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| This guy! |
Thursday night's semifinal series
finisher putting the Cavaliers over the bastard-tough Bulls was by no means the
most exciting Cleveland
sports victory I've ever witnessed. It had no moments that will be burned into
the brain forever, like Kenny Lofton sprinting home from second
on a passed ball or LeBron James historically dropping 25 straight points on
the Pistons.
What the win did bring was a warm
feeling of satisfaction, which may end up becoming more fulfilling than a few
"I remember when" highlights. This Cavs squad has overcome a post-season filled with adversity. Really, it's been a season of strife and
injury woes, of newbie coaches on the hot seat and silly TMZ-worthy non-stories
about superstar players writing passive-aggressive tweets about their teammates.
Remember when the Cavs were 19-20, James was rehabbing in Miami , and rumors of David Blatt's firing
were sizzling across the newswires?
If this resilient roster remembers
the bad times, then maybe those memories have given them strength in the face
of long odds. The Cavs were not derailed by Kevin Love's shoulder, Iman
Shumpert's groin, Kyrie Irving's everything, J.R. Smith's knuckleheadedness, or
LeBron's missing jump shot.
Instead, they powered through, even
when Irving was
snipered by the most innocuous of plays during the second quarter of Game 6. Cries of
"woe is us" permeated through the Twitter-sphere when the star point
guard limped off, and yet the Cavs were able to clamp down and triumph over that
setback as well.
James was part of the upheaval;
even with his frustratingly spotty shooting he still managed a near
triple-double. But James should not be the story as we write the epilogue on
Round 2 of the Easter Conference playoffs.
It was the bench that fired the
Cavaliers' furnace in Chicago :
Tristan Thompson, who's elevated himself to mythical near-Rodman status with
his recent rebounding; Matthew Dellavedova, a season-long fanbase scapegoat
who's become this team's most unlikely post-season contributor. Perhaps most
satisfying was the play of Iman Shumpert, who took a clothesline from hell
flagrant from Nikola Mirotic and came out the other side focused and fighting.
That's the type of poise and
toughness that makes for a championship run. And in a messy game without any
real "wow" moments, it's those attributes that have brought a
contented smile to at least one Cleveland
sports blogger's face.