Two things were obvious after Cleveland’s first NBA finals appearance: LeBron James had to get better, and the Cavaliers had to get better around him.
With both accomplished, James is confident the Cavs would be in a fair fight this time if they can follow the best regular season in franchise history by returning to the finals.
“Absolutely,” James said. “I don’t think there’s one team in our league that’s just clear-cut better than another team.”
The San Antonio Spurs were clearly better than the Cavaliers in the 2007 finals, sweeping a Cleveland team that played some of the ugliest basketball that had ever been seen in the championship round. The Cavs managed just 322 points, easily a record low.
“Obviously they were in the finals for a reason. Whatever the case was, they didn’t get it done,” point guard Mo Williams said. “We’re confident this year that we have everything we need to be the favorite and be the team that comes out on top.”
side shooting, and since those finals they’ve also added depth to their front line with Ben Wallace and Joe Smith.
New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank, whose Nets lost to the Cavs in the ’07 playoffs and twice this week, has seen the improvements in James and his team.
“Not only is he getting better, they’ve surrounded him with shooting,” Frank said. “You think about Cleveland’s model, they’ve done a great job. They have a great, great player, they’ve surrounded him with 3-point shooting and size.”
James knew it wasn’t only his supporting cast that needed work. He shot just 36 percent against the Spurs, who shut off his path to the lane and forced him to take jumpers that he repeatedly missed. He went to work that summer building a reliable outside shot while playing with the U.S. national team, one that’s consistent enough now that San Antonio’s defensive strategy wouldn’t be as effective.
“That series made me a better player, who I am today, because I knew I had a lot to learn,” James said. “I knew I had a lot to improve on, me as an individual, so I’m a much better player now because of that.”
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MAGIC’S MENTALITY: If the playoffs began Thursday, the day after Orlando beat Boston to move into second place in the Eastern Conference, the Magic would have opened against the Detroit Pistons.
tchup with the Pistons, who have ended Orlando’s last two seasons.
“I don’t think they want to see us to tell you the truth, just from the simple fact (of) the success we’ve had (against them) over the last couple years,” the Pistons’ Richard Hamilton told ESPN.com last week.
According to Dwight Howard, the Magic not only want to play the Pistons, they need to.
“Those guys have beaten us two years in a row and they leave a bad taste in our mouth, so hopefully this year would be different,” Howard said.
“Every year, I don’t know what it is about the Pistons, but they seem to have our number and we have to get over that hump mentally, and I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s like teams around the league that give us problems. It’s one of those teams and in order to I think grow out of it, mentally we have to step up to the challenge and beat those guys.”
Detroit swept Orlando in the first round two years ago, then won a second-round series in five games last year. The Pistons were clearly better both times, so neither was a surprise. What is shocking is Detroit’s three-game sweep this season of a Magic team that is one of the NBA’s best.
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said he doesn’t concern himself with a potential opponent, figuring possible matchups with Detroit, Miami or Philadelphia would all be difficult.
d. “If you look at all of them, I would rather not have to deal with Philly’s speed and quickness up and down the court, I’d rather not deal with Dwyane Wade in the playoffs, and I’d rather not deal with Detroit’s size and experience. So one of them I’m going to have to deal with.”
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ANOTHER UPSET?: If there’s one obvious pick in the first round of the NBA playoffs, it would seem to be the Los Angeles Lakers over any team they play.
Don’t rule out the upset, though. So says the man who authored the greatest one ever in the NBA.
“I think anybody can beat anybody,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “I think it’s like when we beat Dallas when we were eight and they were one. Everybody is trying to get to full strength, rest their guys and make sure everybody’s healthy for the playoffs, as it should be.”
Dallas went 67-15 during the 2006-07 season, one of the best records in league history. Yet the Mavericks lost in the first round to Nelson’s Warriors, who were just 42-40. It was the first time a No. 8 seed had defeated the No. 1 in a best-of-seven series.
Yet it wasn’t completely impossible to imagine, since the Warriors had won all three meetings during the regular season and had Nelson, who knew the Mavs’ personnel from his time running their team.
make a late push to sneak in, but none has even been close to Los Angeles this season.
Nelson isn’t conceding the Lakers anything, especially if injured center Andrew Bynum’s absence drags into the postseason.
“Even the Lakers, without Bynum, are lacking something,” Nelson said. “They’re still winning, but they’re not as powerful. They need a full roster. It’ll be interesting to see when everyone has their full roster how everything shakes out.”
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GRADING GALLINARI: Danilo Gallinari’s rookie season started late and ended early, leaving plenty of questions about what the New York Knicks got with the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft.
Coach Mike D’Antoni said he saw enough to get some answers.
“I think he’s a very experienced player and knows how to play, doesn’t seem to be shook in big moments. He has a presence about himself, so I think we learned that he has it already,” D’Antoni said. “It’s good that he sampled the NBA a little bit, knows what he has to do and now it’s just a question of getting completely healthy, getting physically stronger, a bit older and it’ll come naturally, so I think his future is bright.”
Gallinari’s back began hurting in the summer league and he remained in pain throughout the season. He missed most of the first 2 1/2 months before returning to play and averaged 6.1 points in 28 games, shooting 44 percent from 3-point range.
is native Italy to see additional back specialists and was expected to have season-ending surgery. Though the procedure had been described as minor, some would say that no back operation is minor, especially on a 20-year-old.
“Obviously everybody will hold their breath until he gets on the floor and is physically 100 percent and runs without pain and all that,” D’Antoni said. “I think that’s normal, but we have the best people in the world working on it so I’m fairly confident that he’ll be OK.”
Gallinari was New York’s highest pick in more than a decade, so the rebuilding Knicks can’t afford to be wrong about him. He’s one of the only players on the roster expected to still be around by early next decade, and D’Antoni still believes he’ll be a major part of the team’s future.
“I hope so. I think so,” D’Antoni said. “Until it happens you never know, but yeah, I think he can definitely be a very high-level player on any high-level team.”
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AP Sports Writer Jaime Aron in Dallas contributed to this report.
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