Ed Puskas: The sports weekend that was

As weekends go, it doesn’t get much better than what we just experienced, especially for northeastern Ohio sports fans.

Consider the timeline:

FRIDAY

The Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Philadelphia 76ers — the new darlings of the NBA’s Eastern Conference — on the road, 121-112.

SATURDAY

The Ohio State Buckeyes — a rare home underdog — crushed the Michigan Wolverines, 62-39, and destroyed their arch-rival’s College Football Playoff hopes in the process.

The Cavaliers won again the same night, taking down the Houston Rockets, 117-108.

The Girard Indians outlasted Newark Licking Valley 53-48 in a Division IV state semifinal football game at Crater Stadium in Dover.

SUNDAY

The Cleveland Browns ended a 25-game road losing streak by beating the Cincinnati Bengals, 35-20. The Browns had leads of 28-0 and 35-7 in winning back-to-back games for the first time since 2014.

The Browns seemed fired up at the site of Hue Jackson, their former head coach, who landed as a special assistant to Bengals coach Marvin Lewis after his firing in Cleveland.

“Somebody who was in our locker room is asking us to play for him, and then he goes to a different team,” Mayfield told reporters.

The two had an awkward post-game handshake as the teams left the field.

A deeper look at the weekend that was:

CAVALIERS

Make that three good games in a row for the Cavaliers (4-14). They went hard at LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night before fading late in a 109-105 defeat. Then came the back-to-back wins.

The most encouraging thing about this stretch is that a different player has taken the lead for the Cavaliers each game.

Cedi Osman led the Cavaliers with 21 points against the Lakers, Rodney Hood had 25 against the 76ers and rookie point guard Collin Sexton had a career-best 29 against the Rockets. Veteran Tristan Thompson also came up big with 15, 13 and 20 rebounds in the three games.

OHIO STATE

The Buckeyes (11-1) are still a longshot for the College Football Playoff, but the convincing win over a team with the nation’s best defense helped.

Don’t be fooled by the fact the Wolverines (10-2) scored 39 points. This game was as one-sided as any I’ve seen in the series.

If Jim Harbaugh couldn’t beat Ohio State this time, when will he ever do it?

GIRARD

The Indians (13-1) and their frenetic offensive pace eventually proved just a little too much for the Panthers (10-4).

The only thing left to do is win a state title.

Girard has a special team all the way around, but quarterback Mark Waid drives the Indians.

Could it be that Youngstown State’s long-term answer at QB is just down the road?

BROWNS

Every week in the post-Jackson era it becomes clearer that he was an impediment to what the Browns were doing.

It’s too bad Jimmy and Dee Haslam didn’t realize it sooner. Had they done so, this team might just be the talk of the NFL right now.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.