The Cavs looked like they were sleepwalking in the first half as they were down 60-43 at halftime. Mike Brown must have said something that clicked in the locker room because the Cavs came out breathing fire in the second half and outscored the Sixers 62-37 to win the game! Drew Gooden led the way for the Cavs with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Donyell Marshall had a solid game off the bench with 17 points & 9 rebounds. Larry Hughes was very active against his old team with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Damon Jones also was sharp as he hit 5 of 7 from three-point range and wound up with 15 points and 3 assists.

The Cavs improved to 25-18 with this huge road win without LeBron. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270126020

LeBron James sat out tonight’s game with the Phildelphia 76ers because of an injured toe. The injury is minor and James should play Sunday afternoon against the Phoenix Suns.

The Cavaliers had two chances to ice this game but LeBron James and Larry Hughes both missed key free throws down the stretch. The Cavs only shot 39.4% from the floor and they didn’t play well on defense as the Sixers hit 52.4% from the floor. LeBron James did have a great game with 39 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Larry Hughes also had a good game with 26 points and 4 assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a good game near the basket with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cavs fell to 24-18 on the season with this loss. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270124005

Hughes has been pathetic lately and it’s hurting the Cavs offense as a whole. In his last 7 games he’s averaged 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Cavs need him to score about 17 or 18 points a game for the offense to really click. But that will be hard to do if he doesn’t shoot better soon. In his last 7 games he’s only hitting 33.3% of his shots from the floor and that is plain awful.

Not everyone on the Cavs brings their A-game all the time….but Varejao sure does. No one takes as many charges as Varejao does and he’s a great defensive player that often frustrates the competition and gets in their heads. In his last 8 games, Varejao is averaging 7.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.4 steals. He’s starting to earn playing time away from Ilgauskas, Gooden and Donyell Marshall.