After plodding along in the final month of the regular season, the Cavaliers have come alive in the playoffs. They've taken anything Washington has thrown their way -- the bumps, the flagrant fouls, the attempts to take off LeBron James' head -- and maintained their composure. It's been an impressive couple of outings, particularly Game 2, when the Cavs were never really challenged. They passed, they cut, they made all the X's and O's on coach Mike Brown's chalkboard come to life. It was if the Cavs had ripped the pages from "How to Play Basketball for Dummies" and put those lessons to use by returning to the game's very basics. And if the Cavs can display that type of cohesion and fire throughout the rest of the postseason, there's no reason to think they can't get back to the Finals -- regardless of who they play. So yes, life is good. But the real tests will come during the next two games in Washington (Thursday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.). The Cavs have been the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Wizards' Cleveland Browns -- and the Wizards are clearly frustrated and confused. They've resorted to intimidation tactics by talking tough and getting especially physical with James. It hasn't worked (or really even come close), but things could be different in Washington. In Washington, the Wizards will have the crowd behind them. The basket will seem bigger. They'll be sleeping in their own beds the night before the game. Things will just FEEL right for them. That's just the way it works in the NBA. In other words, this weekend will be very telling for the Cavs. Are they the team that struggled to find its rhythm in March and early April? Or the one that is figuring out how to play its best basketball when it means the most? Or are they a team that is somewhere in between? We're about to find out.