https://youtu.be/ltpQs8oYOlI
There are things going on in Cleveland. Not as many things as were happening while LeBron James was around, but still: things. If the season ended right now (which is not as ridiculously unlikely during the COVID era as it would be during a “normal” season), the Cavaliers would be in their playoffs with their just-under-.500 6-7 record. That’s almost as many wins and losses, an impressive feat for a team that was pegged to be one of the very worst in the league prior to the season.
If you look at by how much they’re losing games (a lot) versus by how much they’re winning games (a little, unless they’re playing the 76ers), their current pace may seem unsustainable, but I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s all about the W’s, people. As long as they can keep scraping together enough points from whatever random meatballs they have to put on the court, we’re looking at an 8th seed and then who knows? I bet they could beat the 76ers in a series. LeBron’s legacy would take a huge hit if his hometown team can win a chip without him with their “best” player being Andre Drummond and his statpadded rebounds.
There are no players remaining from when the Cavs won their championship, but Cedi Osman was definitely around when they last made the Finals. Trolls and haters may say that that doesn’t qualify as having “championship experience”, but I say that it does. And who are you going to believe, a Russian granny working for the KGB to spread disinformation about European NBA players, or your old pal DownToBuck, who has never ever led you astrays with regards to anything, ever? I say that Osman has championship experience, and that’s that. He made the Finals. So what if he didn’t win while he was there?
Osman’s championship experience manifested itself nicely in this game, as he scored 25 points in the “Championship of Beating the Knicks on January the Fifteenth in the Year of Our Lord Two-Thousand and Twenty-One”. Not the world’s most prestigious championship, but when you’re the present-day Cavaliers, you have to take what you can get.