CLEVELAND -- Here's where the Cleveland Cavaliers are two games into what could be a long run through the NBA Playoffs: 2-0.
The Cavs aren't and haven't been perfect, but their record is. Two up, none down, all what might be still weeks and miles away. They can't get any further than Thursday's Game Three vs. the Celtics in Boston, not right now anyway.
It's OK to live in and enjoy this moment. The Celtics are prepared, feisty and have played about six good quarters thus far.
The Cavs are just better. Against a lesser team -- or against a lesser point guard and Superhuman Utility Guy than the Cavs trot out there -- the Celtics would probably going home 1-1.
In Tuesday night's Game Two, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving scored the last 28 Cavs points in what became a 99-91 win. Maybe there was too much isolation, too much of the hero stuff, not enough from the supporting cast. Eventually, that cast will matter. Eventually, the Cavs will lose if they only get seven bench points, like they did Tuesday night.
For now, though, Irving is averaging 28 points per playoff game and James is averaging 25 and their best isolating, alley-ooping, dominating stuff is better than the best stuff the Celtics have. In Game Two, James scored 15 of his 30 in the fourth quarter.
"I've been in this moment and a lot of our guys haven't," James said. "I just felt it was important for me to put my stamp on the game, just be aggressive. It was just very important for me to be there for our team when it needed me."
The Cavs are going as far as James takes them. The next stop is Boston on Thursday for a road test, a new atmosphere, a new challenge. In a different lifetime, James and the Cavs fell short there. That was 2010. The Cavs were vastly different. The Celtics were vastly different. Still, this whole thing is new and this moment is what matters.
"Every experience we have will be great for us," James said. "There's a learning curve for all of us but for the younger guys, for sure. The best teacher is experience. They're learning on the fly and I think Thursday and Sunday will be great for the young guys."
The Celtics played well in Tuesday night's first half, leading by as many as nine. The Cavs kept making shots, though, and fought back to lead at halftime, 51-50. Thomas kept them in the game into the final minutes, but James kept answering. He scored off the drive and off passes from Irving. A big offensive rebound by Iman Shumpert in the lane ended up in the hands of James on the wing. He waited until the perfect time to dish to Irving, who sunk a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to five, and the Celtics kept it close but never really made the Cavs sweat.
The Cavs have too much firepower. If this series doesn't end Sunday, it will end next Tuesday.
"LeBron is obviously a great competitor, and he's also the most physically talented and certainly one of the best mental players in the game," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "You add that together and you have a heck of a player. It's why he's considered one of the all-time best, why he's the best in the game now."
Far from perfect, these Cavs. Pretty darn dangerous. The Big Three -- James, Irving and Kevin Love -- combined for 69 points in Game Two, just as they'd done in Game One.
Tactically, the Celtics have winning ideas -- like strategic double teams on James at or near the block, like attacking with tiny but elusive point guard Isaiah Thomas, like letting it fly from behind the 3-point arc in an attempt to make up for the talent gap. But what the Celtics have to do leaves them vulnerable to second shots and trying to play too fast. The Cavs have 27 offensive rebounds in two games; the Celtics have turned the ball over 25 times. James was a distributor in Game One, a finisher in Game Two.
"(James) just put his head down and went to the basket," Thomas said. "He got a little loose in the fourth quarter. He's one of the best passers in the NBA as well so you have to pick your poison."
Stevens canceled a standard morning shootaround Tuesday because he liked what he saw from his team in practice on Monday. The Celtics were ready. They played much better defensively in the second game than they did in the first. They hung around into the final three minutes. The home team had too much talent.
Two up, none down. Things to fix. Dunks to flex. There's at least a little bit of mystery about what Game Three will bring, and that's good for viewers and the Cavs.
It's OK to live in the moment. The Bulls can wait. The talk of "14 more" can wait. The Cavs are simply handling their business, one James-led possession at a time.
