After removing myself from the floor at Harry Buffalo in Mentor shortly after last night's loss, it hit me: What in the world happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Honestly, nothing.

Yeah our shooters have gone ice cold, our bigs look like amateurs trying to cover “Superman,” we aren't making adjustments and the offense has grown completely stagnant once again.

But none of that matters.

Orlando is simply on fire. Currently, they are in another dimension. You aren’t going to beat a team when they shoot 17-38 from three-point land and Rashard Lewis is hitting turn around threes with six seconds left to go in regulation. And still we only lost by two points.

Give them credit.

My biggest fears have become a reality this series. I thought Orlando’s three point shooting would win them one, maybe two games this series. Certainly not three of the first four. Even the games they didn’t go off in three-point land, they are hitting tough clutch shots.

Rashard Lewis, who I may now have to literally add to the list of John Elway, Edgar Renteria and Michael Jordan, has hit two heart-wrenching daggers, the first in Game 1 then again last night, both when we were clinging onto a one point lead with seconds left to go in regulation.

Just as we are down 3-1, we could very easily be up 3-1.

But again, this is Cleveland. We are used to getting the short end of the stick.

I’m used to picking myself up off floors at various places after various Cleveland disasters.

Then it also dawned on me, this series isn’t over.

The last team to come back from a 3-1 deficit were those scumbags from Michigan.

Yeah, against who? Orlando. And who was on that Detroit team? Mr. Ben “tell Stan Van Gundy to shut the (explicit) up” Wallace.

The point is, we are the more experienced team here.

If the Cavaliers win Game 5 in Cleveland, which I don’t see why they wouldn’t (yeah I do, this is Cleveland) it puts all the pressure on the Magic to close out in Orlando in Game 6.

Orlando knows they’ll have to close out that game, because they aren’t going to want to go back to Cleveland to strip away the series on our home court in a Game 7.

Not to be cliche, but we have LeBron James.

Anything is certainly possible.

-Nick Carrabine

I’ll allow myself to repeat myself: This is Cleveland.

As I stated in my first ever blog on this Web site, when it comes to sports, Cleveland is the city of disappointment, heartbreak and tragedy.

The city where a win will put fans on cloud nine and a loss will have many struggling to lift themselves up just to reach rock bottom.

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Yes, the Orlando Magic will probably present a bigger challenge than the Boston Celtics, but don’t worry Cavs fans. They, too, cannot handle us.

When pundits talk about Cleveland not being able to handle center Dwight Howard inside, I think it’s more about his 6-11, 265-pound frame than any real offensive prowess. He can have a 20-20 game because of his stature, but he’s no scoring machine, and he’s still developing his offensive moves. He’s not a LeBron James, Kobe Bryant type who could light you up for 60.

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-- Brandon C. Baker

From shooting team commercials to shooting fictitious family portraits, the 2008-2009 Cavaliers are as complete of a team as I’ve ever seen.

Their chemistry is off the charts, you can tell by looking at them - their expressions towards one another - that all 15 of these guys truly and sincerely like and care for each other.

Not only are they winning, but they are having a blast while doing so.

Guys on the bench who don’t even sniff playing time are just as into the games as LeBron James, who rarely sniffs the bench.

Credit is due to general manager Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown who preach character and attitude, which often time for them, trumps talent.

Ferry got rid of the guys who didn’t want to be here (Larry Hughes, Damon Jones) and those who were a few tools short of a tool box (Drew Gooden).

A lot of the guys on the team this year have been looked over or were given up on by their former teams.

Delonte West was a third-string point guard for the lowly Seattle Supersonics (who are now the Oklahoma City Thunder). Ben Wallace’s career was on a severe decline and Detroit, nor Chicago, no longer wanted him. Wally Szczerbiak was on his third team in three years and Joe Smith, who some consider a bust, was the journeymen of all journeymen and has been to more cities than Carmen Sandiego.

The common characteristic with the aforementioned athletes is they are all good character guys with a team-first attitude.

Yes, Wallace, Szczerbiak and Smith are on the decline but these types of players are found on every single championship team. Guys who are selfless and don’t mind being sixth or seventh fiddle on the team. All three are former career starters, as well as former all-stars, who have happily accepted their roles coming off the bench on a championship contending team.

West is as tough as a player I’ve ever seen for a guy his size. He makes up for his lack of size with his heart and determination. He guards guys nightly who are six to seven inches taller than him and have much bigger bodies.

And it goes down the line. You don’t hear a peep from Sasha Pavlovic or Daniel Gibson for losing not only their starting positions at one point, but the majority of their minutes.

Never has their been a superstar who has been so unselfish in LeBron James. Rarely, if ever, do you see a 7-foot-3 center dive on the ground for loose ball as Zydrunas Ilgauskas does almost every game.

