Cleveland Cavaliers-Beat the Bad Teams

When you’re 27-8, it’s pretty hard to punch holes in your resume.  The Cavaliers have beat the Lakers, Magic, and Dallas but have suffered defeats at the hands of the Wizards, Bobcats, and Grizzlies.  Consistency down the stretch will breed success come playoff time. 

Boston Celtics: Drink from the fountain of youth

At 24-8, there is not too much the Celtics need to resolve themselves to change.  Maintaining success has to be the name to their game.  Paul Pierce must return from injury and the quartet of himself, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rasheed Wallace need to stay “Forever Young”.

For Carlos Arroyo, Tel Aviv was a long way off from the National Basketball Association.  Spending last season with Maccabi in the Israeli Basketball Super League makes where he is now all the more improbable for the Miami Heat’s new starting point guard.  Frustrated with the discipline and consistency of his 2^nd year starting point guard Mario Chalmers, head coach Eric Spoelstra benched him after he missed shoot around before Tuesday’s game versus the Raptors.  In a talk with the Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman on Wednesday, Heat President Pat Riley echoed the organizations and Spoelstra’s reasons to end Chalmers streak of starting in his first 111 career games.

Most rookies commit an unseemly amount of mistakes in their initial pro games.  The key thing to do is balance them out with spectacular showings that have people looking into the future and seeing more of a veteran presence on the court.  Tyler Hansbrough has battled back from early injuries and inconsistency to post some of those spectacular arrays recently.