Preview- Cleveland vs. Detroit

The Detroit Pistons (25-46) come to Cleveland on Friday night in which they haven't won a road game since before the All-Star break. The Pistons will have a chance to finally get one when they play the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers (13-57) have lost their last seven games at home and have lost four games overall. It is the site of the Pistons last road victory, when they came to Cleveland durning the time of that 26-game losing streak.

In the game the Pistons grabbed 17 offensive rebounds which helped balance the 51 percent shooting from the Cavaliers. The Pistons eventually won the game 103-94, extending the Cavaliers losing streak.

Since that game, the Cavaliers have responded with grabbing 12.5 offensive rebounds themselves, which is 7th best in the league over that span of time.

Baron Davis is expected to make his Cavalier return tonight, and he is expected to start at point guard. The Cavaliers looked rejuvenated when Davis join them but Davis has only played in three games due to back spasms.

Cleveland desperatly missed Davis's leadership while he was gone, the Cavaliers lost eight of nine games and averaged only 85.6 points a game.

Cleveland will most likely move Ramon Sessions back to the bench, despite his 16.5 points and 6.7 assists per 32 minutes of action.

This will be the third meeting between the two teams, tip is at 7:30pm.

Samardo Samuels Growing Up

Samardo Samuels is taking full advantage of Antawn Jamison's finger injury. It has been about a week now since Jamison broke his finger against the 76ers and Samardo Samuels was called upon.

The 6-9, 265 pound rookie made his first career start against one of the toughest teams in the league, the San Antonio Spurs. Samuels faced off against one of his idols while growing up, All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer, Tim Duncan.

Samardo shined, recording his first double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Though the Cavs lost, Samuels impressed and showed the Cavaliers that the undrafted rookie was no fluke.

The week didn't end there for Samardo; he followed his stunning performance with another stellar game on one of the biggest stages in the NBA, Madison Square Garden. Samuels scored 15 points and six rebounds but his toughness and trash talking made a name for himself.

He took several key offensive charges in the game, no bigger than the one he took against Carmelo Anthony with 1.8 seconds in the game. Anthony drove to the basket and laid the ball in and the whistle blew.

The crowd went crazy thinking Anthony would be going to the line to tie the game, however, it was Samuels who took the charge and that won the game.

Samardo has quickly grown up and with the opportunity of playing more the power forward is taking full advantage.

"My Confidence is sky high," he said.

"Right now it's time for me to get better as a basketball player and move forward and get back to where I was growing up."

Samuels grew up in Jamaica and moved to Queens, N.Y. in 2004. He later became High School Player of the Year and then went on to play college ball at Louisville.

It's good to know that players are soaring with confidence at this stage in the season, let's hope it continues.

Cleveland 104, Lakers 99: (Shocking the NBA)

Back on January 11th, the Cavaliers traveled to Los Angeles and lost by an embarrassing 55 points.

Just a month later, the Cavaliers shocked the NBA and beat the two-time defending champion, Los Angeles Lakers 104-99. The Cavaliers (10-46) handed the Lakers (38-19) their third straight defeat in which was the last game of the "Grammy Road Trip" for Los Angeles.

It was a turn around of 60 points for the Cavaliers from the last time these two teams met up just a month ago.

The Cavaliers not only got their revenge but they bounced back from an embarrassing lost to the Washington Wizards last Sunday. The Cavaliers played one of their most complete games this season.

The team played with a strong sense of passion right from the start of the game. They outscored the Lakers 29-21 in the first quarter and was up as many as 12 points in the 1st half.

Ramon Sessions played his best game as a Cavalier this season. He scored a season high and game high, 32 points. He also dished out eight assists as well. Sessions came off the bench behind Mo Williams, as Mo played the first three minutes of the game and did not return.

Mo Williams aggravated his ankle again and Byron Scott decided to let him rest and give him the extra time to give him a full recovery.

As for Ramon, he made his presence felt as soon as he got in the game. He pushed the tempo and got in the paint whenever he wanted. He scored 14 first quarter points and never looked back.

It was the kind of night that felt like nothing could go wrong for the Cavaliers. In the second quarter, with the shot clock winding down, Antawn Jamison shot a ball from the "C" on the Cavaliers logo and make it. Jamison finished with an impressive 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Cleveland improved effort from the last meeting showed at the end of the first half. They scored 51 first-half points compared to 57 points for the entire game in January against the Lakers.

Pau Gasol finished with a monster effort, 30 points and 20 rebounds, but it wasn't enough. The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 14 points in the second half .

Cleveland had an answer for everything the Lakers threw at them. Christian Eyenga made the highlight of the night. He posterized Gasol for a big throw down and blew the roof off the building.

Eyenga finished with a strong game. He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting. However, he wasn't the only Cavalier with a timely bucket.

JJ Hickson also had a a strong game. He scored a respectful 13 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Hickson held up his own against the Lakers 7-footers. When the Lakers made a late-run and got it withing four in the final minutes of the game. Hickson had a momentum changing put-back slam.

Kobe Bryant, who is recovering from flu-like symptoms, didn't have much of an impact in the game. Bryant finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds but still didn't seem to be himself, especially with the game on the line.

The Lakers had 19 turnovers in the game and that lead Phil Jackson enraged. He had to call several timeouts and that lead to screaming at his players in disgust. The Lakers played sloppy all night long and it showed. In the second quarter, Gasol had the ball in his hands and threw a pass to the corner, only to find teammate Shannon Brown sitting on the bench.

The Cavaliers ended a poor first half of basketball with arguably their best win of the season.

The Cavaliers will head into the All-Star break with a lot of momentum and will look to carry that momentum into the second half of the season.

Key comment: It is kind of ironic that when the Cavaliers lost to the Lakers in January, they called the lose "rock bottom" and "embarrassing". Yet a month later, the Lakers might have just lost the worst game of the Pau Gasol era or perhaps Phil Jackson's worst lose as a Laker. So do I dare say that this lost, just a month later when it was "rock bottom" for the Cavaliers would be "rock bottom" for the two-time defending champions?

Boobie ready for All-Star weekend

As All-Star weekend is coming up fast, and Daniel "Boobie" Gibson will be the lone Cavalier to participate in the exciting weekend.

I'm very stoked that a Cavalier was selected this year because of all the hard times this franchise has faced since this summer.

A summer that included multiple players leaving, coaching and front office changes and now a dismal first half, the Cavaliers (9-46) needed something good to happen.

Leave it up to one of the fan favorites in Cleveland to make that happen. Gibson was drafted and has played for Cleveland his entire career and he now will make his second appearance in the three-point contest.

Gibson was the runner-up in the 2008 All-Star games finishing behind Jason Kapono, who is a former Cavalier.

Boobie was selected along with five other stars will try and prove who has the best stroke from long distance. The other participants are; Kevin Durant (34.5%), Ray Allen (who recently broke Reggie Miller's all-time mark of most three's in a career), Paul Peirce (Defending Champion), James Jones (42.3%) and Dorell Wright (39.8%).

Gibson is shooting 44.6 percent from beyond the arc and has been one of the more consistent three-point shooters for the Cavaliers in recent years.

My prediction: Of course I am taking Boobie to win the 2011 contest. Ray Allen will be a close second but Boobie will make enough money balls to take home the prize.

Let's take a look at that sweet stroke that Clevelander's have been watching for the past years.