Staying hot against the Heat

The Cavs-Heat game last night was billed as a battle between two of the NBA's superstars, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. And it didn't disappoint. James and Wade both put on a heck of a show, especially in the second quarter, when they combined for 37 points (20 for Wade, 17 for James). Of course, it's worth mentioning that Wade had 30 points in the first half, but just two in the second. And Wade missed two critical free throws with 41 seconds left, after Boobie Gibson fouled him at the other end of the court while going after a loose ball.

Still, when Wade blocked James' eight-foot jumper with about 28 seconds left and his team up 91-90, it looked like the Heat had the game on ice. So with the Heat taking the ball down the floor, holding that one-point lead, and about a three-second differential between the game and shot clocks, the outlook wasn't brilliant for the Cleveland Five. The Cavaliers desperately needed a stop, and preferably fast, so they'd have some time to get a good shot off. For their part, the Heat just needed to run the clock down and try to put two more points on the board, which would have forced the Cavs to hit a three just to send it to overtime.

But that's not what happened. Wade, with James guarding him, tried to make a behind-the-back pass to a teammate on the wing. LeBron sniffed it out, got the steal and took it all the way to the hole at the other end, where Wade fouled him hard. LeBron made both his free throws, and Wade missed a 19-footer at the buzzer.

And the Cavs won because our superstar was better than their superstar in the final minute of the game. It was a thing of beauty.

That was HUGE!

Check out those Cleveland Cavaliers! After completing a sweep of the season series against the defending champion Lakers last night, the Cavs are 33-11, just percentage points behind the 32-10 Lakers for the NBA's best record. And the Cavs have an easier schedule going forward, with just 16 remaining away games and 22 at the Q. The Lakers have 25 road dates left, 15 at home. And if they should finish with the same record and meet in the Finals, the Cavaliers have just taken the tie-breaker for home-court advantage.

And it bears mention that the Cavaliers won this game without Mo Williams, their second-leading scorer and an All-Star last year. If they can beat the full-strength Lakers without their second-best player, there's no reason to think these Cavs can't be NBA champions. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'm darned excited about this team.

Here's something I'll bet you didn't know

The NBA a couple of years ago borrowed a statistic from hockey, known as plus-minus, commonly written as +/-. For those who don't know what that means, it's simply the net difference in points when a particular player is on the floor. Let's take last night's heartbreaker against the Jazz for the sake of example. LeBron James played 40 minutes, during which time the Cavaliers outscored the Jazz by seven, so his +/- for the game is +7. Anderson Varejao's, on the other hand, was -12 in 36 minutes off the bench.

(In case you're wondering, I didn't watch it, as it started at 10:30 p.m. here in the Eastern Time Zone, and I have a job. Too bad, because it was apparently a real thriller, in which Jazz rookie Sundiata Gaines hit the first three-pointer of his NBA career at the buzzer to win it 97-96.)

The NBA keeps its +/- stats on this page. And it doesn't just keep one-player +/- stats. You can search for the best two-player combo, the best three-player combo, etc. It's really quite fascinating.

But can you guess what individual player is leading the NBA in +/-? I'll give you a hint: He plays for the Cavaliers. Of course, your first guess is likely to be LeBron James, and that would be a very good guess. But LeBron is actually #2 on this list, behind teammate ... wait for it ... Anderson Varejao.

Even after last night's stinker, the Cavs have outscored their opponents by a grand total of 337 points with Andy on the floor this season. LeBron is next with +332, followed by Kobe Bryant at +319, then Lakers teammate Ron Artest at +299, and the Hawks' Josh Smith rounds out the top five at +292. Naturally, all the top names on this list are members of the NBA's best teams, but would you have expected the #1 guy to be someone who comes off the bench?

This obviously doesn't mean Varejao is the NBA's best player. Far from it. But it does indicate that he's been a huge factor in the Cavaliers' 30-11 record at the halfway point in the season, and he's going to have to continue to play at the same level if the Cavaliers are going to keep winning at the clip they've been.

Put the baby back in his crib

All right, I don't really think Josh Cribbs is being a baby; I was going for a cheap pun. But still, I think he's acting like a bit of a spoiled brat.

Cribbs is under contract for the next three years -- a six-year, $6.77 million contract he signed before he set an NFL record for kick return TDs, and before he reached two Pro Bowls. That's the risk you take signing a long-term contract, and the Browns are under no obligation to restructure it. Still, they've offered him a raise to $1.4 million per season. Cribbs calls that offer insulting.

