Preview - Cleveland vs. Golden State

Golden State (27-35) will come to Cleveland Tuesday night to play the Cavaliers (12-50).

Golden State has lost six of seven overall and is only 1-4 on their current seven-game road trip despite stellar play from Monta Ellis. Monta scored 27 points against Philadelphia but the Warriors still came up short in overtime.

Ellis also scored 41 points against with a lose to the Boston Celtics.

Cleveland is coming off a 96-81 lose against the New Orleans Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena after beating the New York Knicks in New York. The Cavaliers have yet to find consistency since they broke the 26-game losing streak.

The Cavaliers beat the Lakers and Knicks but losing to the 76ers and the Hornets without their best player is not something to be proud of.

However, newly acquired Baron Davis has given the Cavaliers new hope and the team at times look like they are having fun again.

Davis scored 18 in his debut with the Cavaliers, knocking down a key 3-pointer to help seal the win. Davis also scored 17 points in a lose against the Hornets but it wasn't enough.

It is no lie that both teams are looking to get on the winning side and start searching for some consistency. The Warriors are looking to end their current road streak on a high note and the Cavaliers are looking to find some consistent play out of their young players.

The Warriors and the Cavaliers did hook-up earlier this season. They played on January 7th, when Ellis tore apart the Cavaliers for 32 points and 10 assists. The Warriors lead by as many as 21 points and won the game 116-98.

For the Cavaliers, it will be the first time Baron Davis faces his old team in a Cavaliers uniform. Davis scored seven points for the Clippers back on January 22nd when they played Golden State.

Look for Baron Davis to stay aggressive in which will be the key match-up of the game. Davis vs. Ellis should be a lot of fun to watch.

Tip-off is at 7:00pm at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night.

Here are some of the highlights of the game in January. Hopefully the Cavaliers won't allow Ellis to go for 32 again.

Cavaliers 81, Hornets 96: (Chris Paul is down)

The Cavaliers lost to the New Orleans Hornets 96-81 on a night where New Orleans lost its best player, Chris Paul.

Midway through the third quarter, New Orleans point guard Chris Paul collided with Ramon Sessions and laid on the floor for about 10 minutes. He was later carried out on a stretcher and did not return to the game.

The crowd stood and applauded Paul while leaving the building, Paul gave thumbs up as the crowd went crazy.

Cleveland was winning 61-60 when Chris Paul laid on the floor with an apparent head injury. Both teams surrounded one of the best point guards in the game while laying on the floor.

However, the game resumed without Paul and it looked like the Cavaliers would have an advantage without Paul on the other side of the ball.

The Hornets responded though, they went on a 24-8 run to take an 84-69 lead with just over 7 minutes in the game.

Baron Davis, who made his Cavalier debut at Quicken Loans Arena, hit a 40-footer at the end of the third to get the Cavaliers within seven. Davis scored 17 points and had 6 assists in 28 minutes of work coming off the bench.

Semih Erdan also made his Cavalier debut, playing 11 minutes and grabbing 5 rebounds and missing all three of his shots. Luke Harangody, who also came over from Boston scored four points in 16 minutes of action.

The Cavaliers were outscored 33-45 in the second half with Paul out of the game.

David West was a beast in the second half. He ended up with 23 points and had 7 rebounds. With Paul out, West proved to be the leader and helped push the Hornets to an 18 point lead.

Marco Belinello scored 18 and Jarret Jack filled in for Chris Paul with 14 points and 5 assists.

Cleveland stuck with the Hornets the entire game before Paul left the game. Cleveland was down only three at halftime and was tied with the Hornets before the All-Star point guard left the game.

JJ Hickson had another strong game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and Samardo Samuels continued to play tough. He scored 11 points and 6 rebounds, but Samuels also looked like he has been working with Anderson Varejao. Samuels continued to play stunning defense, taking charge after charge.

The Cavaliers found themselves down as many as 18 points in the 4th quarter and could never recover. The Hornets took advantage of what it seemed like an overconfident Cleveland team.

Cleveland (12-49) hasn't won consecutive games since winning three games in a row back in November.

Preview - Cavs vs. Hornets: Byron's old team comes to town

In 2004, Byron Scott took over the New Orleans Hornets and initially managed very little success.

There are some parallels to that situation and the one Coach Scott is currently facing.

That season, the Hornets finished 18-64 and were one of the worst teams in the league.

Baron Davis was the point guard and they really struggled throughout that the entire season; Lee Nailon would lead the team in points scored at the end of the season.

That team was deprived of talent, but Scott took a bad situation and turned it around the next year.

The following season, 2005-06, the Hornets won 20 more games than the year before and finished 38-44.  You can probably chalk up some of those wins to drafting one of the best point guards in the league, Chris Paul.

Baron Davis and Coach Scott were not getting along so they shipped him out and handed the keys to Chris Paul.  While they didn't make the playoffs that year, the team was improving and Scott was seeing results in both the win column as well as the atttitude on the floor.

Just two years later the Hornets finished 56-26, and made a run through the playoffs eventually losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semi-finals.

That formula could prove to be very similar to the current plan with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Have a tough season or two, draft solid talent and build the team for the future.

Stopping Chris Paul will be one of the keys to tonight's game.  The Cavs will look to build off an impressive and exciting win at Madison Square Garden vs. the Knicks.

The strong play of Samardo Samuels will also be key, as he made several crucial plays down the stretch in New York. His confidence is building each game and he's starting to get a feel of what he can do in this league.

Baron is excited to play for the first time in front of his new crowd, who will definitely embrace "the beard".  His late three pointers and exciting style of play will go over well in Cleveland; our fans are hoping he can provide for excitement at the point guard position.

Baron on twitter following the big win over Carmelo and company,

"Yep! Good win in the Garden. Can't wait to play in front of the home crowd at The Q!!! Go cavs!"   

Also, watch to see how Coach Scott continues to use Sessions and B-Diddy in the backcourt together. 

Tip-off tonight is at 6:30 at the Q. 

                         

Larry Bird Considered?

When the Cavaliers took the floor for the first time on Tuesday night in the post-LeBron era, Byron Scott was the Head Coach on the sidelines.

However, Byron Scott may have not been the only alumni from the once classic Lakers-Celtics rivalry in the 1980’s the Cavs considered.  Cleveland is believed to have considered Larry Bird, the Pacers team president and still to this day a legend.

It is confirmed by sources close to the situation that the Cavaliers did indeed contact Bird, before naming Scott the new coach on July 2^nd. Larry Bird did take the phone call, but it is believed that the call was quick and didn't get anywhere.

Bird let Cleveland know that he wished to remain in the front-office with the Pacers and has all but ruled out coaching again, because of health and family reasons. Larry Bird was a successful coach from 1997-98 to 1999-2000, posting a 147-67 record while gaining a significant amount of respect from players around the league.

Although many players respected Bird around the league, Byron Scott was named head coach. He receieved strong recommendations from Chris Paul and Jason Kidd.  Winning three rings as a player, Scott knows how to win it all.  He also took the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 as a coach, and won Coach of the Year honors with New Orleans in 2008.

John Wall is coming in town on Thursday and I will be watching him in person as the Cavaliers take on the Washington Wizards. Should be interesting, let’s go Cavs!

One for All. All for One

Keep your heads up Cleveland

P.S. The new team shop looks utterly extravagant