Cavs sweep, now sleep

After sweeping the Pistons in four games, the Cavs have a chance to rest up.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Dusting Detroit has given the Cleveland Cavaliers some extensive down time in the NBA playoffs.

Having broomed aside the Pistons in four lopsided games in the opening round, LeBron James and his crew will sit back and wait for their next opponent — the winner of the Atlanta-Miami series.

The Cavs are the first team to move into Round 2 after mowing down the team from Motown in historic fashion.

With James playing four games at a level beyond anything he has shown, and his teammates providing more support than ever, the Cavaliers joined the 1980 Boston Celtics and 2004 Indiana Pacers as the only teams in league history to sweep a first-round series by winning every game by double figures.

So, now what?

The Cavaliers rest.

They won’t play again until Sunday at the earliest. If the Atlanta-Miami series goes seven games, it’s possible Cleveland won’t take the court again until May 5 — an eight-day gap between games that will challenge the Cavs’ patience and polish.

Coach Mike Brown gave his team Monday off, but the Cavs will be back on their practice court today without knowing who’s next.

“We need to stay mentally focused for the next series,” forward Ben Wallace warned following Sunday’s win at The Palace, Detroit’s noisy home that hosted more than 5,000 Cleveland fans who made the short drive from Ohio into Michigan for Game 4.

James has rarely been so locked in. He scored 36 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists in Game 4 and finished the series averaging 32 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists on 51 percent shooting. He joined Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average 30-10-7 in a playoff series.

Great teams make easy work of mediocre ones at this time of year, and the Cavaliers showed a killer instinct.

“We responded really well,” James said. “We knew the importance of closing out a team but we also wanted to play well and get better. We did that, we got better from the first quarter on.”

Unlike in past postseasons, when James would try to beat Cleveland’s opponent single-handedly, he turned to his now-trusty teammates and they responded.

Mo Williams, Delonte West, Joe Smith, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson all chipped in with big baskets, timely rebounds or must-have defensive stops throughout the four-game rout.

While Michael had his Jordanaires, James doesn’t have a catchy nickname for his supporting cast. But that doesn’t mean the other Cavaliers are any less valuable.

Detroit coach Michael Curry knows how dangerous James’ gang can be.

“I’m very impressed with Cleveland,” he said. “In the past, when you really locked down on LeBron and made other guys have to make plays, that’s where they missed having a guy like Mo Williams. Now, he’s making plays and LeBron can be on the floor as the recipient of plays created by someone else. And, they’ve continued to play well defensively.

“They’re a focused group.”