Listen, it's his right to ask for a better contract, and given that he's been the Browns' best player the last few years, maybe he deserves it. But he signed that contract. I wasn't there when he signed it, but I'm pretty confident that there wasn't a gun pointed at his head when he did it. And for him to call $1.4 million an insult is itself an insult to the fans who buy season tickets with their $50,000 salaries (or whatever). OK, he wants more money. Who doesn't. OK, the Browns would be a lesser team without him, and maybe he's worth more than $1.4 million to them. I would imagine that once Mike Holmgren gets his bearings, he'll make a better offer, just to keep Cribbs happy. But he doesn't have to.

I just read that Cribbs uses Twitter, and tweeted the following, in two tweets: "Thanks for all the support everyone and your words of encouragement...wise man once told me..." "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."

What a load of garbage. Asking for more money is not standing for something. It's just wanting more money. I love Josh Cribbs as a player, and I hope he stays here, but on this issue, I think he's full of something other than himself. (Though he's obviously full of that too.)

Good gravy, the Browns have won four straight!

Do you know how many NFL teams ended the 2009 season with at least four straight wins? Three. The AFC West champion Chargers, who have won their last 11; the Texans, who finished 9-7 and only missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker; and your Cleveland Browns. Do you know how many times the Browns have won four straight games since returning to the league as an expansion team? One. The last four games of the 2009 season.

And a team that was once 1-11 won their last four to finish 5-11. What are the odds of that? Has that ever happened before? I checked the Elias Sports Bureau's "Elias Says," and they don't have any information about that, but they do point out that Pro Bowler Josh Cribbs is only the second player in league history to score touchdowns on a kickoff return, a punt return, a reception and a rush (Brian Westbrook is the other); and with 127 rushing yards in Sunday's finale against the Jaguars, Jerome Harrison racked up 561 yards over the last three games, the second-highest total in league history (O.J. Simpson had 647 in 1976).

The Browns have known for months that they weren't going to get into the playoffs, but the visiting Jaguars went into yesterday's game with a 7-8 record and a chance, albeit a very slim one, of qualifying for the postseason tournament. But it was the Browns who looked as if they were playing for something yesterday. They closed the season with a 23-17 victory that would have been 23-10 if not for the Jags' meaningless final drive. There was never any doubt about this one.

The Browns won despite just 86 passing yards from Derek Anderson, probably in his last start as a Brown, possibly in his last game as a Brown. But Anderson only threw the ball 11 times, completing seven. He did throw a pick. But this game was won on the ground, with another fine performance from Harrison, plus 47 rushing yards from Cribbs and 38 yards from Chris Jennings. Jennings turned in a fine performance off the bench. Remember that run where he was trapped behind the line of scrimmage, then reversed course and wound up going for 11 yards? That kid's got talent.

And the Browns' defense played well too, holding the Jaguars to 328 total yards. Eric Mangini is a defense-minded coach, and should be pleased with the strides his defense has made this year. If he's back next year, presumably a new offensive coordinator will come in and run Mike Holmgren's preferred West Coast offense. I'd think they could work that out. If not, Mangini has made a case for his next job.

Either way, I can't wait to see this Browns team next year.

Buckeyes get the monkey off

Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes needed this one -- not just because it was a chance to finish strong, but for the long-term credibility of the Ohio State football program, and even the entire Big Ten. Ohio State came into the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on Friday on a three-game bowl losing streak, and came out with an impressive 26-17 win over the #8 Oregon Ducks. And no Big Ten team had won a BCS bowl since January 2006, when the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and Penn State beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Terrelle Pryor was the obvious MVP, having played the best game of his two-year collegiate career. He threw for a career-high 266 yards on 23-of-37 passing. He threw two touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed for a Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi-high 72 yards, and got some big first downs with his feet. There were times when he seemed too quick to run, and maybe should have tried to hit a running back on a hot route or something of that nature, but these are minor quibbles. Pryor played a heck of a game.

Give the Buckeye defense a lot of credit for this victory in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi. They gave up some big running plays to LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, but they held Jeremiah Masoli and the high-powered Ducks passing game in check. Masoli's numbers were terrible -- 9-for-20, 80 yards, no touchdowns, one pick. And while he did run for a touchdown, Masoli only gained nine yards on the ground, on six carries. Without an effective passing game to lean on, the Ducks only got 12 first downs in the game, to the Buckeyes' 26; and were just 2-for-11 on third down conversions. And the Buckeyes win their first Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi since 1997, when it was just called the Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes have become the Big Ten's standard-bearer in the Tressel era, having won or shared six conference titles in Tressel's nine years here, including each of the last five. They've won the Big Ten's only national title in that time, and have won four of the five BCS games the Big Ten has won this century. (Iowa has a chance to add to that total in Tuesday's Orange Bowl.) With Michigan down and out the last couple of years, and nobody else stepping up to challenge them, the Buckeyes have dominated this conference. That has enabled Ohio State to play in eight BCS bowls, the most of any school since the BCS' inception in 1998. May it continue into 2010 and beyond.