Originally at FOX Sports Ohio

With Super Bowl fever engulfing the nation once again, I'd like to take this opportunity to state boldly and without an ounce of reservation the following five words:

I hate the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I can't possibly understate that sentiment. It's hate at the most primal level. We're talking grit your teeth, scream at the TV, clench your fists until your palms bleed hatred.

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You guys played one HELL of a game, and on behalf of Buckeye Nation, I thank you for an AMAZING bowl game.

Thank you for being classy through and though this last month, and thank you to Arkansas Expats for sharing with our blog at tBBC.

BEST of luck in the SEC next year, and again, thank you.  I'm still breathing heavy and exhausted.  Let's meet up tomorrow and share amazing memories on the blogs.

You guys deserved the win, and you played like crazy when everybody counted you out.  Best of luck again.

Sincerely,

The Buckeye Battle Cry

As you may know, I'm involved in Fox Sports Ohio's "Tournament Of Bloggers", and I'm in the final two!

Wednesday night, we were invited to come on the Cavaliers' pre-game show, and given a chance to make our final plea for votes....

If you like what you saw and heard, go vote for me!!!!!!

After each vote, you can scroll down for another ballot.

Or....you can hit F5 and enter...it's a legal way to resend another vote.

Tonight at 730pm, as part of Fox Sports Ohio's Tournament Of Bloggers competition, I'll be appearing live during the Cavaliers pre-game show.  FSOhio is giving the two finalists one final chance to make their case and be named "Ohio's Best Sports Blogger".

Please, tune in and check it out tonight!

In the meantime, you're encouraged to vote for your favorite blogger (cough cough), and to comment on the articles written for Fox Sports Ohio.

See you tonight!  GO CAVS!!!!!

Well, that was a close call.  It still counts as a win, though.

The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled through most of the game, but went on a late charge as they wore out Detroit, winning 113-101 at The Palace Of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons, played their most inspired basketball in weeks, led through most of the game, but couldn't contain the Cavs late in the game.  Cleveland went on a 22-10 run to end the game, and scored the game's final 9 points.

LeBron James, despite scoring only 7 points through the game's first 33 minutes, finished strong and racked up a triple-double in the process.  James finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists as he created yet another nightmare for the citizens of Detroit.  Including playoffs, Cleveland has now won 10 straight games against Detroit.

Mo Williams was the other hero for the wine and gold Tuesday night.  Mo Gotti found his shot and finished with 20 points and five assists, which included three three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

With less than three minutes left in the third quarter, the Pistons led 71-66 and the Palace crowd was fired up, excited for a big win over their recent nemesis.  However, the combination of LeBron and Mo was too much for Detroit.

James scored 7 of the Cavs' final 9 points in the third quarter, cutting the deficit down to 1.  Then Mo and LeBron combined to score 26 of the final 30 Cavs points to end the game.

Antawn Jamison looked a little better than he did Sunday, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  He shot 50% from the floor, a vast improvement from his first game back from injury.

The only other Cavalier in double-digits was Jawad Williams with 10 points

NOTES

The Cavaliers now are one win away from becoming Central Division Champions for the second straight year.  A win tomorrow at home against Indiana will clinch it.

Their magic number to gain the #1 seed in the East is now 9

Their magic number to get home court advantage throughout the playoffs is 11.

Thank Heaven this game didn't come down to free throws.  Cleveland missed 17 free throws Sunday afternoon, but the Cavaliers' hustle and desire made them unneccesary in a big win over the Boston Celtics, 104-93.

LeBron James dominated the game, scoring 30 points, dishing out 7 assists, and pulling down 8 rebounds.  The stat sheet was filled with stars for Cleveland, which included;

• Antawn Jamison, 15 points and 12 rebounds
• Anderson Varejao, 17 points and 10 rebounds
• Mo Williams, 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists
• J.J. Hickson, 12 points

The Cavs won this game by outhustling Boston and wearing down the Celtics.  By midway through the fourth quarter, they had taken a close game and blown it open to a 17-point margin.  The aging Celtics couldn't keep up and their shooting suffered as a result of being tired.  Boston missed their first 9 shots from the floor to start the fourth and never recovered.

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Today's a big day for the Cavaliers.  Not only do we have a high-profile game against the Boston Celtics at The Q, but there's other action that could directly benefit (or damage) us.  That's what "Peripheral Vision" is all about - keeping an eye on the games and opposition that could most directly affect the wine and gold as we head down the stretch.

