CAVS WIN 13th STRAIGHT BY BEATING PISTONS

Some NBA teams stumble as the regular season winds down, leading to concerns about getting and maintaining ‘momentum’ for a playoff run.  Then there’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been near the top of the league all season long—and have become even better as the postseason draws near.  On Tuesday night the Cavs turned back a spirited effort by the Detroit Pistons to win 79-73 at the Quicken Loans Arena.  The victory was Cleveland’s 13^th straight overall and improved their NBA best home court record to 36-1.

Need some more superlatives?  Cleveland won the season series from Detroit for the first time in 11 years and became only the sixth team in NBA history to win 16 games in one month.  After being reminded that the Cavs won 17 games all season in the year prior to his arrival, LeBron James took a moment to reflect on what the franchise had accomplished:

"That is amazing. Ever since the All-Star Game we've been really, really focused. That's an unbelievable month for any team."

And the transformation of James from a skinny high school senior who raised some concern that he would be an ‘attitude problem’ after accepting some free jerseys from a sporting goods store to the personification of an NBA All Star and the embodiment of a team leader has been remarkable.  Typical of his ‘team first’ mantra, LeBron used the occasion of a tougher than expected challenge from the Pistons to commend his team on their toughness:

"That's the sign of a good team.  No matter the circumstances, we continue to win. Whatever the game is, tight or a shootout or an offensive struggle or a defensive game, we find a way to win."

LeBron led Cleveland’s scoring attack with 25 points along with 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot.  Delonte West added 12 points, while Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao contributed 11 apiece.  Detroit produced only two double digit scorers, with Richard Hamilton adding 13 and Alan Iverson 11.  Iverson has come off the bench since returning from injury and played only 11 minutes against Cleveland.  After the game, the always opinionated “A.I.” questioned his limited playing time:

"I can play 18 minutes with my eyes closed and a 100-pound truck on my back. I'm wondering what the rush was to get me back. It's a bad time for me mentally. I'm just trying to get through it without starting a whole bunch of nonsense. I'm looking at the big picture, if I vent my frustrations, then it's on. Being who I am, fingers are going to be pointed at me. People are going to make a big deal out of it. I'm just trying to laugh as much as I can and stop from crying."

Cleveland will play their next two on the road, heading to Washington on Thursday and Orlando on Friday.  They’ll return home on Sunday to host the San Antonio Spurs.  Detroit will play at New Jersey on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Saturday before returning to the ‘Motor City’ for a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday afternoon.