultimately became a 97-91 defeat. In the 2007 Finals, Cleveland went on a 27-6 fourth-quarter run to chop a 29-point San Antonio lead to eight, in a 103-92 loss. The former run seemed to change the momentum of the series; the Cavaliers took the next three from Detroit before ultimately losing in seven. The latter, it didn’t even merit footnote status, as the Spurs finished off the sweep in the Q.

Certainly the Cavaliers brain trust (specifically Mike Brown and LeBron James) remember both runs, and the effect (or lack of effect) each had on its respective series. It’s hard to imagine either man brushing off Detroit’s late surge as inconsequential. My guess is that the team will treat it the same way their San Antonio mentors treated Cleveland’s late run in 2007’s Game 2 — as a letdown to be stamped out and not repeated, not as an anomaly to be dismissed.

Based on what happened between the teams in 2006, the 27-5 charge may turn the series in favor of the Pistons. But I wouldn’t hold my breath counting on it to happen. There is too much focus, too much confidence, and too much LeBron cracking the whip for it to happen.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.

By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

It’s early yet, but the stunning Game 1 victories by Chicago and Philadelphia over the favored Celtics and Magic bring to mind other unexpected outcomes in NBA postseason play, particularly in the first round. Here are the five biggest first-round upsets in NBA Playoff history, as chosen by me:

5.) 1989: Golden State (43-39) 3, Utah (51-31) 0
Don Nelson’s Warriors stumbled into the Playoffs on a six-game losing streak and had to open their first-round series with two games at the Salt Palace, where the Jazz were 34-7. But Golden State took both games in Utah and closed out the improbable sweep with a 120-106 Game 3 victory in Oakland, thanks in large part to Chris Mullin’s 35-point effort.

4.) 1987: Seattle (39-43) 3, Dallas (55-27) 1
Not only did the Mavericks own a 16-game edge over Seattle in the overall standings, they had also swept the five regular-season meetings between the teams by an average margin of nearly 21 points. When Dallas crushed the Sonics 151-129 in Game 1, it seemed like business as usual. Then Dale Ellis took over. The ex-Maverick scored 32 points and hit the game-winning free throws with two seconds left in Game 2 and followed with a 43-point, 14-rebound explosion as the Sonics took the series lead in their temporary home, the University of Washington’s 8,000-seat Edmundson Pavilion (the city of Seattle was so confident in its team’s playoff chances, it had rented out the Center Coliseum that week.). Seattle then finished off the stunned Mavericks with a 124-98 Game 4 rout.

3.) 1984: New Jersey (45-37) 3, Philadelphia (52-30) 2
The defending Champion 76ers weren’t supposed to have trouble with a Nets team that hadn’t won a single playoff game since entering the NBA in 1976. But led by the temporarily clean Michael Ray Richardson, Jersey shocked Philly twice in the Spectrum to take a 2-0 lead. The 76ers thought they were off the hook when they beat the Nets twice at the Meadowlands to force Game 5 back home: the normally diplomatic Julius Erving flatly stated that the Nets “aren’t going to win in Philadelphia.” But having already won there twice, the Nets would do it a third time, rallying from seven points down in the fourth quarter to eliminate the 76ers, 101-98. Philadelphia was the last defending Champion to lose in the first round before the Heat in 2007.

2.) 2007: Golden State (42-40) 4, Dallas (67-15) 2
The G-State franchise has a long history of postseason giant-slaying, but in this case, David knew exactly where to aim the slingshot. The Warriors had beaten Dallas in all three regular-season meetings, and Mavs coach Avery Johnson was so leery of the small lineup employed by his mentor Don Nelson that he changed his own rotation prior to Game 1. This startling concession to Golden State’s style was swiftly followed by the collapse of the Mavericks team. The Warriors stole Game 1 in Dallas, took a 3-1 series lead in front of a frenzied crowd at Oracle Arena, then after blowing a late lead in Game 5, sent the 67-win Mavericks home with a 111-86 Game 6 thrashing. In terms of the distance between the teams in the overall standings (25 games) it was the biggest upset in NBA playoff history. And Golden State made it look easy.

