Random thoughts from the stands at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers are guaranteed at least one more home game, but don’t know whether it will come against Washington, Boston or Atlanta:
There is no reason to panic about the Wizards coming back to win this series — yet. Cleveland played a terrible basketball game Wednesday, while Washington was terrific, and the outcome still came down to the last shot.
The Cavaliers are the better team, which is everything in the NBA playoffs. That’s the beauty of best-of-seven series; they separate contenders from pretenders.
Cleveland might not be a title contender, but without Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards are championship pretenders. …
It would be nice, though, if anyone on the Cavaliers decided to raise their game to the required postseason level beyond LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Point guard Delonte West has been their third-best player, but that is somewhat by default as he is shooting a robust .292 on two-point field goals.
To West’s credit, he hasn’t shied away from the more physical style and is far tougher than I first gave him credit for. He has a knack for making momentum-swinging plays and could be part of the long-term solution in the backcourt.
But on an elite team, D-West would be the fourth or fifth option, not the third. …
Where are all of the media members who praised the addition of Ben Wallace now? Hopefully, more than a few readers took my advice and took note of who raved about the trade when it happened. Those scribes, radio and TV types certainly aren’t going to admit their enormous mistake without having it pointed out to them. …
Daniel “Boobie” Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak are putting on clinics for how not to defend in half-court sets. Gibson is averaging 9.8 points per game, but is legitimately giving up about twice that many with his poor court coverage.
Szczerbiak, meanwhile, is looking like the second coming of ex-Cleveland guard Jim Jackson, whose long-anticipated arrival was a disaster on every level. Wally World’s foot speed is the slowest I’ve ever seen for a non-center on the Cavaliers, while his shot has been lost somewhere between Seattle and the North Coast. Making just 25 percent of his 3-pointers in the playoffs is inexcusable, especially because he’s killing the club on defense. …
I am so proud of the paying customers at The Q for seeing through the myth that is Anderson “Moppy” Varejao. It warms my heart to hear 20,562 fans yelling “No!” every time he thinks about driving or shooting — because Andy has absolutely no idea what a bad shot is in this, his third NBA season.
The guy is 6-foot-10 and an adequate rebounder, meaning almost all of his touches come near the basket. Yet, Varejao is 7-of-24 from the floor in the series. Inexcusable.

Dulik may be reached at brisports@hotmail.com or 330-721-4059.