The NBA : Suddenly, Cleveland Has Cavalier Attitude

Something highly unusual is happening in Cleveland these days. Not only are the laughable Cavaliers winning games, for a change, they are beating some of the National Basketball Assn.’s best teams.

Shocking as it may seem, Cleveland defeated the Philadelphia 76ers twice in four days recently. And Saturday night, the Cavaliers concluded probably the best week in their recent history with a 128-106 victory over Central Division leader Milwaukee.

After starting the season with a 19 losses in their first 21 games, the Cavaliers have posted a respectable 18-18 record and trail Atlanta by 4 1/2 games for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot. Still, they are only two games ahead of Indiana in the battle for last place in the Central Division and embark on a six-game West Coast trip that includes games against the Lakers and Clippers next week.

“What we’re doing is changing the image of the Cavaliers,” guard World B. Free recently told a writer. “By beating Philadelphia back to back, it showed that we’re not a team that can be taken lightly. Cleveland’s reputation was damaged by several down years.”

For once, the flamboyant Free is guilty of understatement. Cleveland has been down for so long that some people have mentioned changing the club’s nickname to the Cadavers.

This incompetency dates back to the era of Ted Stepien, the capricious and beleaguered former owner who literally gave away draft choices in incredibly poor trades. Stepien finally ran out of money and supporters and took a hike.

But the Stepien legacy lives. Cleveland’s first-round pick this season belongs to Dallas, the result of another trade in which the Cavaliers acquired someone named Geoff Huston. However, the league has awarded the Cavaliers a supplemental pick--the eighth overall--no matter where they finish in the standings this season.

“We have some good players, but our depth isn’t quite there yet,” said forward Roy Hinson, who had 19 points in the victory over Milwaukee. “In time, we’ll be able to go eight or nine deep with most teams.”

Meanwhile, Stepien has been an occasional visitor to Clipper games at the Sports Arena. He’s now the owner of the Toronto Tornados of the Continental Basketball Assn. and has said he wants to get back into the NBA someday.

Speaking of bad teams, the Golden State Warriors are 13-44 going into tonight’s game against Seattle. Nearing the last quarter of the season, Bay Area fans are wondering if the Warriors will win more games than the San Francisco 49ers did.

The Super Bowl champion 49ers won 18 games this season, and the Warriors will have to hustle to reach that total. That is highly unlikely, considering that even in January, the Warriors (0-15) didn’t win as many games as the 49ers (2-0) did.

Golden State Coach John Bach’s description of his team: “We’re like vultures. We can’t kill, and no one’s willing to die for us.”

Add Warriors: Forward Mickey Johnson recently told Tom Friend of the San Jose Mercury News that the problem is primarily a bad team attitude.

“They’ve got to change it,” he said. “That’s the biggest problem here. It’s not just the players, it goes higher up . . . The Warriors look at other teams like they’re scared.”

How did Houston Coach Bill Fitch spend his time during his recent two-game suspension for stealing referee Paul Mihalak’s whistle?

Apparently, Fitch had enough idle time to devise a practical joke to play on assistant coach Carroll Dawson, who admitted that he didn’t really enjoy replacing Fitch on the bench.

When the Rockets returned from a road win in Phoenix Thursday--the final game of Fitch’s suspension--Dawson was handed a letter supposedly written by David Stern, NBA commissioner.

It said that, since Fitch had shown little remorse for his actions, the suspension was extended for five more games. Shocked, Dawson burst in and interrupted General Manager Ray Patterson.

“When he hit the door, he looked like a dead man,” Patterson told a Houston writer. “There wasn’t an ounce of color in his face. It scared me to death. He looked so white.”

Patterson quickly told Dawson that he had been victimized by Fitch.

Add Fitch: He said that the worst part of his suspension was watching the Phoenix game on television. “It was awful,” he said. “I would watch them run a play and I knew what was supposed to be coming. If it didn’t work, I’d know immediately who botched it up. But I couldn’t reach out and grab anyone. There was no way to relieve the tension. I couldn’t reach out and grab whistles from my apartment.”

NBA Notes Larry Bird had a good chance to achieve an extremely rare quadruple-double last Tuesday against Utah. When Bird left the Celtic rout for good with 30 seconds left in the third quarter, he had 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 steals. He apparently felt no compulsion to return and try for another steal. “When you come into the league, you may be concerned with stats,” he said. “But once you’ve won a championship or two, the only thing you care about is getting another one.” . . . Another Bird endorsement, this one from New York Coach Hubie Brown: “People are still wondering who the best player in the league is. People must be blind.”