CAVS Win completes team's first step

Cleveland is competitive again; next season, the playoffs are the goal.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Next season can't get here fast enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"It's going to be great," Carlos Boozer said. "I think we are capable of anything."
It will be tough to match what they accomplished this season.
The Cavaliers doubled their win total from last season Monday night with a 93-89 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, whose seeding in the NBA playoffs remains a mystery.
LeBron James scored 27 points with nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers (34-47), who after going 17-65 a year ago exceeded what first-year coach Paul Silas thought they were capable of.
"It's off the charts," he said. "Doubling our win total from last year, that's sending a message that we are a team to be reckoned with in the future."
Milwaukee needs a win
The Bucks (41-40), who had their opportunities down the stretch, have one game remaining on Wednesday night against Toronto. The Bucks would win a tie-breaker over Miami (41-40) but not over New Orleans (40-41), which lost to New York.
"This hurts," Keith Van Horn said. "It was in our hands and we lost that opportunity. Now we've got to go out and win and hope the others lose."
James' breakaway dunk with 1:06 to go put the Cavaliers ahead to stay, 88-87. After Michael Redd missed two shots, Jeff McInnis hit a jumper and James made a free throw to give Cleveland a 91-87 lead.
Van Horn's layup cut it to two with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Forced to foul, the Bucks put Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the line and the Cavs' 7-foot-3 center made both tries for a 93-89 lead with 10.6 seconds to go.
Milwaukee's final shot clanged off the rim and was ripped down with one arm by James as 20,562 fans -- the 16th sellout crowd this season at Gund Arena -- roared.
The Gund was one of the quietest and emptiest buildings in the league before James' arrival. But those days are over for the Cavs, who recently fell from playoff contention with a recent losing streak after McInnis got hurt.
"We showed we can play with all these teams, though," McInnis said. "We'll come back next year ready."
Ilgauskas added 18 points and 14 rebounds, Boozer had 18 points, and McInnis had 14 points and seven assists. Cleveland finished 23-18 at home, the Cavs' most victories since winning 27 at the Gund in 1997-98.
"I don't see any reason why we can't make the playoffs next season," Boozer said. "We had five or seven games that we probably should have won this year. We probably could have had 40 wins."
Desmond Mason had 25 points -- 21 in the first half -- and Van Horn 15 for the Bucks, who went more than six minutes in the fourth quarter without a field goal.
Redd, who averaged 24.6 points in his previous five games, finished with 12. Milwaukee did a poor job of preventing James from sneaking behind their defense for dunks.
Cleveland had 26 points on fast breaks. "We can't let that happen," Redd said. "That killed us."