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I am a happy, happy Cleveland sports fan right now. The Guardians came back from behind and beat the Angels 4-1, keeping us at the top of our division and near the top of all MLB teams this season.

But more importantly, my Cavs won a crucial game 7 and are moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs. They had a solid, though IMO not really spectacular season this year and I was confident we'd make it through at least the first round. My confidence seemed warranted when the Cavs soundly beat the Magic in their first two games of the first round. I was thinking "sweep"...

And then they suffered the worst playoff loss in franchise history in game three. I stopped watching somewhere around the time we were down by 35. I missed game 4--I was on my way to Columbus at the time (and then a late lunch)--but watched as we won game 5. I was sure we would win game 6 in Orlando...

And then we didn't. We *had* been winning and then we let the Magic get, and keep, the lead.

I was really nervous for today's game, and it looked like the Cavs were too. The next thing I knew, the Cavs were down 18 points in the second quarter. I was cursing their lack of offense, their lack of defense, their lack of fire. I was already steeling myself for when the Cavs lost and lost big...

And then they didn't 😁 Even watching (somethings through my hands over my eyes, peeking out between fingers), I can't quite say how we came back. I will say Donovan Mitchell should be considered for league MVP. He was outstanding the last couple games. Also, can I just say...DM is a beautiful, beautiful man. He's stunningly handsome, IMO, but he also is beautiful on the inside. Our young point guard Darius Garland has been having trouble finding his shot the last couple games. Earlier in today's game, DM went over to DG, slung an arm around his shoulder and whispered some words of encouragement. The next time the Cavs had possession, DM passed the ball to DG for a 3...DG missed...DM got the rebound and passed again to DG who was in the same spot...and this time, DG made the shot. The next time out, DG came over and gave DM a bro hug...I almost teared up.

Kudos to the rest of the Cavs. And MUCH respect to the Orlando Magic, who had a lot of young, inexperienced players on the court. Second year player Paolo Banchero played magnificently but simply ran out of gas by the end; you could see how exhausted he was whenever the camera was on him. Jalen Suggs was injured earlier in the game but continued to hobble up and down the court. When he broke down in tears after the game, I felt really bad for him.

Now onto round 2...where I'll be shocked if the Celtics--the #1 team in the Eastern Conference this year--need more than 5 games to eliminate the Cavs from this year's playoffs.