[外電] Cavs are flying high against Western foes
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Cavs are flying high against Western foes
Cleveland leads East teams with 6-3 mark against West
Sunday, December 26, 2004
By Jimmy Smith
Staff writer
When the Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet today
in Gund Arena, they will be two teams going in opposite
directions.
The Cavaliers find themselves, after a brief Christmas
break, atop the Central Division. The Hornets are in last
place in their new Western Conference digs, the Southwest
Division.
Cavs coach Paul Silas probably won't have much sympathy for
the team he once coached, the one where he stands as the
franchise's winningest head coach with 208 victories.
That's because this season, the LeBron James-led Cavs have
pretty much dominated their competition from the Western
side of the NBA.
Cleveland has an Eastern Conference-best 6-3 record against
teams from the West this season, a fact Silas last week
credited to the Cavs' schedule as well as their mind-set.
"When we get two losses," Silas told The Cleveland Plain
Dealer, "it seems like we play a West Coast team and it's
a must-win and we always come through."
This time, it's only one loss for the Cavs, who Wednesday
lost 92-90 to the New Jersey Nets at the Meadowlands. They
preceded that game with a 107-97 victory against the
Minnesota Timberwolves. That win came after back-to-back
losses to Eastern Conference teams Detroit and Boston.
Recent victories against Memphis (92-86) and Portland
(112-98) came following successive losses to Chicago and
San Antonio.
The lowly Hornets shouldn't be much of a challenge for the
Cavs, who face an extended West Coast road trip from Jan. 13
to Jan. 22. That's when Cleveland travels to meet the Lakers,
Utah, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and Golden State.
"We feel like we can beat anybody," Silas said. "We've got a
six-game road trip coming up out West, and we want to win as
many as we can out there. That's the attitude we must take."
Cleveland has won three straight against New Orleans, and the
past three at Gund Arena.
James, the Rookie of the Year last year, has elevated his game
to a level that has defending league MVP Kevin Garnett of the
T-Wolves singing his praises.
"I call him 'The Gift,' " said Garnett, known as "The Big Ticket."
James, averaging 24.7 points per game this season while
playing small forward, dismisses comparisons to what Garnett
has accomplished.
"I have to carry my team to the playoffs," James told reporters
last week. "He's done that almost every year."
After being part of the Christmas-day national television
schedule a year ago, playing a game at Orlando, the Cavaliers
got to spend the holiday at home this season.
After the loss to the Nets, Silas gave his team two days off,
though he had a late practice scheduled Saturday.
"It's just hard to play on Christmas," Silas told reporters
after the game against the Nets. "You tend to focus on other
things. We've been through a lot so far. The guys deserved a
few days off."
. . . . . . .
Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com
or (504) 826-3814.
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