<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Ever since he was benched for the entire game against Phoenix on Jan. 28, Cavaliers forward Sasha Pavlovic has played like a man on a mission. After that 15-point loss, teammate LeBron James voiced his concern about Pavlovic's playing time, saying, "He doesn't understand why he doesn't play." Frankly, so did a lot of other people. Pavlovic, 23, has been on a tear since getting back in Coach Mike Brown's rotation. In his last seven games, he's averaged 15.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 26 minutes. He's also shot 50 percent from the field (34 of 68) and from the 3-point line (9 of 18). Pavlovic was never better than on Sunday, when he had 21 points and three rebounds in the Cavs' 99-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Sixteen of his points came in the second half, 13 in the pivotal fourth quarter. He tied his career high with 13 field-goal attempts, and he matched his season high with seven field goals made. "(Now) I know I'm going to play," Pavlovic said. "I know I'm not coming out if I miss a few shots. That keeps me more consistent." Has it ever. Pavlovic also did a yeoman's job defending Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant, who had a game-high 36 points against the Cavs. "I just had to keep him in front of me," he said. "(I didn't want to) give him easy layups. We all know Kobe is going to score his points. I tried to make it as tough as I could for him, but he still scored. He made four shots in a row on me. We kept playing and won the game."</div> Source
