The Cleveland Cavaliers are 1-0, undefeated. Sure, it won't last, but for one night fans of the Cavaliers can soak in a gratifying win that rivals any in team history.
Coming back from 11-points down late in the 3rd quarter, the Wine and Gold out-scored the Boston Celtics 27-14 in the 4th Quarter to win going away 95-87.
Now, there are no delusions here – I know the Celtics played last night in an emotional game against LeBron's Heat – a game that had a playoff atmosphere from start to finish. I know the Celtics were a bit weary playing a road game on the back-half of a back-to-back.
I don't care.
No way the Celtics wanted to lose this one – not after handling the Heat with relative ease. Similarly, the Cavaliers wanted to win it in the worst way. It was the Celtics, afterall, that embarrassed the Cavaliers the last time the team played a game that mattered at The Q. Add the LeBron motivation, and the Cavaliers wanted to make a point.
Message delivered. The team did the city proud tonight, and the fans did the team and player proud. The crowd was into it form beginning to end, and by the time the final horn sounded the Q seemed to be near-playoff intensity – a far cry from the way the place sounded last May.
I don't know what the Cavaliers will do the final 81 games this season. For one night, I care little.
- Subscribe to SB Nation Cleveland - All Posts using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
