Preview - Cavs vs. Knicks: The Baron Davis show begins

Baron Davis will be in a Cavaliers uniform for the first time tonight. 

He will make his debut at Madison Square Garden, vs. the new-look Knicks.

Baron will come off the bench tonight, but could very easily become a starter for this team.  "I'm excited,'' he said. "First game for a new team. I'm excited. I think the players are excited. It will be good for us all to get out there, put our best foot forward and just start working to be a better team, working on our chemistry, working to get better.''

The only concern is his nagging knee injury, which has bothered him all season long.

The Cavaliers beat the Knicks just one week ago, in Carmelo Anthony's second game as a Knick. 

More recently New York stunned the Miami Heat, and are playing solid basketball. 

There is a sense of excitement about Baron's debut; he knows how to get his teammates involved while also scoring the basketball.

Baron and Coach Scott have vowed their past differences aren't a concern, as Baron has matured and grown to respect his former coach.

Cleveland will be without Antawn Jamison, who broke his pinky finger and is expected to miss 5-7 weeks (which might as well be the rest of the season). 

Riddled with major injuries all season, the Cavaliers will also be without Daniel Gibson, who has a left quad injury.  We just can't seem to get all of our pieces healthy at the same time.

Defending Carmelo and Amare are the keys to tonight's game.  The Knicks don't exactly have a defensive mindset, so scoring shouldn't be a problem.

It would be nice to drop New York back to reality again, especially during the debut of a new Cavalier.

Baron Davis is going to make a difference, and he's ready to embrace the Wine and Gold. 

Cleveland 115, New York 109: (Beating the "New" New York Knicks)

The Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks in Cleveland for the second time this season.

The short-handed Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks 115-109, one day after the trade deadline.

The New York Knicks lost in OT in December against these Cavaliers, but on Friday night the Knicks had a complete roster shake-up. Carmelo Anthony was in a Knick uniform and so was Chauncey Billups, who came over to New York in a blockbuster trade with Denver.

Anthony scored 27 points in his Knick debut which won against Central Division foe, Milwaukee Bucks. For an encore with Cleveland, Anthony and the Knicks did all but impress the nation with a disastrous night.

Carmelo ended with 27 points and eight rebounds but did miss a key free-throw late in the game that could have cut the lead within two. Anthony later said that he banged up his elbow and that was bothering him late in the game.

Amare Stoudemire lead the Knicks with 31 points and Chauncey Billups (the apparent throw-in) scored 20 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.

Billups did all he could in trying to avoid the 10th straight loss in Cleveland, however, that streak did not end.

Cleveland played with a sense of passion tonight. Every player was very much into the game, and it was great to finally see some emotion out of these players.

The Cavaliers were once again alive, thanks to the trades GM Chris Grant pulled out of his hat. With Baron Davis, Semih Erdan and Luke Harangody coming to town you could feel that the players felt like this was a new start.

Antawn Jamison scored 28 points and JJ Hickson had a monster game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Newly acquired Baron Davis liked what he saw in JJ, "JJ is ballin super underrated, Look forward to working with him and see him become a BEAST!" he tweeted.

Ramon Sessions also continued his strong play, scoring 22 points and had four assists as well.

With the new players coming to town, the vibe of the city felt great and so did Baron Davis.

Via his twitter page, "Loving the energy I'm seeing," he wrote.

The Knicks, who were down as many as 12 points, got within two points with about 50 seconds remaining. Mr. Big Shot lived up to his nickname. His layup got the Knicks within striking distance.

But Boobie Gibson hit the biggest shot of the evening. His three-pointer couldn't have come at a more perfect time. With 30 seconds Boobie pulled up for three and went "deep in the Q" as the crowd went nuts.

The Cavaliers have won 2 of 3 and will look to continue this momentum they have on Sunday against Philly. The Cavaliers will look for that game to be the debut of Baron, Semih and Luke as the new look Cavaliers will try to start a winning streak.

Preview: Cavaliers vs. Knicks

The last time New York came to Cleveland, they lost in overtime 109-102, which later became the only win for the Cavaliers in an 11-week stretch.

Antawn Jamison scored 21 points and nine rebounds that game, while Ramon Sessions scored 12 points and had four helpers as well.

However, that was in December and now it is February 25th, one day after the trade deadline.

