Photo: Tracy Boulian/Cleveland.com

Halfway through this game, LeBron James had 35 points on a stunning 13-of-18 shooting, adding 3 rebounds and 6 assists, and the Cavaliers looked untouchable with a 20 point lead at the break after scoring a season-best for a half with 74 points. Surprisingly though, the Knicks didn't go away, and in their traditional D'Antoni track-meet style, they shot their way back into things and even incorporated a smidgen of defense, cutting the lead to just three in the fourth. The Cavaliers, however, did just enough to hold on for their 11th straight win, which ties Boston and the Lakers for the longest streak this year.

"Groundhog Day" for J.J.?: Groundhog Day was on Tuesday last week, but it seems like the holiday is truly being celebrated by the Cavaliers' young power forward the last few games. In repeat fashion of when he ascended into the starting lineup, teams are starting to forget about J.J. Hickson to help on LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal. In J.J.'s last 3 games, he is averaging 12.3 points and 6 rebounds on 59% shooting. Hickson got four early dunks in tonight's game as he was covered mostly by Danilo Gallinari with the Knicks small lineup. J.J. disappeared a bit after that, but the Cavaliers remain undefeated (21-0) when Hickson scores eight or more, and J.J. finished with 10 points and 5 boards.

Photo: Tracy Boulian/Cleveland.com

In a game that had no shortage of storylines, the always-thrilling LeBron James and Dwyane Wade showdown featured an unexpected wrinkle when Daniel Gibson had to rush to the hospital to be with his expecting girlfriend Keyshia Cole. It forced LeBron into his first start at point guard since his rookie year and brought about Jawad Williams's first career start. It didn't matter, though, as the Cavaliers dispatched of the Heat to stretch their win streak to a season-high 10, improve to 7-0 without Mo Williams, and set the scoreboard at "LeBron 13, D-Wade 9" in the classic matchup.

Last minute scratch: With Gibson taking care of his girlfriend at the hospital, the Cavaliers were suddenly without a single proven point guard on their roster. On a side note, Gibson's girlfriend is due with their child on March 2nd, and she is doing fine after having false labor. LeBron was the only real choice to start at point, and Jawad got the call to take LBJ's spot at small forward. With LeBron on the bench, Anthony Parker had to handle the point guard duties for a five minute stretch in the second quarter. The Cavalier depth has certainly been tested over these past several games, but they have held strong largely due to the advanced responsibilities of James, J.J. Hickson, Gibson, and Shaquille O'Neal.

Photo: Tracy Boulian/Cleveland.com

The Memphis Grizzlies came to the Q riding high after defeating the L.A. Lakers Monday night. The Cavaliers knew the Grizzlies would be tired considering the tight win over the Lakers the night before, and the game was Memphis's fourth in five nights. Cleveland lost to the Grizzlies in an overtime game at the hands of Mike Conley Jr. earlier in the season and was looking for revenge. The Cavs set the tone establishing a physical presence on the defensive end and finding easy dunks on the offensive end. The Cavs had a 12 point lead after the 1st quarter and never looked back on the way to their 9th straight win.

The Hickson Effect - J.J. Hickson scored 6 of the Cavs first 13 points on dunks. Hickson has become very important in the beginning of games. With Mo Williams out, Shaq has started to dominate down-low and teams are having to pay more attention to him. Also, opposing teams do not want to leave Gibson and Parker open because they are both in the top five in 3-point percentage. So, most teams sag off of Hickson, and Hickson can make them pay if he continues to cut to the rim because the Cavs have very able passers. When Hickson is productive, the Cavs are almost unbeatable; when Hickson scores 10 or more points the Cavs are 12-0. When Hickson scores less than 10 points the Cavs are 27-11.

Hot and Cold - Offensively, these teams were polar opposites in the 1st quarter. Cleveland shot 60% from the floor on 12 of 20 shooting. On the other hand, Memphis shot 32% from the floor, making only 8 of their first 25 shots. In the 1st quarter, both teams' All-stars set the tone for their squad as LeBron went 3 for 3 from the floor for 6 points for the Cavs, and Zach Randolph went 0-6 from the floor for 0 points.

