CLEVELAND- Coming into to tonight’s game against the New Orleans Hornets the Cavaliers are in their first three game losing streak in two years. Head coach Mike Brown felt it was time to change things up a bit to see what the best line up will be heading down the back stretch into the playoffs, so he has decided to remove J.J. Hickson from the starting lineup and replaced him with Antawn Jamison. The other question on tonight’s game is, will Leon Powe see any playing minutes now that he is active. I feel that the Cavaliers owe it to themselves to at least see what they have in Powe after getting him in the offseason and getting him healthy again. The problem this creates is there are not enough minutes to go through all the forwards. So who’s minutes gets cut when you have this problem. Don’t get me wrong I would rather have this problem then not enough forwards.

In the first quarter the Cavaliers came out a little sluggish defensively but were able to step it up midway through and hold the Hornets to 35 % shooting with 16 points as they shot 57% scoring 28 points giving them a 12 point lead after the first. In the second quarter the Hornets came out fast scoring the first 9 points and cutting the Cavaliers lead to 3 points in Just over 1 and a half minutes. The Cavaliers were able to build the lead back to 10 points but then the shooting faltered and the Hornets were able to come back and take a 4 point lead 41-37 with 5:15 left in the half. The Hornet were able to keep the press offense on the Cavaliers as the ended the first half with a 56-53 lead. Then in the second half the Cavaliers came out with a little more pep in their step as they press the Hornets defensively and outscoring them 29-20 giving the Cavaliers a 82-76 lead. Then in the fourth quarter the Hornets did their best to put the pressure in the Cavaliers but it wasn’t enough as the Cavaliers prevailed 105-95 to end their three game losing streak.

Leading the way for the Caveliers was LeBron James with 20 points, 13 assist, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Shaquille O’Neal had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. Antawn Jamison had 18 points, 6 rebounds. 2 assist and 2 steals. Anderson Varejao had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Anthony Parker had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Delonte West had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 blocks.

The Cavaliers next game is Thursday in Boston to take on the Celtics. Tip off is at 8:oo on TNT.