I'm completely with MMac here, at least as far as it pertains to the Cavs.
A) The two teams are quite even. The differences are so minute, it's not worth getting into it. It really comes down to proven champs v. the best player in the game getting even more minutes.
B) Home Court is still left to be decided - 23-27 games remaining, including two head to head, and a 2 game difference in the loss column. Not to mention, the Cavs play at Houston and San Antonio the next two nights, then at Atlanta and Miami Sunday and Monday. That's 4 games in 6 nights against teams who are top 5 in their conferences and have very good home records (Hou 23-6, SA 20-7, Atl 19-6, Mia 19-10) before playing at Boston (24-4 at home) next Friday. They seem to have caught a break with potentially both Ginobli and Duncan being out for the Spurs, but that's a really tough stretch, and it's part of a stretch where they play 8 of their next 10 on the road, going to the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast and Pacific. Not saying they'll lose all of them or anything, but they could easily drop 2 of the next 4 and be even with the Cs in the loss column by the time we meet next week.
Last night was a bad loss and a letdown, but there's no reason to throw in the towel on having a better record than the Cavs.
As for the Lakers, unlike most here, I think not having homecourt against them would be worse because of the 2-3-2 format. It's just likely when you get to the Finals that you'll lose 1 of those 3 middle home games. It's tough to take three straight against a good opponent in the playoffs. In fact, the Celtics never did that last season. (1-2, 5, 7 v. Atl and Cle; 1, 3, 5-6 v. Det, 1-2, 4, 6 v. LA). So that likely means having to win 1 of the first 2 games in LA, and 1 of the last 2 (or both of either set). That's the one I'd rather have home court for. And we're now 4 games behind the Lakers in the loss column (thanks to the tiebreaker).
But they too have some tough tests coming up. They play the Suns at home tonight, then have to go to Denver tomorrow night before going to Phoenix Sunday. And keep an eye on March 9-12; they play at Portland, Houston and San Antonio during a 3-game, 4-night stretch. They also have a 7-game, 12-night road trip through the East in late March and return home to face Houston. There's no big tests to speak of on the trip, but they 2 back-to-backs in there and it's highly possible to drop a game on the road across the country against a team you should beat (see last night).
So don't count it out yet. Last night was certainly a bad loss, and you can't afford to lose games against those types of teams at this stage in the season but there's a lot of time and a lot of games left.
