Fair Play: Cavs feel right at home at No. 1

IT REALLY feels good to be number one.

Just go ask LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA.

Go ask Roger Federer, too.


With still three games left in their regular season they can well afford to let The King and the Big Diesel sit out the remaining games of the season.

It doesn’t matter.

The No. 1 spot—and the all important homecourt edge—are theirs all through out the playoffs.

If the 82-game season was one game, this is garbage time, it’s when you let your second stringers take the limelight, knowing whatever they’d do won’t change the outcome.

At 67-21 the Cavs can well afford to do that and they’re doing it.

No other team in the East can catch them. Orlando, the sure second, is 56-23 and third-best Atlanta is 50-29.

The Lakers are also 56-23 but the Cavs won’t have to worry about Kobe and the guys until the finals.

Their record have allowed the Cavs to give Shaq a much-needed respite, before the grinds of the postseason starts.

And rest is something the Big Diesel, who only averaged 24 minutes in 53 games this year, needs.

The original Man of Steel started playing in the NBA when this year’s debutantes were still in their mothers’ wombs. And until now, here’s still right there, in the thick of things.

The Cavs will either face Toronto or Chicago in the first round of the playoffs since both teams are tied for the eighth spot at 38-41.

After losing their game against Toronto, the Cavs won the season series at 3-1 but against Chicago, they are 2-2.

That loss against Toronto was part of Cleveland’s 2-2 start in October, a poor start they turned around by going 10 of 13 in November and 14 of 17 in December.

After the first round, it’s either Boston or Milwaukee in the second. The Cavs are 2-2 against Boston and 3-1 against Milwaukee.

After that, it’s either Orlando, or even Miami take your pick, in the Conference finals.

I hope it would be Orlando though so the Cavs can settle the score from last year’s bitter loss.

After that, it’s a date with Kobe and the Lakers in the finals.

LBJ23 vs. KB24. No. 1 vs. No. 1.

Now that should be one final to look forward too.

ONE GREAT SUMMER. Aside from the NBA playoffs, the French Open and Wimbledon are events you should look forward to this summer.

And the defending champion in both events?

Roger Federer, the guy with 16 slams. If he wins both, it will be 18 and a calendar slam could be his.

Roger’s got so many slams that the guy who has a chance to overtake him is not even a tennis player.

He’s also no. 1 and in a way, was quite like Roger, though I know that right now, Roger’s fans wouldn’t want their idol to be compared with him.

You know him.

He’s been all over the news recently—the main news and entertainment pages even.

He’s Tiger Woods.

And he’s chasing slam No. 15 today.

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