A new winning streak begins

The Cavaliers struggled to get past the New Orleans Hornets last night, but hey, when you come in with a three-game losing streak, any win is good. The Cavs roared out to a 12-point lead at the quarter pole, then gave up 40 points (!) in the second to trail by three at halftime. The Cavs took the lead again in the third, then the two teams traded the lead back and forth through the fourth, before the Cavs finally pulled away in the closing minutes. Mo Williams' three-pointer with 4:13 to go gave our boys a 92-89 lead, one they never relinquished.

Antawn Jamison played well in his first Cavs start, tallying 18 points and six rebounds. He also put up a +/- of +18, tops in the game. The great LeBron James only scored 20, but added 13 assists. Fellow future Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal also put in 20, with seven boards.

The fact is, this was not a strong effort. The Hornets are a good team, but are playing without first-team all-NBAer Chris Paul (who is also killing my fantasy team by being hurt), and the Cavaliers had a lot of defensive lapses in this game. That's not going to get it done tomorrow night in Boston, not to mention the playoffs.