Watching the Cavaliers without LeBron is like watching the Special Olympics.  No offense, but it's hard to watch.  You really want them to succeed, but you know something is missing. 

Sunday afternoon, the team that bounced the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals last year showed up to Cleveland for the last regular season meeting between the two teams.  Mike Brown decided to sit LeBron for the 3rd straight game, and the end result reflected this move.

Personally, like most other Cavs fans, I would have loved to see him play.  I felt that we needed to send a message to the Magic that this is not their year, and the only way to do that is from a thorough beatdown right before the playoffs start.  Regardless, it didn't happen.  LeBron was in street clothes again, and (surprise) we lost by 6 points 98-92.

Let's give the LeBron-less Cavaliers some credit though; they started off as well as you could have imagined.  At one point we took a 16 point lead, and the Magic looked like a D-league team.  No LeBron and they can't do anything?  Maybe they were let down because they thought The King would play, but that's not really a good excuse.  Stan Van Gundy used it anyways.

"I don't know if we still would have won, but we would've played much better, much more focused had LeBron played," Van Gundy said. "The air went out of our locker room when our guys found out he wasn't playing."

Van Gundy was in a terrible mood for most of the first half, and you can't blame him.  The Magic couldn't do anything offensively; they had no ball-movement and shots just weren't dropping.  Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams were leading the Cavaliers to what looked like would be a blow-out.   

It wasn't meant to be, and the Magic cut the defecit to only 4 points before half.  Dwight Howard was a huge factor for them, and his 22 points and 13 rebounds were only a small part of his dominance.  Antawn and Mo didn't see the floor in the 4th quarter, which might explain why we lost.  Listen Mike Brown, I understand you want to rest your starters and we've already locked up the #1 seed overall, but have some perspective here.  This is the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year, and you're going to give them a game right before the start of the playoffs? 

This reminds me of Jim Caldwell sitting Peyton Manning during the last part of their regular season finale, and the bench just couldn't hold the lead.  That move allowed the Jets to win the game, ruined the Colts perfect season, and gave the Jets some confidence going into the playoffs.  Sometimes coaches overthink resting their starters, and it can have a negative impact on a team.  Losing 3 straight is not the way I envisioned this team heading into the last game of the regular season. 

So here's what I'm saying, please get our starters back in vs. the Hawks.  We need to at least get one game to get our team back on track, because losing 4 in a row can't ever be considered a good thing going into the playoffs. 

Speaking of getting our starters back, there was great news for Cavaliers fans released yesterday.  Shaquille O' Neal has officially been cleared to play, and maybe we'll see him tomorrow night vs. the Hawks.  Shaq Diesel is going to be a huge part of our success in the playoffs this year; we need his physical presence.  Sunday proved that without him, the Cavs can't handle Dwight Howard both offensively and in the rebounding battle.  "The Real Superman" doesn't just sit around and let Dwight do his thing.  He bodies him up and when it's necessary, sends him to the free throw line.  There are reports that Shaq has lost over 20 pounds since his injury, and he looks to be in great shape.  He also is sporting the clean-shaven look for the first time in awhile.

This season has flown by, and it's hard to believe there's only one regular season game left.  Atlanta is another one of those teams we can't allow to gain confidence, because they have a well-put together team capable of making a run in the playoffs.  My proposal: play your best players, and end this nonsensical losing streak.  Mike Brown, take off your glasses for a second and stop pretending to be smarter than you are.  LeBron wants to play.  Don't be ignorant.  LeBron James is Underrated