At last, it looks like the real Cleveland Cavaliers have stood up.

Although the Cavaliers’ appearance in last season’s NBA Finals looked like the first step in what would be a long run as an elite Eastern Conference team, you wouldn’t have known it from the way they started this season. The Cavs were not the airtight defensive stoppers that won 50 games. Unless LeBron James was lighting it up, the Cavaliers’ offense was particularly bad. How bad? They got blown out by the Knicks, and unlike other recent MSG victims, they didn’t have the end of a long road trip excuse to bail them out.

After six weeks, it was looking as if the infamous Super Bowl loser’s curse (which has caused every Super Bowl loser this decade except Seattle to finish below .500 the following season) had arrived in the NBA.

Fortunately for the faithful in Cleveland, it’s a long season. After resolving a long and acrimonious contract dispute with reserve center Anderson Varejao in mid-December, the Cavaliers have gotten back on track. Going into tonight’s Finals rematch at San Antonio, Cleveland has won eight of 10, their best streak of the season. Their vaunted defense has returned; six of their last 10 opponents have scored 90 points or fewer.

There are two primary causes for the Cavaliers’ turnaround: Varejao and James. It isn’t that Varejao is the greatest reserve center in the universe, but that he enables the Cavs to utilize their roster in the manner they intended. Without him, power forward Drew Gooden and starting pivotman Ziggy Ilgauskas played additional minutes. End-of-the-bench guy Dwayne Jones was pressed into action early on, but just as often, the team would go to a small-ball lineup. The Cavs are a middle of the pack team when it comes to Pace Factor (a stat created by my colleague, John Hollinger, which refers to the number of possessions a team uses per game), ranking 14th in the league at 94.3 possessions per game — the optimal use of small ball comes from teams that push the tempo to the extreme. So it’s not just that Varejao’s presence helps, as he’s a very good reserve, but it also enables to Cavs to execute their game plan.

The season that James is having should muddle the argument about who is the best player in the NBA. As if his 48-point explosion in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t fortify his credentials enough, this year, King James is on an MVP crusade. He’s scoring 29.8 points per game, grabbing 7.8 boards, and dishing 7.5 assists. Throw in two steals, one block per game, and a 48.7% shooting percentage, and you have one of the greatest all-around seasons in NBA history.

The Cavs have been out west once already, and after tonight’s game in San Antonio, they will have only one game left in Texas. In other words, the Cavs are through with the tough part of their schedule. They could be peaking at the right time to move back into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff position fight. It seems reasonable to etch Boston and Detroit in stone as the first two seeds, but an interesting battle for the next three seeds among Washington (especially with Gilbert Arenas returning), Orlando, and Cleveland should dominate the second half the season.

* * *

BOSTON’S FIRST ‘SLUMP’ Going into last night’s game with Portland, Boston was in a strange position — a slump. The Celtics had lost three out of four. Admittedly, only the craziest leprechaun thought that they were going to maintain an .875 winning percentage all season, but these losses — particularly the two coming with starting point guard Rajon Rondo on the shelf due to a back injury — should be an eye opener to the Celtics’ brass.

With the February 21 trade deadline starting to loom, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge should investigate his options at fortifying the point guard spot, and it’s a crowded market. Earl Watson of Seattle and Damon Stoudamire of Memphis are two names that often surface in trade talks since Seattle is moving — er, rebuilding — and Memphis has two young point guards that it wants to season. But both of those guards have contracts that extend until 2010. Contract issues also make Mike James of the Rockets an unattractive option, and the fact that he’s fallen out of the rotation in Houston makes his skill set suspect. The Sixers would love to move former starting point guard Andre Miller, but he’s owed $10 million next year, which probably makes him too pricey to be a stretch run pickup.

The real diamond in the rough in this field is L.A. Clippers reserve guard Brevin Knight. The journeyman point guard is having an exceptional season. Per 36 minutes, he’s averaging 7.8 points, 7.1 assists, 2.4 steals, and only 1.7 turnovers. The Celtics’ defense has remained strong in Rondo’s absence, but their offense has broken down. Knight is signed only through this season and, given the Celtics’ need, and the lack of a good fit elsewhere, Ainge will have to pay dearly for him (perhaps a future first-round pick). But with what’s at stake, it will be worth it.

mjohnson@nysun.com