As of Friday night's win, the Cavaliers are now the Beast of the East - and they proved that point in emphatic fashion on Friday night. 

The reeling Celtics - who had lost seven of nine after winning 19 straight - got back into the win column with a win against Toronto on Sunday. But they did manage to fall behind the Orlando Magic this weekend, despite both clubs reaching the 30-win plateau.

The huge Friday night matchup was supposed to be a slugfest, especially without Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the lineup. But in the end, it was business as usual for the Wine and Gold - with LeBron James and several starters witnessing the win from the sidelines. The Cavs had been beating teams at The Q by an average margin of 16.5 points per victory. They topped the World Champs by 15.

The Hack-a-Ben strategy - first employed by Doc Rivers when he was with Orlando and Wallace, with Detroit - didn't work at all. Wallace went 5-for-10 in the fourth quarter and Boston became more demoralized with each made free throw. The strategy also didn't achieve the desired effect of taking the crowd out of the game. The sold-out throng at The Q simply became louder every time Wallace waltzed the length of the court to shoot.

LeBron gave the deafening crowd a lot of credit following the 98-83 win.

 "My first year in the playoffs, my third year in the league, (the crowd) was unbelievable," listed LeBron. "The first Finals game here, Game 3 against San Antonio, was unbelievable. Tonight, when Ben was making free throws and we were making runs, it was great.  Much respect to the Cavaliers fans. They were unbelievable."

Big Ben actually led both squads with 10 free throw attempts, and he described the Celtics' scheme bluntly following Friday's win.

 "It fuels me," said Wallace. "It gives me a sense that the (other) team can try and throw everything that they can throw at us, but they can't stop us and can't figure out what we're doing."

Wallace was huge for the Wine and Gold on Friday. And as good as Anderson Varejao was once again - (14 points, nine boards) - the Cavaliers are still sorely lacking a big presence in the middle. They can beat a reeling Celtic team without Big Z for one night in January. But it would be a different story in May. Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe going a combined 10-for-12 from the floor spells that out quite plainly.

The win over Boston was big in itself - evening up the series to date and giving the Cavaliers the temporary edge for homecourt advantage. The fact that they did it without Ilgauskas is a huge confidence boost. It was also the Cavaliers' 10^th straight victory against Boston at The Q - and they've won those ten games by an average of 11.0 points per win.

But when Mike Brown and his charges finish practice on Monday afternoon before flying to Memphis, the Celtics win will be the furthest thing from their minds. In Mike Brown's one-day-one-practice-one-game-at-a-time paradigm, there is no room for looking to the past. That huge, nationally-televised victory against the Champs is gone. Tuesday's matchup with the cellar-dwelling 11-26 Grizzlies now takes center stage.

The most interesting thing that the Grizzlies have done lately has been to ink former Cavalier, Darius Miles, to a 10-day contract - blowing up the Blazers salary cap and defying Portland president, Larry Miller, who threatened litigation against any team signing Miles. The former No. 3 overall pick will see his first action since re-signing with Memphis against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

The Grizzlies game will be about as easy as the Wine and Gold will have it for the remainder of January. After the matchup with Memphis, it's the final battle with the Bulls of the 2008-09 season on Thursday night in Chicago. The Cavaliers have trounced Chicago in the first three meetings of the year - including a 25-point drubbing on January 2 at The Q.

Cleveland comes home looking for a little revenge when they face the high-octane Hornets on Friday night before leaving for their first West Coast trip of the season. In the four-game set, they'll face the Lakers one week from Monday, before traveling to Portland, Oakland and Utah - where they'll close out the roadie against the Jazz.

It's OK to still be buzzing over Friday night's win over the Celtics. But glory is fleeting over the course of an 82-game schedule, and the Cavaliers hit the road for six of the next seven. If we still feel as good about the Wine and Gold when that run is done - this might really be Cleveland's season of destiny.