King James Gospel
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Cleveland Cavaliers: A complete guide to the East NOT being weak

By Alishah Pearine

AUBURN HILLS, MI - NOVEMBER 19: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers practices his pre game ritual before a game against the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2008 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by D. Lippitt/Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, MI - NOVEMBER 19: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers practices his pre game ritual before a game against the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2008 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by D. Lippitt/Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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2006-07 Playoff Run

After suffering a bitter loss in 7 games to the Detroit Pistons, the Cavaliers made defense a focal point going into the 2006-07 season. They finished the season with the same record of 52-30. Except for this time around they held their opponents to only 92.9 points per game—5th best in the league. They also had a defensive rating of 101.3; good for 4th best in the league.

LeBron, once again, led the way for the Cavs, averaging 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

LeBron’s regular season numbers were down from a year ago, but the goal wasn’t to maximize his usage during the regular season; it was to make a deep postseason run.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Washington Wizards Part 2? 

With a variety of injuries to Caron Butler and a meniscus injury Gilbert Arenas sustained in April, the Wizards team definitely wasn’t the same team from the regular season. The Cavs handled their business fairly easily, winning 4-0.

LeBron and Hughes led the way for the Cavaliers. LeBron averaged 27.8 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.5 while Hughes averaged 19 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.

Antwan Jamison averaged 32 points and 9.8 rebounds on 47.6% from the field and 34.6% from 3 and didn’t really get much help from his supporting cast.

As far as easy competition goes, this was by far the easiest first round opponent a LeBron-led team went up against.

Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Eastern Conference Semifinals: New Jersey Nets

It was obvious the Wizards didn’t pose a serious threat to the Cavaliers, but the same couldn’t be said about the New Jersey Nets. While many point to the Nets underachieving record of 41-41—to diminish LeBron’s opponenets—they also tend to ignore the fact that the Nets had much more offensive star power compared to the Cavaliers.

Not only did the Nets have Jason Kidd but they also had Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. These were players far better than the likes of Hughes and Big Z.

For the series, Jason Kidd averaged 15.2 points per game 11.8 assists and 8.7 rebounds. Vince Carter averaged 19.7 points per game, 7.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists and Richard Jefferson averaged 17.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds.

For the Cavaliers, LeBron averaged 24.7 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.5 assists. Zydrunas averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds per game and Larry Hughes averaged 13.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3 assists (while only playing three fewer minutes than Lebron).

The Cavaliers won the series in a hard fought 6 games behind spectacular performances by LeBron, like this double-double from game 2:

Eastern Conference Finals: Detroit Pistons 

Detroit, we meet again. Only this time around the Pistons didn’t have their best defensive player in Ben Wallace. Regardless, the Cavs went 6 games with the defending Eastern Conference Champions. This was the series that separated LeBron from the other stars in the league—especially his 48 point masterpiece at the Palace in Game 5.

It literally looked as if LeBron was alone in the gym throwing up jump shots. He was hitting a variety of fadeaways, behind the back pull-ups, turnaround jumpers, and was driving to the basket with sheer force.

People will still try to argue that Ben Wallace wasn’t on the Pistons, giving LeBron easy access to the rim. But 25 straight points?

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It’s also interesting to note that Daniel Gibson was the only other Cavaliers starter to score more than 10 points in a double overtime game. Gibson was on fire in Game 6 though, scoring 31 points on 7-9 shooting, 5-5 from 3. Gibson’s outside shooting, the Cavaliers team defense, and LeBron’s elite level of play proved too much for the Detroit Pistons and sent Cleveland to their first ever NBA Finals.

NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs

The Cavaliers would go on to get swept in the NBA Finals. LeBron averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game while shooting a morbid 35.6% from the field, 20% from 3 and 69% from the free throw line. Even though his shooting splits and overall averages were down from his playoff totals, he was being defended by one of the most premier perimeter defenders the league has seen in Bruce Bowen (8 All-Defense selections), in the league and going up against one of the greatest teams at their peak—losing by only an average of 6 points. It was also difficult to overcome the Spurs when the Cavaliers second leading scorer only averaged 12.8 points per game.