LeBron backers rock on

CLEVELAND -- OK, before I talk about anything else, let me just get one thing off my chest. To all the higher-ups for the Cavs: Stop referring to Cleveland fans as the best fans in the NBA, OK?
Nobody believes this. You could call them improved (a lot of people might complain that nobody went to the games in the late 1990s, but I view that as a sign of intelligence), but the best? That's insulting. Portland fans are the best (they've stayed away the past few years, but, again, I view that as a sign of intelligence). Maybe Sacramento. Even San Antonio.
Cleveland? No way.
But Cavs fans getting closer.
And this story is about them.
Making noiseat 'The Q'
OK, since we're in the mood for honesty, let's make another clarification. Cleveland doesn't really have many Cavs fans. It's a football town. (And a baseball town.) What Cleveland does have, however, is a lot of LeBron James fans.
Which is pretty much the same thing.
So, if the screaming guys with the microphones (the ones Cavs broadcaster Joe Tait refers to as "blithering idiots," which is just one more reason to love Joe Tait) want to keep complimenting us, they should say this: Cleveland has the best LeBron fans in the NBA.
Take him away and you've got 5,000 people in Quicken Loans arena sitting through another 60-loss season (in blue seats), reminiscing about Mark Price and Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance and Craig Ehlo and Mike Sanders.
(OK, not about Mike Sanders.)
Now. Where was I? Oh yeah, Cavs fans. Like I said, since we're being honest, we should admit something else. No one -- including you and me and Rasheed Wallace and most of the players' wives, girlfriends, plants and goldfish -- gave the Cavs any chance of winning this series.
And anyone who saw the first 13/4 games of this series knows why. TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley, making a reference to the Cavs' "We are all witnesses" promotion, watched Game 2 and said "Yeah, we're witnessing a [butt]-kicking."
Then something funny happened. The Pistons eased up. And the Cavs came back. And LeBron James got mad. And this became a series.
And the fans got loud. And stayed loud.
If you took a quick look around Quicken Loans Arena on Friday, you saw a city starving for a winner. And you saw rally towels. And you saw Usher, who owns 1/1,000th of the Cavs -- or something like that -- making this city feel proud.
(You also saw a middle-aged man in a Superman costume, whose friend was helping him put on his utility belt in the bathroom. This is wrong for so many reasons. But that's another story.)
You also heard foul chants (this is Cleveland, after all) and saw funny signs. Like this one: "My ex-wife was a Pistons fan. I hate them both."
Game 6 isa hot ticket
Tickets for Friday's game were going for as much as $7,000, which is how much I paid for a used Honda Civic last year. The difference is, after Friday's game, I was still driving my Civic and the guy in the courtside seat was ... well, he was probably be driving a much nicer car because he's the type of person who can shell out seven grand for a second-round playoff game.
The point is, for the first time since the Indians were in the 1997 World Series, Cleveland has a team to believe in.
"Our crowd was terrific," said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "The atmosphere was great. They almost helped us get over the hump."
And on Sunday, they'll be watching at home. But whether or not the Cavs can advance to the Eastern Conference finals, this season has already meant so much.
In the fourth quarter of Friday's game, a fan held up a sign that read "Thank you for this amazing run."
Will it continue? Who knows? But as long as James is in a Cavs uniform, you can be sure of one thing: These runs are just getting started.
And Cleveland fans can't wait.
Joe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.