darrell,

2-0 last night. One pick tonight as well as my thoughts on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Good luck , darrell!

Player Spotlight: Lebron James

The Cleveland Cavaliers could very well lose the series to the Washington Wizards. Yes, the series is tied at 2-2 but win or lose there is something more important that should not be missed in this series. The fact is, Cleveland is already a winner regardless of the outcome of this series.

For a young man so hyped coming right out of high school, James has performed exceedingly well. Think about it. The Cavaliers before Lebron arrived were 35-47. In young Lebrons first year with the team, the Cavs had a reason to celebrate as they finished above .500 at 42-40. This year, they took the next step and finished the season 50-32. To be fair, part of this success is credited to the addition of a core around Lebron but James has been there throughout the season for his team. From his toughness (nearly playing every game), to picking up the slack when both Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Iglauskas were injured, this team has relied on Lebron and he has delivered.

In this playoff series, his first, he hit the clutch game winning shot in Washington in an important game three, and delivered career and record high performances throughout the series as well as to the games leading up the playoffs. The kid has played like a veteran. He is truly an example of a franchise player as he has come in and rejuvenated Cleveland basketball and brought a sense or pride and swagger back to the team and city which has not had that since the days of Mark Price.

LeBron has brought just the lift needed to a city in need as the Browns have continued to struggle and the Indians are just starting to turn it around. James' character has not faltered during this span either. While all the cameras and attention continue to be on Lebron, he has handled himself professionally and continues to work with league rules as he attempts to be the best ambassador for the game as possible. Amazing for someone his age.

While we see much hype bestowed on so many players that go in and out of the league, Lebron James has actually lived up to his hype and lived up to it fast. Where as other players continue to develop such as Carmello, Okafor, Battier, and Kwame Brown who were all taken near the draft time of Lebron, James has been the one to not only step up but carry his team. The media often showers credit and hype to players who dont deserve it these days but I believe the kid - I mean King -  James deserves all the credit he gets regardless of how far the Cavs go this year.

Game: Washington at Cleveland (8:35 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 stars on Cleveland -5.5

This series has been going back and forth. First Cleveland comes out on top, then Washington wins a must win game two, then Cleveland wins a road playoff game which was huge for the development of this team and then Washington took an important and must win game four. Throughout this series, it seems that Cleveland has been on the offensive and Washington has been on the defensive. Now, can the Cavs come back home and win after the road loss? Yes. The Cavaliers are 7-1 ATS after a straight up (SU) loss. Although Cleveland is young, I firmly beleive they understand the importance of this game as if they drop it, they will be faced with a horrible situation in that they face elimination on the road at Washington in Game Six. To avoid the situation and remain in the driver's seat as they have throughout this series, I beleive Cleveland comes back and plays strong after the loss as it is their turn to win now. I will ride the strong performance of Cleveland after a loss in front of their home crowd in what is a must-win game for the Cavs.