Next? LeBron, Cavaliers again play waiting game after second straight sweep

Cavaliers in waiting game until conference final

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Team Sweep did some housekeeping on Wednesday.

Waiting around — again — for their next opponent in the NBA playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers, an impressive 8-for-8 so far in the postseason, returned to the practice floor to begin preparations for an Eastern Conference final against a still-to-be-determined opponent.

So while Orlando and Boston got ready for Game 5 of their semifinal series on Thursday, the Cavs watched game tape, reviewed defensive assignments, worked on their free-throw shooting and did all they could to pass the time during the initial hours of their second lengthy layoff this month.

The Cavaliers are resting, not restless.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” said center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, noting the down time will allow players to refresh their bodies. “I like the position we’re in. We’ve earned it.”

The Cavs will not play again until next Monday — at the earliest — as four-game sweeps of Detroit and Atlanta have given the Central Division champions ample time to get healthy, scout the Magic and Celtics and make whatever necessary adjustments to maintain their buzz-saw momentum.

The club’s mood on the practice courts was businesslike during much of the session that was open to media members Wednesday. Unlike last week when rap music pumped through the state-of-the-art facility’s sound system, bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers were the dominant sounds.

But true to their nature, the carefree Cavs had some fun.

As is the case after every practice, LeBron James, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson finished with a game called “Rain Man” where shooters launch corner 3-pointers that must arch higher than the 24-second shot clock above the basket.

The last player to make one of the ceiling ticklers has to do pushups for every shot he misses once everyone else has made their attempts. Williams’ count reached 25 before he performed three weak one-armed pushups that didn’t seem to satisfy James or any of his teammates.

The eight-day gap between the first and second rounds had no effect on the Cavs, who ripped through the Hawks with the same ease as they did the Pistons. Any concerns about rust were dissolved by Cleveland’s 27-point win in Game 1 over an injury-decimated Atlanta team that had no chance.

After giving his players the day off on Tuesday, coach Mike Brown put his team through a light, contact-free workout. He plans to give them another break later in the week, but did not reveal his itinerary.

“As the week goes on we’ll figure out what we’re going to do,” he said with a smile. “We have a plan.”

To this point, the Cavaliers have danced around most questions about whether they would prefer to face the Celtics or Magic next.

However, following Monday’s Game 4 win in Atlanta, James seemed to be leaning toward the defending champions, who eliminated the Cavaliers last year in a grueling seven-game series.

“We know everything about Boston, we have a history with them,” James said. “They’re an experienced club, you take away one All-Star, one Hall of Famer in K.G. (Kevin Garnett) and they’ve still got two more. It is going to be a tough conference final no matter which team we play because it is going to be one more step to the goal.

“We can’t wait.”

James hasn’t shaken the pain he felt in Boston following last season’s Game 7, when his 45 points weren’t enough.

Does he want the Celtics again?

“I’m a competitor, I thrive on going against the best,” James said. “I love playing against the best. You make your answer out of that.”

Cleveland and Boston have seemingly been on a collision course for months. When the Celtics received their championship rings on opening night, James and the Cavs stayed in their locker room until the pregame ceremony ended. They split four games during the regular season with the home team winning each time.

In their most recent meeting on April 12, Celtics guard Ray Allen earned a one-game suspension for elbowing Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao in the groin during the Cavs’ 107-76 rout. Cleveland’s players celebrated by dancing on their bench in the final minutes and Allen, for one, didn’t like it.

Like James, the other Cavaliers are careful not to say they favor playing the Celtics. But there seems to be an unspoken choice, and it’s shaded green.

“We don’t want to hold any personal grudges or anything like that,” forward Joe Smith said. “But we remember last year and remember what happened in Game 7, and that’s something guys have fed off all year long. It’s why we achieved what we did during the regular season and why we’ve been so focused in the first two rounds.

“Boston or Orlando. Either one, we’ll be ready.”