Even if the playoffs are a longshot, these games matter for the players and fans alike

At some point this season, we all gave up on the Cavaliers. Some of us did it earlier than others, but reality eventually sank in for all of us equally. This was not a good team, and they didn't appear to have much of a future.

Then, on February 6, Dan Gilbert fired Chris Grant. The next night, I saw the Cavaliers in person against the Wizards here in Washington. They looked like a completely different team. The bench was more engaged than usual, and there was this confidence to them that almost seemed out of place. At the time, I wrote that it probably didn't have anything to do with Grant's firing.

But as the sample size has become larger, it is hard to argue with an obvious trend. Before Grant was fired, the Cavaliers were 16-33. Since the change, they're 15-12.

I have no idea why getting rid of Grant was the catalyst that this team apparently needed. I didn't even think that it was the right move at the time. Maybe it just served as a wake-up call, or maybe there was something about Grant's personality that needed to be removed from the equation in order for the young guys to feel and play a little more freely.

Whatever the case may be, the team has won five of their last six games. They did so mostly without Irving, who was seamlessly reintegrated into the lineup last night in Orlando. As they continue to win, they keep their slim playoff chances alive.

Make not mistake, those chances are indeed very, very slim. The Cavaliers trail the Knicks by two games with just six left, and the Knicks will likely hold the tiebreaker. So even if New York goes 2-4 down the stretch, Cleveland would have to go 5-1. Oh, and the Hawks are still in the mix as well, and they also own the tiebreaker over the Cavaliers.

So it is a longshot. But after everything that's happened this season, the fact that we can even talk about playoff possibilities with six games to go is remarkable. Mike Brown never quit, and contrary to what Bill Simmons wrote a couple of weeks ago, this team didn't quit on him. A lot of weird stuff has already happened this season, so I'm willing to believe than anything is still possible.

All that I wanted coming into the season was to be able to have a rooting interest in a meaningful basketball game again. Those of us who follow the team fairly closely have had fun over the last few years rooting for the likes of Manny Harris and Samardo Samuels against all the odds. At a certain point, though, it becomes really hard to keep doing that. Like Chris Ryan wrote on Grantland a couple of weeks ago (about the Bobcats): "That’s what's hard about tanking -- if you cheer for a team that's doing it, you get taken out of the league, entirely. You just feel like you're missing out on an entire season." I think we can all relate to that.

Now, however, the Cavaliers will play in games that definitely matter. They are relevant, at least sto the extent that the race for the eighth seed in a crappy conference is relevant.

There are still fans who will tell you that a lottery pick would be more valuable than winning these next six games. I could not disagree more. Having Irving, Waiters, Thompson, and Zeller play in must-win basketball games -- and succeed -- would be far more valuable to the future of this franchise than any hope provided by the uncertainty of the NBA Draft.