1.) 1994: Denver (42-40) 3, Seattle (63-19) 2
Going into this series, eighth seeds were 0-20 in the first round, and there was no reason to believe this one would break the mold, especially as the Sonics breezed to a 2-0 series lead with a pair of easy victories at a raucous Seattle Center. But the Nuggets woke up at home with a 110-93 Game 3 victory, and the unexpected counterpunch simultaneously emboldened Denver and unraveled Seattle. The Nuggets tied the series with an overtime win in Game 4 and were loose as a goose in the finale, while for the Sonics, according to George Karl, “the butterflies felt like rocks” They played tight, nervously frittering away an 11-point second-half lead, and when time ran out in overtime, Dikembe Mutumbo embracing the ball, the Nuggets were the first eighth seed to NBA Playoff history to advance.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.

By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

There really shouldn’t be too much drama involved in a first-round series between a team with 66 wins and a team with 39, and Cleveland’s 102-84 Game 1 thumping of the Pistons on Saturday was about as drama-free as it gets this time of year. Despite a rather lax defensive effort early, the Cavaliers were never really challenged, methodically building a 12-point halftime lead and keeping Detroit at arm’s length the rest of the way. The Pistons never got closer than eight points in the second half.

The kid will stick in this league: Saddled with early trouble, sidekick Mo Williams was a non-factor early, scoring two points, and Anderson Varejao never really got into the flow, taking only three shots the entire game. Aside from Big Z and Joe Smith, Cleveland’s support cast was sporadic at best before halftime. LeBron had to step up early- and he did. Draining his first four attempts from the field, the wunderkind scored 22 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting with six rebounds and four assists, including a highlight-reel left-handed dime to a streaking Joe Smith early in the second quarter. He ended his marvelous half by banking in a 41-foot runner at the buzzer, putting the Cavaliers up 57-45. I would have been a little surprised to see him miss that shot. He’s that good.

Image: Newscom

Usually a little demure about getting down in the post, LeBron was aggressive in establishing deep position and either using his superior quickness to get around defenders or just turning and shooting right over them. A lot has been made over the state of LeBron’s perimeter shot over the years, but his future is in the low block. The man is the same size as Karl Malone and is too fast for pretty much every power forward in the league. If he continues to refine his arsenal of post moves- the Magic-style running hook, the MJ fade-away, the Tim Duncan banker- he can be as streaky as he wants from outside, because he’ll be unstoppable near the basket.

As for Detroit: Not much you can say about the Pistons. They shot 65% through the first four minutes of the second period, but all it took was one cold spell late in the first half to put them in a hole they were incapable of climbing out. Rodney Stuckey (20 points, 7-of-21 shooting) abused Mo Williams early by bulling right by him to the basket, but inexplicably hung around the perimeter lobbing errant jumpers for most of the game’s remainder. Rasheed Wallace scored eight points in the first half but was waylaid by foul trouble in the second. Tayshaun Prince (four points) was a spectator. Rip Hamilton scored 15 but spent most of the night being chased around screens by Delonte West. For the fourth consecutive game against Cleveland, the Pistons scored fewer than 90 points. Not coincidentally, they’ve lost all four games.

If you want to beat Cleveland, you need to be able to any or all of the following things: play up-tempo, shoot well from long range, or score consistently in the low post. Detroit does none of these things. And they have absolutely no answer for LeBron James. Short of conjuring up a young Dennis Rodman, they still won’t have an answer when Game 2 tips off at 8:00 pm ET Tuesday night.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.

This weekend, the wildly anticipated NBA playoffs began. And while there were some great games, for me, the lasting image is half-Kobe-half-Shaq lecturing me on fear. Though the commercials have been around for a while now, they’ve received heavy rotation during the playoffs. I actually thought the commercials were pretty neat, if a bit unsettling. I was especially impressed how they managed to sync up the speech from each player to create an odd stereo effect. I was noting this when my friend brought their eyes to my attention. They blink at the same time! Ahhhhhh! Don’t believe me, check for yourself.

Now, some unanswered questions. Firstly, why didn’t you believe me? And were these blinks choreographed? Was there some sort of blinking coach on set, yelling “Blink,” at designated intervals? If these blinks weren’t scripted, then is there some sort of natural blink response during pauses?

The rest of the ads in the series feature more creepy synchronized blinking. Also, be on the look out for the amalgamated word “Bordan” in the LeBron/KG commercial.