Both the Knicks and Cavaliers were very busy prior to the deadline of 3:00pm. The New York Knicks are now without Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and a first-rounder.New York got Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups in return from Denver.

While Cleveland is now without Mo Williams and Jamario Moon and has Baran Davis from the Clippers and a projected top-ten draft pick in the 2011 draft.

The Cavaliers also traded their 2013 second-round pick to Boston for Luke Harangody and Semih Erdan later in the afternoon.

Both great moves for the respected teams in what direction the franchise's are moving. Cleveland is looking to rebuild with draft picks and New York is looking to win Championships sooner than later.

Carmelo and Chauncey made their New York debuts on Tuesday and did not disappoint, giving New York fans what they've been dreaming of since Carmelo stated he wanted to be a Knick before the season started.

Anthony scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds and Billups (who was called a throw in) scored 21 points and had 8 assists as well. They beat Milwaukee, 114-108 in their first game's as Knick's.

Anthony has averaged 36.5 points in his last two visits in Cleveland.

For the Cavaliers, the team will be most likely be short-handed tonight. Baron Davis, Luke Harangody and Semih Erdan are not expected to be ready for tonight's game against New York.

Cleveland's Ramon Sessions will look to continue his strong play in the month of February. Sessions is averaging 19.7ppg and 9.2 assists while starting.

For Jamison, in his last 25 games he has averaged 21.5 ppp and 7.7 rebounds at just over 37 points per game.

Cleveland has won nine overall against the Knicks and seven straight at the "Q".

Tip-off is at 7:30pm.

'Melo traded to Knicks: Cavs could be after Gallinari

Carmelo is no longer a Denver Nugget.

The blockbuster three-team trade sent Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams and Renaldo Balkman.

New York will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round pick with more picks and cash to come.

For the Minnesota Timberwolves, they will end up with Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry's expiring contract in exchange for Corey Brewer being sent to the Knicks.

That is where we stand as of now. However, it was reported via ESPN that Denver, once the deal is complete will not hold on to Gallinari. Gallinari was the sixth pick of the 2008 draft and is a great outside shooter with lots of potential.

The Cavaliers were one of the teams to have interest in the young gunner for the right price.

Cleveland has been trying very hard to make something happen with the 14.5 million trade exception and other pieces on the roster to try in upgrade the current team.

The Cavaliers are in need of a 3-guard and Gallinari could be a likely fit for a struggling team such as the Cavs.

The other teams reported to have interest aree: the Nets, Clippers and Raptors.

Let the madness to trade deadline begin now that Carmelo is finally traded.

Preview - Cavs vs. Nuggets: Eyenga Improving, J.J. Rebounding

It's time for the Cavaliers to win a game.

Tonight we're matched up against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. 

The losing streak stands at 18 games. 

That being said, I think we can beat Denver tonight.  Although we did absorb a 127-99 blowout to Carmelo and company January 15th, the Cavs are starting to play better basketball.  Hear me out.

With the emergence of Christian Eyenga and the continued strong play of Antawn Jamison, this team has gained some confidence even during the losing streak.

Christian Eyenga is really starting to gain confidence in this offense; he improves his game almost every night.  The potential is there, he just needs to keep improving his jump shot.  His defense is great, and we like what we see out of him.

J.J. Hickson seems to be finding his groove as well, rebounding effectively and making his presence felt. 

The 103-101 loss to New Jersey was tough to swallow, but we controlled most of that game and had a legitimate chance at winning. 

Sure, the Nuggets are a different animal than the Nets, but any team can win on any given night.  Hey, the Cavs beat the Celtics this year did they not?  I'm convinced the Cavs are making progress.  Allowing our young talent to develop will pay off down the road.

The key to tonight's game will obviously be slowing down Carmelo Anthony, but also containing Chauncey Billups.  Nene also provides a tough matchup for any of the Cavs big men, as he scored 22 against us in our prior matchup.

As Antawn Jamison put it, other teams have a high level of confidence when they play us this season.  No one wants to be the team that gave the Cavs their first win in over a month.

Will the Cavaliers stand up and end the futility?  Will playing in front of the supportive fans of Cleveland be enough to get this team over the hump? 

I'm not saying it's likely, I'm just saying its possible.

Be sure to check out what Byron Scott had to say before the game: Video