First, we'll take a look at the Eastern Conference Standings - only 8 of these 9 teams can advance to the postseason;

There are only a few pertinent races left to pay attention to.  Atlanta and Boston for third and fourth.  Toronto and Chicago for 8th.  The rest of the above teams are just jockeying for position.  But if the day goes badly, the Cavs might still be in a scary race for first.

Take a jump below the fold, and we'll get into today's games.

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There's one month remaining in the NBA regular season, and there are precious few chances to make up any significant ground for the teams left in the chase.

The Eastern Conference has 9 teams with any prayer left to make the playoffs, so most teams are simply jockeying for position now.  Here's what's left to watch for today in our region;

Orlando Magic at Washington Wizards, 7pm EST
Orlando has been unstoppable for the last three weeks, having won 7 games in a row. Their problem is that they haven't been able to gain ground on the Cavaliers, as they still sit five games out of first place in the East. The Magic needs all the stars to align to win the East, so they're probably content with capturing the 2nd seed. Washington should be no challenge for Orlando today.

Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks,7pm EST
The Hawks are playing great basketball right now and are tied with Boston for the third seed in the East. They are probably content with allowing Orlando to win the division and focus their energy on holding off the Celtics, and with the way the Magic are playing, that's a wise thought. They are 4 games behind Orlando and 6 games ahead of 5th-seed Milwaukee. All that's left for Atlanta to fight for is whether they'll be third or fourth in the East. The Pistons should be dispatched easily today if they want that third slot.

Toronto Raptors at Golden State Warriors, 1030pm EST
Raptor fans, here's the bad news. You've lost 7 of 10 and slipped from the fifth seed to the 8th seed in just three weeks time. The good news? Chicago sucks worse than you are have fallen deeper, occupying the 9th slot in the East and a ticket home. Toronto has a two-game lead for the final playoff position, and they have to turn it around immediately. Their reward if they continue to flounder? Either a ticket home for the playoffs, or a date with the Cavaliers. Playing Golden State will show whether or not they're serious about their commitment.

Sometimes you win games that you should have lost.  Tonight was one of those games.

Andre Iguodala scored 30 points for Philadelphia and Elton Brand added 24 to lead all scorers, but it wasn't enough as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Sixers 100-95 at Wachovia Center Friday night.  Philly did a lot of damage inside as they scored 66 points in the paint against one of the NBA's best defenses, but late shots would not fall as the Sixers dropped their 8th game out of their last 9.

LeBron James led the Cavs with 23 points and 10 assists, while Mo Williams added 21 points as Cleveland moved to 51-15 on the year, 5 games up on the rest of the Eastern Conference.

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Finally, the Cavaliers are back in action.  Tonight we head to Philadelphia and take on a Sixers team that is either flailing or simply surrendered.  Philly has lost 7 of their last 8 games, and none of those losses were even close.  Meanwhile, the Cavs have won 20 of their last 24 games.

LeBron James is expected to return to action tonight....and one has to ask, if it was truly rest that James needed, then his status would not be in question, would it?  No word yet on whether or not Antawn Jamison will be back, but all signs point to a Sunday start for AJ.

Aside from the obvious Cavs game to watch tonight, there's a full slate of games that will have some impact on us.  Let's take a look;

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OK, I know that the rest is good for LeBron and Antawn, but three days without Cavalier basketball is killing me!

Keeping an eye on our closest competition tonight....only two games worth noting.

Chicago at Orlando Magic, 8pm EST
Two teams headed in opposite directions. The Magic have won 6 in a row and are solidifying their #2 seed in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Chicago has dropped their last 5 games and are a full game out of the playoffs. If they don't turn it around fast, they're finished. They won't turn it around tonight. Maybe Sunday against Miami?

Atlanta at Washington, 7pm EST
Atlanta has been an afterthought all season, despite posting an excellent record. A win tonight puts them in sole possession of the 3 seed in the East. Boston's failures will be Atlanta's bonus, if they can beat the new-look Wizards.

I don't expect to see an upset in either of these games.  In fact, I think Atlanta and Orlando are on a collision course for the second round of the playoffs.

There are only a small handful of games that even remotely impact the Cavaliers today.  Our lead in the pertinent races are safe tonight, as no team within several fathoms of us will be playing.  But there's still something to focus on, especially regarding our initial opposition in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Memphis at Boston, 730pm EST - The Celtics are reeling and there's little hope in sight for the time being.  They're coming off a hard loss in Milwaukee last night, and now they have to face a Memphis team that is battling hard for a playoff berth in the West.  The Grizzlies are four games behind Portland for the 8th spot in the West, and they know every game is crucial at this point.  Playing a tired and aging Boston team on the 2nd night of a back-to-back might just be helpful to them.

