Hey, everyone! It's AC - checking in. What's happening?

That was a great run the Cavaliers just finished up, capping off four games in five nights with a big road win over the Bucks.

I thought about it on the way back from Milwaukee - I thought: this is the first time I've seen the Cavaliers that focused in a situation like the fourth quarter at the Bradley Center. You can tell that there's a higher goal for this team - and they all know it. And I think they just want to keep close to Boston. They want one of those top two spots. They understand the importance of it.

One of the biggest things they have going this year is being able to rest LeBron, where he can stay fresh. You can see the difference. You saw it in the Milwaukee game. It was the fourth game in five nights and he was as fresh as a daisy going down the stretch. Cleveland needed him to get over the hump, and he just took over the game. On some of those layups he just exploded into the basket. And Milwaukee just stood there and watched him score.

To have him fresh like that at the end and to be competitive like that despite shooting as poorly as we were - and they were still able to win. That tells me that the team is focused on higher goals.

They see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but they're not losing track of the day-to-day work that it takes to get there.

That game in Milwaukee - the fourth in five nights - that's a game we lose last year. But the team's mindset is different now. They understand that each game has a meaning to it because of what they're trying to reach at the end. And they know: they're off to a good start and they don't want to blow it.

Now, you're starting to see the season being set up - and you can see that the die is being cast. You have Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and, to some extent, Detroit. Everyone else is hovering around .500. That means you have four of five teams fighting for the first four spots and everybody else fighting for the next four.

The battle at the top is awesome, because Boston is back to their old selves now. How Boston is different this year is that Pierce doesn't have to have 28 points to win. Their bench has been giving them big minutes. There has been almost no dropoff with Boston (and their bench) and you might even say that they're better - with House, Tony Allen, Powe.

Boston's confidence is way up and we're about the only team that has the bench that can compete with them. And Boston knows it, too. They know that we're the ones they're going to have to deal with. That's why we have to keep pace with them. Each game is one you want to win and that's the way you have to go about it. You're not going to win all the games, and if you do get on a negative streak - you have to limit it to two games. You have to find a way to come out of it.

It seems like every week a new player or group of players has been stepping it up. Over the past week or so, it's been Big Z.

The big fella's been great lately. And that's the beauty of the Cavaliers right now - total versatility. The Cavaliers can go small, they can go big, and they can play halfcourt with Z.  You can see Z rarely gets double-teamed any more. Now, LeBron is down below the freethrow line and teams are constantly wondering where he is. If you cheat too much on him, you've got Mo and Delonte hovering on the outside and Z down low. If you run at the guards, they'll beat you off the dribble. The whole game has changed because we have guys that can produce at several positions.

So now, when Z gets the ball, teams are really reluctant to double-team him. Teams try to play straight up, and with his ability to pick-and-pop, there's a lot of good things happening. And I think the root of all this is how we're playing LeBron. Teams just can't sit on him any more. And when they do try to sit on him, that's when everything opens up. When he goes to the basket, you don't see a whole bunch of people on him anymore like you used to.

On the defensive end, what I like now - from Z all the way down: is that they don't let you have uncontested shots at the basket. Ben Wallace started that. Ben does not let you come in there free of charge. That just doesn't happen anymore. There's no "free of charge" sign around the basket.

The Cavs get on the floor for loose balls, they do a little full-court pressing. And a lot of it has to do with Ben's agility in that area. He can cover a lot of ground - east to west - and that just confuses a lot of teams. And if we do happen to go against a big four who can score, Ben can shut him down and keep him from his regular production. And that's going to help us win ballgames.

Big Ben's getting back to his old self. He's challenging shots. They're all challenging shots now. Z has always challenged shots, but he was worried about fouls. You can tell though, Z isn't worrying about that right now. He just plays the game. And he and Ben won't allow you to come into the post uncontested. There are very rarely any open lanes to the basket any more.

The defense will get another test on Wednesday when the Knicks roll in.

New York is such a freelance team, it's similar to Golden State - they "junk up" the game. So you have to be ready to stick to your principles and not get caught up in a Wild West show. The Cavaliers are much more mature now and won't be lured into that style of play. They know this it is a game they should win and they'll come out and do the proper things on defense.

What surprises some of these teams - especially these running teams - is that we can run with them. We just take better shots in the running game than they do. And we'll defend. That's the difference. The Knicks, last week in New York, thought they could just out-run us. But that doesn't work anymore. The Cavaliers are much more diversified.

The Cavaliers just need to keep focused and keep beating the teams they're supposed to. The Boston games will roll around soon enough - and those should be some epic battles. And they'll treat those games like playoff games. If we're close in record - as we are now - the next time we play Boston, we have to win that game, because that makes us even at one game apiece.

We want those games to mean something, and the only way to do that is to win these games and take care of your business on a day-to-day basis.