Shaq Be Nimble - In the 2nd quarter, Shaq had one of those sequences that coaches want to bottle up and re-open come playoff time. With 7:22 remaining in the 2nd quarter, Shaq entered the game for Jamario Moon. In the next 6 minutes, Shaq compiled some outrageous numbers; Shaq grabbed 6 rebounds (1 offensive rebound), handed out 2 assists, blocked 3 shots, and scored 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the floor. If you take that 6 minutes and put it on a 48 minute pace, Shaq would score 56 points, grab 48 rebounds (8 offensive boards), hand out 16 assists and block 24 shots. Now, this in unrealistic, but I am just putting into perspective what the big man did in that 6 minutes and what he has left in the tank.

Photo: Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer

To say the Cleveland Cavaliers sprinted out of the gate tonight would be a severe understatment. The wine and gold used their homecourt advantage to absolute blastoff from the beginning, leaving the Clippers and multiple team records in the wake. The Cavaliers sat on the lead for most of the game, and while Los Angeles did rally, they never truly threatened the Cavaliers the entire game. The Cavaliers continue to hold onto the small half-game lead for best record and extend their hold on the lead in the East with their win streak now at eight.

Kaman-less: Unfortunately for the Clippers, All-star snub Chris Kaman missed this showdown with the Cavaliers as well. When we last saw the Clippers, Kaman's back kept him out of action, and tonight a sprained ankle left him riding the pine. Delonte West continues to sit, missing game number five in a row without a definite timeframe for his return. That means that Cedric Jackson can probably count on another 10-day contract after his first expires tomorrow.

Photo: Darron Cummings/AP

The stars shined once again for the Cavaliers once again in Indianapolis, and it didn't take long to dispatch of the Pacers, who jump-shot and token-defended their way to a big loss tonight in the best defensive effort for the Cavaliers this season point-wise. The Cavaliers have now won seven in a row and still sit one-half game ahead of the Lakers for the best record in the league. As for Indianapolis, at least they have the Colts playing in the Super Bowl to ease the pain of a lackluster season for the Pacers.

Who's setting the pace?: Jumping out of the gate strong is something Cavaliers fans are mildly used to at this point, but rarely do the Cavaliers explode for a first quarter such as the one tonight on the road. The Cavaliers doubled up the Pacers 36-18 in the first on the legs of 13-of-21 shooting (62%). Meanwhile, the Pacers and their All-Star Danny Granger were having trouble even drawing iron. Indiana shot a dreadful 31% (8-of-26). In fact, I think the Pacers may have thrown up more that missed the rim than the Cavaliers threw up that missed total in the quarter.

Photo: Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer

With LeBron carrying the team on his broad shoulders for the last three games without Mo Williams, the Cavaliers hoped that tonight's contest against Minnesota would prove to be an easy one. They got what they wanted, largely because several key role players, led by J.J. Hickson, stepped up their game and allowed James to take only eight shots on a night where he only needed to play three quarters. The Cavaliers kept the win streak rolling along at six.

Forcing the issue: The Cavalier coaching staff understood quite clearly that they had an opportunity to take the pressure off LeBron for tonight at least. To accomplish that, they started off with multiple looks for J.J. Hickson and Anthony Parker. Parker is starting to take more shots off screen-and-curls, something that everyone expected more of at this point in all honesty. If A.P. can get his scoring up a bit, it's really going to help fill the void while Mo and Delonte are out. Hickson looked like the player who had a string of amazing games when he surged into the starting lineup at the start of the season. LeBron was able to find him repeatedly on the weakside for dunks and easy layups, and it wasn't all because the Timberwolves suddenly forgot that J.J. could creep in behind the defense. It was because Hickson worked a lot harder in getting open and finding the lanes through which he could get buckets. J.J. seems to be one of those players that you have to keep an eye on constantly, but games like tonight, where he shows the ability to put anything in around the basket, are why the Cavaliers are still high on him. Hickson posted a new career high in points with 23 on 8-of-10 shooting. J.J. also made all seven free throws attempts, where he hovers below 70 percent, and ripped off 8 rebounds and 1 block.

Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP

Often times, when two of the premiere acts in the league face each other, the game is centered around those two players, but often it doesn't come down to those two battling head-to-head. However, that certainly was the case tonight as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade volume scored in the second quarter, but they saved the head-to-head showdown for the final minute. LeBron made two fantastic defensive plays and a pair of free throws, just edging Wade and the Heat by one point for the wine and gold's fifth straight win.