Charlotte at Philadelphia, 7pm EST - Charlotte's win last night boosted them up into the 7th spot in the East, but they are aware that a loss tonight might drop them right back into 9th.  They have their eyes on the #5 spot and they just might get it.  The Sixers have dropped six of their last seven games and appear to be running out their season...five of those 6 losses were double-digit defeats.

L.A. Clippers at Miami, 730pm EST - The Clippers lost by 26 points, then fired their head coach last night.  Miami slipped into the 8th spot last night and have lost Rafer Alston for an undetermined period of time (for personal reasons).  This game might come down to "who wants to win it less".

Toronto at Sacramento, 10pm EST - The Raptors used to have a firm grip on a playoff spot.  6 losses in 7 games have loosened that grip.  They're falling apart and need a boost immediately.  Playing the Kings might be that boost.  Toronto is in the 6th slot in the East, but they're only 1.5 games ahead of 9th place Chicago.  By the time their west coast road trip is over, they might find themselves on the outside in this race.

It was rarely in doubt, but at least it's now official.  The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to the playoffs.

The Miami Heat have just lost to Charlotte 83-78, which was the clincher for the wine and gold.  Cleveland can finish no worse than 50-32, Miami can finish no better than 50-32.  We hold the tiebreaker, so we're in.

Now let's get that #1 seed.

BIG win last night for the short-handed Cavaliers.  It saves us a lot of worrying down the road, especially in the race for home-court advantage.

We here at FTS are keeping our eyes all over the league, watching the races that are important to the Cleveland Cavaliers, both in the race for top seed and to see who will earn the 8th seed and become our first-round opponent.  Tonight, there's a LOT of action that will shuffle things around in our world.

Follow us below the fold and we'll get started.

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We here at Fear The Sword would like to start off by congratulating you on a beautiful game against San Antonio.  17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists are the numbers that everybody hoped you'd come up with, and you didn't disappoint any of us.  You started off strong and you finished strong.  You played like the All-Star point guard that we want you to.

But it's not enough.  You have to do it again.  And again.

It's no secret that a large percentage of Cavalier fans pinned the loss to Milwaukee on you.  3-for-17 from the field was indeed the blinding statistic of the night.  Within hours of that loss, you did the right thing....you apologized to your fans via Twitter, and you owned that loss like a man.  The apology was exactly what we needed to hear from you;

I apologize to all my fans and Cavs fans for a shitty performance to say the least. I will get past this a get better, stay with me pls

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The Cavaliers were getting killed by Manu Ginobili all night long, but the Argentinian sharpshooter came up inches short when it counted the most, as the Cavaliers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 97-95.

With 14 seconds to play and Cleveland leading by three points, Ginobili stepped behind the three point line and buried the shot, seemingly tying the game up.  However, the officiating crew called for an immediate review, and replays showed that Manu's toe was on the line.  The shot was declared a two-pointer and the Cavs maintained a one-point lead.  Free throws down the stretch finished the job as the Cavs won their 50th game of the season.

The Cavs won the game without their top three scorers against a veteran squad.  LeBron James sat out the game, resting up.  Shaquille O'Neal is still out with his thumb injury.  And in the second quarter, Antawn Jamison went to the locker room with tightness in his leg and sat out the rest of the game.

Mo Williams picked up the slack that he failed to do Saturday night, as the PG atoned for his horrible game against Milwaukee.  Mo apologized via Twitter after that 3-14 shooting performance, and he lived up to his apology, burying 17 points to go with his 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

Five other Cavs scored double-digits, led by Jamison (17).  Delonte West added 16, Jawad Williams 13, J.J. Hickson 12, and Anderson Varejao 11.

San Antonio was mostly carried by Ginobili (38 points) and George Hill, who added 23.  San Antonio hit 10 3-pointers on the night, but missed their last four long-range jumpers as time ran out on them.

Cleveland now has a 5.5 game lead on Orlando for the eastern Conference lead, and a 3.5 game lead on L.A. for the NBA's best record.  Home court advantage seems to be locked up at this point.

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Time to wake up, Cavalier fans.  Dust yourselves off from that ugly performance last night in Milwaukee and get back to business.  Games like last night won't happen very often with this team, so we just have to write it off as an abnormality. 

Today, we have one game to keep our eyes on.  It involves the two teams closest to us in the race for top billing in the NBA.

L.A. Lakers at Orlando, 2:30pm EST - The winner will draw a half-game closer to the Cavaliers, the loser will fall (most likely) far enough back to begin setting their sights on the #2 slot.  The only question is....which team should we silently cheer for?