You don’t hear about off the court troubles which is so prevalent now for other teams in the NBA, you don’t hear about scuffles in the locker room and you don’t hear about players complaining about their roles, or lack thereof.

Countless times this season, when a player is down on the court, not only do the four other guys on the floor rush over to his side, the whole entire bench makes their way over.

This TEAM truly has one goal and they have bought into it.

As a life long Cleveland fan, we should be so lucky to experience 15 guys who literally pour their heart and soul into the game on a nightly basis, whether they are playing or not.

Cleveland hasn’t experienced a professional championship since 1964 and it’s good to see the team that has a real chance of bringing that drought to an end couldn’t happen to a better group of guys.

-Nick Carrabine

While the Cavaliers enjoy another eight day layoff, I’ll be on pins and needles rooting for the Boston Celtics.

After all, Boston is the new Detroit.

I hate them.

The Cavaliers will do things to Boston that will make co-owner Wycliffe Grousbeck re-consider registering his team for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

If one thing has to be done, it is to shut Eddie House’s mouth.

This scrub annoys me. You would think, by the way he acts, he hit the game winning jumper in Game 7 of the NBA Finals after every shot he makes.

What happened to being professional and acting like you've "been there" before? Put a lid on it Mr. House.

If I were an Orlando fan, I’d be grateful for Rafer Alston who smacked House upside the head after going on one of his one-man parades after a successful jumper attempt. Alston got suspended for his smack, but it was well worth it. However, the slap didn’t knock any sense into House, who continually embarrasses himself after every score.

I don’t mind players showing emotion, but House’s antics are completely uncalled for.

Magic’s power forward Rashard Lewis has already called out Boston’s immaturity during the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

“It most definitely adds fuel to the fire,” Lewis said. “We don’t like that type of stuff. You have to be professional about the game of basketball. We’re a professional team and we expect them to be the same way.

“Those guys were jumping up and down, waving their hands at us, saying bye, but it’s not over yet; it’s just 2-2,” Lewis added. “We could have done the same thing when we won on their court, but we’re more professional than that. They still have to win ballgames. The series ain’t over yet.”

With all due respect Lewis, step aside and let some real men handle these scum bags from Boston.

-Nick Carrabine

Coming into the playoffs I went on record saying that the Atlanta Hawks may be a sleeper team who could pose the most problems for the Cavaliers in the playoffs before the finals.

Partly because of their athleticism and their youth, and partly due to thinking the Cavaliers may look past the series to prepare for a better Orlando or Boston team. Also, you never know how a team is going to come out after a nine-day layoff.

Boy was I wrong.

These first two games have been nothing more than a joke. The Hawks, who are now battling serious injury issues, simply cannot compete with the Cavaliers.

This is not playoff basketball, not even close.

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With his Cavaliers teammates behind him, LeBron James accepts the NBA Most Valuable Player award Monday during a ceremony at James' alma mater, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, in Akron. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

What a way to start the week of the Eastern Conference semifinals!

I was never a basketball fan until I started working with Cavalier fans in 2006. It has only magnified since I moved to Northeast Ohio two years ago. I'm still not a diehard fan (sometimes I get bored during games and would rather be playing with Mark Meszoros' iPhone) like some people I know (I'm talking about you, Nick Carrabine), but I have never loved watching basketball as much as I have loved watching the Cavs this season.

Reading Bob Finann's article for the front page of Tuesday's paper only further illustrated why I enjoy LeBron and the rest of the team so much. They are classy and humble -- not to mention talented. If you haven't caught the Cavs fever yet, now would be a good time to start. The Eastern Conference semifinals game against the Hawks tips off at 8 tonight.

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

With the Cavaliers off for at least a week, I’ve been trying to concentrate on the Tribe.

Yeah, that is going real well.

Another lackluster April where most of the roster just simply can’t perform under pressure.

Expectations for the past two seasons were high for the Tribe as last year the Indians went into the season as the defending division champs and this year they went into the season as the favorites to win a weak division.

I’ve seen this movie before too many times.

Big expectations + awful start to the season = lower expectations and second half success where everyone goes into the offseason talking about how big of a stepping stone that was and expect the Indians to once again compete next year.

Blah, blah, blah, it’s 2009 and here we go again.

I’m not saying the season is a loss, but this season is a...

Anyway, back to the task at hand.

I’ve been going through serious Cavalier withdrawals. This is the longest I’ve gone without watching a Cavaliers game since the offseason. Since Sunday, I’ve been experiencing mild shaking, nausea and slight discomfort in my rib cage.

I’m itching for the Hawks and Heat series to end tonight so I can get back to business at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The problem is, as most people predicted, the Hawks and Heat series is expected to go the full seven games, which would result in Game 1 being Tuesday night.

Great, another week of the Tribe.

-Nick Carrabine