5-at-10: LeBron in the finals, Indians remind us about power of sports, Braves deal, Rushmore of pigs

Back to the Finals

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed the sweep of the Atlanta Hawks with a 118-88 win Tuesday.

Cleveland will play either Golden State or Houston. Game 5 of the Western Conference finals is tonight in Golden State, which leads 3-1.

It’s only the second NBA Finals trip for the Cavs, who went in 2009 with James before he went to Miami in 2010.

He’s back and the Cavs are back in the Finals.

If your debate on value is simplistically Webster’s, then it’s hard to debate James’ value. With him the Cavs went to the Finals in 2007 and had the best record in basketball in 2010; in his four years in Miami, the Heat went to the Finals every year and won it all twice; in those four years the Cavs were in the lottery every year, winning it all twice; in his one season back in Cleveland, the Cavs are four wins from the city’s first major sports championship in more than 50 years.

The Hawks were the best team in the East this year – with emphasis on team. They had four all-stars and won 60 games. They shared the basketball and relied on cohesion.

But when that cohesion was disrupted – be it by Cleveland’s tight perimeter defense or injuries or the ejection of Al Horford – it was nearly impossible to reestablish.

And simply put the Hawks had no answer for James, who averaged 30.3 points, 9.3 assists and 11 rebounds per game in the series.

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Meaning of sports

We don’t want this to turn into the Cleveland 5-at-10, but there’s another story from Ohio city that caught our attention.

Here is a detailed account of how the Cleveland Indians are shaving their heads to support teammate Mike Aviles, whose four-year-old daughter Adriana was diagnosed with leukemia. Adriana is about to lose her hair from the chemotherapy so the entire Indians clubhouse – and a big chunk of the coaching staff – took to the clippers.

So every time we shake our heads and or our fists at knucklehead criminals like Ray McDonald or Aaron Hernandez or any of the bold-face liars or the rest of the pampered star athletes who get every opportunity and turn them into everyday stories of wasted potential, let’s remember the power of sports, too.

The power of a gesture of support within a locker room that means extra sunscreen on the domes of 24 Indians but means the world to Mike Aviles and his family.

Let’s remember the quiet class of Derek Jeter and the quiet power of Kris Bryant.

Let’s remember the joyous smile of Steph Curry that hasn’t changed whether he’s dropping 75-footers on UTC or shooting better than 45 percent from 3 in the NBA playoffs.

Let’s remember the pursuit of excellence from those that chance the dream more than the stardom.

Thank you Cleveland Indians for a needed reminder to a sports fan that had become all-too-tired of hearing about deflated footballs, PEDs, domestic abuse or soccer bribes and all the stuff that matters but shouldn’t.

And fight like a girl Adriana.

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Braves spanked and dealing

OK, the Atlanta Braves hope Julio Teheran can be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

The L.A. Dodgers know Clayton Kershaw can be.

Each entered Tuesday night on less than ace-like runs.

For Kershaw, who went seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win Tuesday, the expectations are much loftier. Dude was the NL MVP last year, but Tuesday was his first start in May to allow less than three runs.

For Teheran, his great or God-awful roller coaster continued. He has made 10 starts this year, and has allowed one earned run or less in half of them. That’s great, and he’s 4-0 in those five starts. In the other five he’s allowed 26 earned in 26.1 innings and the Braves are 1-4 in those starts.

So there’s that.

There’s also this. The Braves fleeced the Dodgers for Juan Uribe and Chris Withrow, a potential big plus arm in the bullpen, a hodgepodge poo-poo platter that included Albert Callaspo and Eric Stults, who with his acting background will be much more happy in L.A. (Wait, that may be Eric Stoltz, who was great in “Mask” and “Pulp Fiction” among others. Where were we?)

So it was a loss and a win for the Braves, which is much better than anything the Hawks can say this morning.

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This and that

– FIFA is in hot water. Bribes and crimes and all sorts of things that could lead to serious jail time and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. It boggles the mind to think how much these soccer big shots were able to get away with, especially since they are not allowed to use their hands

– Board fav Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former pro wrestler turned bona fide A-list Hollywood superstar told the New York Times it’s easy for him cry. All he needs is a 1980s power ballad, like something from Whitney Houston. Ladies and gentlemen, The Rock.

– OK, we’ve never been a believer in Colin Kaepernick. And rightly or wrongly, we hold quarterbacks to higher standard than almost every other position in every other sport. But we’re pretty sure a franchise-type of QB does not hit social media to make light of flood victims. Cue Herm Edwards. “Don’t hit send. Don’t hit send.”

– Picture Crocodile Dundee saying “That’s not a knife This is a knife.” And now change out the biggest fish you ever caught and this guy will say “This is a fish.” Yes, a 550-pound grouper caught from a kayak.

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Today’s question

On this day in 1933, Walt Disney released the cartoon “Three Little Pigs.”

Disney found a small amount success with the genre and that worked out by all accounts.

As a tribute, what’s our Rushmore of pigs?

Go and remember the mailbag.