Though the Cavs suffered a blowout loss to Detroit Saturday night, they locked up a spot in the playoffs. At this point it’s all about what seed the Cavs will take.

Since being so far behind the Orlando Magic, the Cavs can take the third spot in the Eastern Conference off the radar. Many have said that the fourth spot is all but a lock, but that’s not necessarily a guarantee.

The Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors are the two teams jostling for position. Washington currently has the fifth spot but is not far ahead of Toronto. Washington is only two-and-a-half games behind the Cavs, yet only lead the Raptors by one game.

Both teams have fairly favorable schedules for April, especially if teams that are out of the playoff picture just lay down, while teams like Boston and Detroit might look to rest its starters. It is very possible that the Cavs can lose that fourth spot to either one of these teams.

So can the Cavs just put it on Cruise control? How important is home-court advantage for the Cavs, playing against either Toronto or Washington?

Since the huge 11-player trade in which they landed four new Cavaliers, the Cavs have been 1-7 on the road, losing to Chicago, Milwaukee and New Jersey, all teams out of the playoff picture.

One could say that the injuries to key players (Ilgauskas, Wallace, Pavlovic, Gibson and Varejao) and the time needed for the four new players to gel with the rest of the team has had a lot to do with these road woes.

Additionally, one of those losses came from a game against Washington. This was Caron Butler’s first game back from an injury and he played very well offensively.

On the bright side the Cavs are 9-1 at home since the trade, only losing a nail-biter to the red hot New Orleans Hornets led by Chris Paul. Cleveland blew out the Detroit Pistons on March 19.

The main difference between the road losses and the home wins is the Cavs overall energy as a team. At home the Cavs come out to play hard but they seem very lethargic on the road. So, it would be safe to say with only one month left to play, that it would be best for the Cavs to get home court advantage in the playoffs.

The Problem

The Cavs have an issue down the stretch of the season. LeBron James is averaging around 40 minutes per game and being depended on to close out games. One could say that LeBron himself could use a rest before the playoffs after seeing how he played against the Pistons in Detroit on Saturday. One could also be very encouraged by how well the Cavs played as a team against the 76ers the next day.

So how can the Cavs sustain and go into the playoffs with home court advantage while allowing LeBron to rest a little and also getting other players involved so the team can have the best post season run?

That’s easier said than done.

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