CAVS.SPACE

"Who is this year's Golden State?": This was inspired by a sign displayed at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game between Notre Dame and George Mason, where a George Mason fan held up a sign reading "George Mason is this year's George Mason". Golden State could very well pull off an upset like last season's overthrowing of Dallas. The team currently hangs onto a half-game lead over Denver for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. Dirk's hurt, but . . . : Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks could also be this year's version of last year's Golden State Warriors team. The Mavericks currently hold the 7th seed in the West and could have the ability to overtake a higher seed in the playoffs. The Texas 3? What about New Orleans?: The Boston Celtics recently went 3-1 on a road trip versus 4 Western Conference powers. They swept through the 3 Texas teams (Spurs, Rockets, and Mavericks) but fell to the unheralded New Orleans Hornets.

The Cavaliers currently stand at 40-31, which places them in 4th place in the Eastern Conference. They need to finish with a 10-1 record in their final 11 games to win 50 games this season. If they pull off the remarkable feat, it will be the first time in franchise history that the team has won 50 games or more in 3 consecutive seasons. The last team to win the NBA Championship with under 50 wins on the season was San Antonio in the lockout-shortened 50-game season of 1999. However, at 37-13, the Spurs played .740 ball and tied with the Utah Jazz for the best record in the league. The last team to win the NBA Championship with under 50 wins on the season in an 82-game season was Houston, who went 47-35 (.573) in the 1994-1995 campaign. After clinching a #6 seed in the Western Conference, the Rockets took down the four highest seeds in the playoffs (#3 Jazz at 60-22; #2 Suns at 59-23; #1 Spurs at 62-20; and #1 Magic at 57-25). (Note: Due to league rules at the time, division winne

On December 19th, 2007, the Atlanta Hawks had supposedly defeated a declining Miami Heat team in overtime, 117-111. However, a scorekeeping error had taken Shaquille O'Neal out of the Heat's lineup; his sixth recorded personal foul was actually only his fifth foul. (A previous foul was called on Udonis Haslem but charged to Shaq.) Realizing the error, the Heat protested the game. In turn, Commissioner David Stern acknowledged the mistake and ruled that the final 51.9 seconds of overtime need to be replayed. Interestingly enough, both the Hawks and the Heat made trades after this game was ruled incomplete. Thus, when they finally do replay the rest of the game on Saturday (March 8th, 2008), several players that had been playing in the game will not be around to finish it. Since O'Neal was one of the players traded, the ruling that was made in his name still does not allow him to re-enter this game. Instead, Stern and league officials have ruled the new acquisitio