Blogging about a game that's 20 days away is probably crazy, but no more crazy than speculating about a superstar's plans two years from now, or the idea of one of the NBA's clumsiest GMs transmogrifying a 24-win firecracker into a championship H-bomb in just one summer.
For the first time in league history, three different teams have won at least 21 of their first 25 games in a single season. Two of them are Boston and Cleveland, who will meet on Jan. 9 at the Q for the first time since the Cavs' five-point loss in Boston on opening night.
With apologies to the Lakers, who are softer than Mike Ditka's dick, and the Magic, who rely way too much on 3-point shooting and D12's raw ability, the NBA's two best teams are the Cavaliers and Celtics. We already knew that about Boston, but even a sadistic homer like me wasn't convinced about the Cavs.
Until Friday night.
Our fancy-schmancy 11-game win streak was nice, but I thought it was more a product of cushy scheduling. Only four of those wins came on the road, and the fact remained we'd melted down in the late stages of our four losses, all of which were on the road against good teams.
Until Friday night.
The Pepsi Center has been a nightmare for the Cavs since LeBron arrived. We'd won there just once in his first five seasons, and beaten the Nuggets just twice overall. This year's Denver team is less controlled mania and more contender thanks to Chauncey Billups, and the Nuggets were 16-5 since his arrival, which pushed them to the No. 2 record in the Western Conference.
Until Friday night.
Our 17-point shaming of Melo and co. in their gym is proof positive that these Cavaliers can beat an upper-level team on the road. For the first time since trouncing Dallas in the first week of the season, the Cavaliers have a signature road win. More will have to come, but this is a great start, especially considering we've hammered all six sub-.500 teams we've faced on the road (not to mention a 24-point beatdown of the 13-12 Nets in mid-November).
That affords me the opportunity to whimsically flip the calendar to Jan. 9. We're 22-4 right now, and we should be 30-4 when the Celtics come calling because our eight-game slate between now and then includes just three road games, two teams with winning records and no back-to-backs.
I can't say for certain that Boston's winning streak will be at 27 games by that point. I'm not concerned about the Christmas Day clash with the Lakers at the Staples Center, because again, the Lakers are softer than Liberace at the Playboy Mansion (thanks Hyde!). But there's a big test on Dec. 30 at Portland, which is the end of the four-game trip that begins in Los Angeles. Portland's one of the best home teams in the league, and if I were a degenerate gambler, that's when I'd hang loss No. 3 on Beantown.
Even that, however, wouldn't taint the biggest regular-season game in Cavaliers history on Jan. 9. The much-improved offense, still-staunch defense and Jordan-esque commitment to every game have vaulted the Cavs to the top of the NBA.
We knew Boston would be there.
Looks like Cleveland just joined the fray.
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