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For several stretches during the game, it looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers might have what it takes to beat one of the hottest teams in the NBA without LeBron James.  Unfortunately, poor shooting plagued the Cavs at several positions, and the Milwaukee Bucks won their 9th out of 10 games 92-85.

Five Bucks scored in double figures, led by Brandon Jennings' 25 points.

Milwaukee moved into a tie for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with the win.

Antawn Jamison led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting, but had no shot attempts in the fourth quarter as the Cavs struggled to get him the ball at any point on the court.  Delonte West was the only other Cav in double figures, as he poured in 27 points of his own on 11-of-18 shooting.

As for Cavalier players not named Antawn or Delonte, it was a night to forget.  The rest of the team combined to go 12-for-40 from the field (30 percent).  Mo Williams earned the futility award for the night, shooting just 3-for-17 from the floor (18 percent)

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The starting lineups for tonight's game have been posted, and LeBron James isn't on it.

He's actually on the inactive list tonight.  The Cavs say it's a coaches decision, but most people aren't going to buy that one.  He tweaked his ankle in each of the last two games, and the rest will do him good.

He'll return to action on Monday against San Antonio.

Heading into tonight's game at Milwaukee, the Cleveland Cavaliers have 19 games left in the regular season.  With a decent lead on the rest of the NBA, we are certainly in control of our own destiny, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be keeping a watchful eye at our nearest competitors or our potential opponents in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

With that in mind, Fear The Sword begin a new series today.  We'll be looking at the entire NBA schedule and flagging games that Cavs fans should be aware of.

Today's games of importance (besides the obvious Cavaliers/Bucks game) include the following;

Golden State at Charlotte, 7pm EST - Yes, we're keeping a watch on two teams that would not make the playoffs if the season ended now.  Charlotte seems to have the Cavaliers number, and if we want to avoid them in the first round, this game would be important.  The Bobcats are flying high after curbstomping the Lakers last night, so let's see if they suffer a little letdown.

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Via the Twitter account of Brian Windhorst, the news has broken.  Z will return to the Cavs.

However, he will not enter into contract negotiations until March 22nd, just before he is permitted by NBA rules to play for Cleveland again.

This is just speculation, but Ilgauskas had mentioned that he was wary of forcing the Cavs to cut a player to make room for his return, so perhaps his contract talks being postponed are his way of allowing either Danny Green or Darnell Jackson a little more time with their team before they have to leave and create a roster spot.

Z's agent has officially stated that the fans' support was key in his decision. 

Welcome home, Z!

When the best team in the league faces the worst team in the league, it's not hard to predict the outcome.  However, that so-called "worst team" sent a wake-up call to any future opponents when the New Jersey Nets took down the Boston Celtics on their own court.

The Cleveland Cavaliers heard that wake-up call and refused to allow any upset of that sort to happen on their watch.

LeBron James led the way with 26 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds as the Cavs cut down the Nets 111-92.

During last week's upset over the Celtics, the Nets used a few runs throughout the game to build a lead and then held on to win the game.  Tonight, the Cavaliers refused to allow any of that nonsense.

Four minutes into the game, Cleveland led 10-9 when they decided to turn on the jets.  Using their trademark defense to force turnovers and a new style of run-and-gun on offense, they rattled off a 25-6 run that ended the first quarter with a dominating lead of 35-15.  The Cavs run was well-rounded, with five different players putting in at least two field goals each.

For the remainder of the game, the teams basically traded mini-runs.  New Jersey never drew closer than 11 points, and the Cavs never extended it beyond 22 points.

The Cavaliers now have won five games in a row, and 18 of their last 21.  They are now 22-10 on the road, best in the NBA.

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Keep dreaming, Knick fans.  Even LeBron James couldn't have helped your team tonight.

Using a high-powered offensive attack in the first half, the Cleveland Cavaliers thoroughly dominated the New York Knicks to the tune of a 31-point blowout, 124-93.  LeBron James led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.  However, the King was not the only player puffing up the stats against the weaker Knicks squad.

• Antawn Jamison - 17 points and 12 rebounds
• J.J. Hickson - 17 points and 9 rebounds
• Anderson Varejao - 14 points and 10 rebounds
• Mo Williams - 7 points and 10 assists

But it was Delonte West that will be the talk of the town tonight.  His 15-point performance was highlighted by a dunk that will easily be the play of the night in the NBA.  With 4 and a half minutes left in the second quarter, West inbounded the ball to Varejao and rolled around the baseline.  Varejao hit West with the pass from 6 feet out, and West skied high into the air, rattling the rim over top of a stunned Tracy McGrady.  West let out a primal scream as he his feet hit the ground, and the Cavalier bench erupted in delight as players actually tripped over themselves celebrating into a dogpile.