New Moon: Jamario Moon returned from the abdominal strain that caused him to miss the last 9 games. While he saw limited action, it was great to see him out there working his way into things by taking a couple of defensive possessions on D-Wade. In six and a half minutes, Jamario had 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. With the injuries to Mo Williams and Delonte West, it means that Jawad Williams, Moon's replacement, will keep his rotation minutes for now. Also, Mike Brown believes he can continue to find Jawad some minutes even after both Mo and Delonte return. That, however, remains to be seen.

Photo: Tracy Boulian/The Plain Dealer

It wasn't pretty, the offense was in complete disarray at times, and the Cavaliers even had to use three guys that weren't in the rotation three weeks ago, but it was a wine and gold winner on the backs of LeBron and Shaq, adding in Daniel Gibson's phenomenal fourth and clutch bucket to give the team the lead for good. Cleveland has now won four in a row and has pulled to a virtual dead heat once again with the Lakers for the best record in the association.

Another one bites the dust: Delonte West's left ring finger, injured during the fourth quarter of the Lakers game, is in fact broken, and he missed tonight's game because of it. West is currently listed as day-to-day, and the Cavaliers plan to re-evaluate the situation early next week. Losing Delonte couldn't have come at a worse possible time, happening just hours after learning that Mo Williams would be in a suit for the next 4-6 weeks. This left the Cavaliers with only Daniel Gibson as their only "true" point guard, although you could certainly debate that. In response, the Cavaliers signed former Cleveland State point and Erie Bayhawk Cedric Jackson to a 10-day contract. The 6'3" Jackson was averaging 15 points and 8 assists with the NBDL's Bayhawks, and he is known as a solid defender.

Photo: Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer

I'll be the first to admit that I thought a Cavalier victory tonight was highly improbable. This team, however, showed its true grit and tremendous depth in the absence of their second leading scorer and point guard Mo Williams. The wine and gold did it with tremendous defense in the final three quarters and a brilliant six-minute fourth quarter surge from LeBron James to pull into a virtual tie with the Lakers for the NBA's best record, sending the sellout Q crowd home thrilled with a season sweep of the hated Lakers.

No Mo = Uh oh!: The disappointing news came in today that Mo Williams was not only going to miss tonight's showdown with the Lakers, but the All-Star point would miss 4-6 weeks with a left shoulder sprain. This is a huge blow to the Cavaliers, who are just embarking on a home-heavy and easier portion of their schedule. The Cavaliers have just Delonte West and Daniel Gibson at the point guard, and given West's inconsistency and off-the-court issues along with Gibson's history of struggling with ball-handling, the Cavaliers should look to sign a veteran point guard. My personal choice would be Antonio Daniels, who has good size, scoring ability, and worked out for the wine and gold earlier in the season. Some other possible candidates are free agents Juan Dixon, Brevin Knight, Damon Jones, Tyronn Lue, Coby Karl, and Andre Barrett. For the length of time that Mo Gotti will be M.I.A., adding a veteran to run the offense for stretches could payoff and keep the Cavs afloat. The Cavaliers are also still without Jamario Moon, who had an excellent game last time against the Lakers defending Kobe.

Photo: Scott Shaw / The Plain Dealer

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown will not be singing the praises of his team's defense against the Toronto Raptors. The Cavaliers lost to the Raptors back on October 28th, 101-91. In that game, the Cavs found themselves down 18 at halftime after giving up 57 first half points to the Raptors. Tuesday night's game seemed headed in the same direction as the Cavs gave up 60 first half points to the Raptors and only found themselves up 2 points; however, the Cavs got big performances from their Big 3 (Shaq, Bron and Mo) and outlasted the Raptors offense for the 108 to 100 victory.

Playing Their Style- One of the great things about the 2009-2010 Cavs roster is that they have the players to play any style of basketball; however, the ability to play any style is also one of Cleveland's downfalls. In some games this year, Cleveland has gotten too caught up in trying to win by playing another team's style and failed to put their defensive stamp on some games. Tonight was one of those games. Cleveland was running with the Raptors, taking quick shots, and failing to get their defense setup. The Cavaliers allowed the normally outside-oriented Raptors a clear path to the rim and could not handle Toronto's rookie DeMar DeRozan early. DeRozan had 10 1st quarter points and 6 of his points came off layups. Cleveland gave up 24 points in the paint in the 1st half to a team that prefers to shoot jumpers.