8:39AM Saturday
March 2, 2013

Ask most NBA players when the second night of a back-to-back stint rears its ugly head and they will tell you that it is halftime that opens the floodgates of fatigue and flatness.-The legs slowly slip into states of wobble, the mind desires an alternative path rendering the simplest of-instinctual motor skills a voluntary chore. Arms raise slower, lateral steps are a process.

During a late-December stretch that leaked into the flipped calendar, Cavaliers reserve guard CJ Miles - a veteran presence despite being just 25 years of age - waxed poetic on how he felt a lot of the ankle-knocking and heavy heads were mental; players come equipped with-pre-existing-thoughts of-impending struggles that tend to manifest that into poor play. It's about breaking down those mental barriers and letting God-given talent take over.

In Miami, one night after thumping the Orlando Magic, the Cavaliers appeared ready to buck this trend - what with head coach Byron Scott's perennial emphasis on conditio...