Cavaliers clinch 1st Central Division title since 2010, edge Bucks

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been so hot since mid-January that they don't even need to win games to accomplish goals anymore.

The Cavs clinched their first Central Division title since 2009-10 on Wednesday thanks to a Chicago Bulls loss, though they'd later top the Milwaukee Bucks 104-99 just to be sure.

The loss dropped the Bulls to 46-32, five games back of the 51-27 Cavaliers with each team having just four games to go. The Cavaliers own the tiebreaker over the Bulls, so even if their records had pulled even, the Cavs would have gotten the nod.

It's only the fourth division crown in franchise history for the Cavs, who also won in 2008-09 to snap a 33-year drought. The division titles in LeBron James' final two seasons with the Cavs turned into four straight with the Miami Heat, giving him seven consecutive division titles. That's only one shy of teammate Kendrick Perkins. Seriously, Perkins has won eight consecutive division titles.

The Cavaliers have also clinched the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed in the process, as they pulled five games ahead of the 46-32 Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.

There's still incentive for the Cavaliers to keep winning, even if they can't catch the Atlanta Hawks atop the East. With a .654 winning percentage, the Cavs would only have home-court advantage against three of the Western Conference playoff teams in an NBA Finals series as things stand.

Wednesday's win pushes the Cavs to 31-7 since their 19-20 start to the year, thanks in large part to a reinvigorated James. James scored 21 points with nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the way against the Bucks, flanked by 27 points and nine assists from Kyrie Irving.

Despite a somewhat slow start for himself and the Cavs, James may have worked himself back into the MVP discussion - he's averaging 25.5 points, six rebounds and 7.4 assists for one of the championship favorites.