You can't stop these Cavs

For the second time in less than a week, the Cavaliers beat one of the NBA's best teams on the road last night. The Atlanta Hawks came into the game with a 21-8 record and were looking like serious contenders for an Eastern Conference title. And they played our boys tough through three quarters. The Cavs were up just one point, 75-74, going into the fourth. But nearly nine minutes into that fourth quarter, the Cavs had scored 10 points, and the Hawks had scored ZERO. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis.

After a timeout, the Hawks finally found their offense, and scored 10 over the next two minutes, but the Cavs answered most of their scores and came out with a 95-84 win. Over that eight-plus-minute scoreless stretch, the Hawks took 10 shots and missed every single one. It was a singularly impressive defensive effort by the Cavs. Radio announcer Joe Tait said he'd never seen a team go scoreless that long before, and Joe Tait has watched an awful lot of basketball. And these weren't the Washington Generals — the Hawks are the Eastern Conference's highest-scoring team, averaging nearly 105 per game.

Another thing to note: The Cavs won despite just 14 points from LeBron James, on 6-for-20 shooting; and they won despite turning it over 18 times, including seven by Mo Williams.

After demolishing the Lakers in LA on Christmas and putting this effort together last night in Atlanta, these Cavaliers are looking unstoppable.

Cavaliers are freaking unstoppable

I almost feel sorry for the Atlanta Hawks. Our Cavaliers have totally dominated the first two games against Atlanta, after making a mockery out of Detroit in the first round, and have now won all of their first six playoff games of the year by double-digits. More than that, the 85 points the Hawks scored last night were the most the '08-09 Cavs have given up in a playoff game, and they only got that many because the second units played almost the whole fourth quarter.

Our boys absolutely toyed with the Hawks for three quarters. LeBron's shot from nearly half-court at the end of the half was a microcosm of the game. The Hawks could do nothing but watch as the home team had its way with them. That shot gave the Cavs a 24-point halftime lead, which got as big as 36 in the third. It was just so very, very easy.

I've predicted that the Cavs would win this series in five games, but I'm starting to think it'll be another sweep. As if the Hawks weren't having enough trouble hanging with us, leading scorer Joe Johnson turned his ankle last night and is questionable at best for Saturday's Game 3. If Johnson can play, it's going to be tougher to win in Atlanta than it was in Detroit, but there's no reason these Cavaliers can't rattle off two more quick ones and wait for Orlando and Boston to finish beating up on each other.

I've long felt that the '95 Indians would probably be the best Cleveland team I'd ever see, even if they didn't manage to win the title. As great as that team was, the '08-09 Cavaliers are better. This is a championship-caliber team. Those Lakers over there in the West are awfully strong too, and if they meet up in the Finals (as seems almost inevitable), that's going to be a barn-burner, but in the East, our Cavaliers are men among boys. Savor it, Cleveland.

Today in sports history -- Mike Woodson

Happy 50th birthday, Atlanta Hawks head coach and (briefly) former Cavalier Mike Woodson.

In a 12-year NBA playing career with the Knicks, Nets, Kings, Clippers, Rockets and Cavaliers, Woodson averaged 19.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He played in 786 career games, the last four as a Cavalier in 1990-91. In those four games, he averaged 8.6 points and 3.8 assists. He played in five playoff series in his career, and his teams lost every one of those series. In fact, his teams only won two playoff games.

But that's two more than he's won as a coach. This is his fourth year as head coach of the Hawks, and his coaching record to date is 99-216. His Hawks have not made the playoffs in that time. At 30-39, they are currently in line to get the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, which would make them the Celtics' first-round victims.

In case Woodson's children might be reading this, none of the above is meant to suggest that Woodson wasn't a fine player (he was) or isn't a fine coach (he may be, but no coach can win with mediocre talent).