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Schadenfreude - "pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others"

Final score from Saturday - New Jersey Nets 104, Boston Celtics 96.  There....you just experienced schadenfreude.  Wasn't that lovely? 

OK, on to other topics of interest.  The Cleveland Cavaliers may have weathered the storm recently by breaking off a three-game win streak, and they may have done so at an opportune moment.  The nightmares of last week are now behind us and we're ready to begin March with an invigorated spirit.

Currently, the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference looks like this;

A nice little run right now could put enough distance between us and the rest of the Conference, making April a formality for the east race.  So who do we have in March?  That's the fun part....

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A report first heard on WKNR this afternoon states that former Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas with resign with the Cavs as early as tomorrow.

From PD Cavs' beat reporter Brian Windhorst's Twitter account;

WKNR 850 AM's Michael Reghi, who I will join in minutes, is reporting that Z has decided to re-sign with the Cavs. 

This just in from the Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer, who is covering the Cavs today and tomorrow for the vacationing Brian Windhorst (he's spending a day or two in Florida).

An NBA source denied a report that the league would prevent Zydrunas Ilgauskas from returning to the Cavaliers. A high ranking source who requested anonymity said there was no truth to a report from the Los Angeles Times claiming that the league would try to prevent Ilgauskas' return to Cleveland if and/or when he is bought out by the Washington Wizards because the deal was previously agreed upon by the teams. There is no evidence of any such agreement. Ilgauskas' agent Herb Rudoy said on Monday that there was no previous arrangement. Ilgauskas was sent to Washington on Wednesday as part of the three-team deal that brought Antawn Jamison to Cleveland.

That is indeed good news.

Now the only part left is for Washington to waive Zydrunas.  Unfortunately for us, they have to do it this week.  If Z isn't signed before March 1st, he cannot play in the playoffs with the Cavs.  That is the deadline for rosters.

We got to see what Antawn Jamison will bring to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Unfortunately, the Orlando Magic reverted to the form we got so used to in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals as the Cavaliers lost their third straight game, 101-95.

Jamison had 19 points and 8 rebounds, and sparked a second-half surge by putting the first 8 points of the second half through the rim.  However, frequent foul trouble plagued the newcomer, as he fouled out in 31 minutes of action.  Jamison and Shaquille O'Neal were frequent victims of the whistle as they struggled to defend against Magic center Dwight Howard.

Howard finished the game with 22 points and 16 rebounds.  O'Neal had 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting.

LeBron James, despite having a stellar game of 33 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, failed to deliver down the stretch.  He scored only one point in the fourth quarter until he secured a meaningless layup with 12 seconds left.

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If you're on this page, you don't need to be told.  The Cleveland Cavaliers are in Orlando today to take on the Magic.  It's a huge game, and ABC is giving it their full attention (unlike TNT Thursday night, which actually did a split-screen of the Cavs/Denver in OT with the tipoff of the Boston/Lakers game....really)

Today's game should have the new-look Cavaliers in full force.  Mo Willams and Delonte West are now fully recovered from their injuries, and Antawn Jamison has had a full day off to practice and read the playbook.  Things should go much smoother than they did in the previous two games.

But on the other side of the aisle, the Magic will be the same team that they were in our two earlier meetings (both won by Cleveland, each by 9 points).  But the real question is....why are they the same team?

Orlando made no serious attempts to add to their squad at the trading deadline, seemingly content with the team they are right now.

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Last night, I was driving back from Columbus while the Cavaliers were getting manhandled by the Bobcats.  I was picking up my daughter Charlotte for the weekend, so I got to hear the carnage through the voice of Joe Tait.  (Incidentally, I kept ordering my daughter to stop scoring and let the Cavs win.  She just rolled her eyes)

While the frustration mounted and Antawn Jamison kept missing shots, I'd change over to the CD player or XM Radio, only to find myself back with Joe Tait just a moment later.  I couldn't pry myself away long enough, because I just KNEW that it was going to get better "any second now" and we'd be on to victory!  That second never came, and we fell to Charlotte by double-digits.

This morning I arose and began checking the internets, looking for reaction.

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The starting lineups are in.  Gibson will start, Mo Williams HAS BEEN ACTIVATED, and will play tonight.

Game thread coming up soon!  GO CAVS!