The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing much better now that they have the majority of their team intact, but how will that translate against the defending NBA champions and winners of all by two home games?  As of this writing, the Cavs have won seven of ten games.  LeBron James leads the league in scoring with 29 points a contest.  He also leads his team in assists with 7.5 and also averages nearly the same amount of rebounds a game, a true “jack of all trades.”  When LeBron James was injured earlier in the season he told the league to enjoy getting their victories against them now, because when the team is back together things will be different.  This will be their chance to prove that now.

The Spurs are actually suffering a little of that same bad luck the Cavs had with injuries.  Manu Ginobili is out and Tim Duncan, the perennial all-star, is listed as day to day.  Without his two best teammates, Tony Parker, who leads his team with 20 points a game, will have to find even more ways to contribute to his team.  The Spurs are filled with a bunch of solid vets, but it’s hard to say if any of those will be able to step up after playing second fiddle for so long. 

With Bruce Bowen guarding James you may be able to keep the scoring down a bit, but with missing the other big guns you might be outdone.  With the game being in San Antonio it does even things out a bit, but I feel the Cavs might be able to pull off a semi-upset here.   

What a difference a winning streak makes.  At the beginning of the season rumors swirled nearly every day regarding a trade of Kobe Bryant to any number of teams.  Fans were even calling for the firing of Phil Jackson, and the relationship between players and front office wasn’t exactly cordial.  Then something funny happened, the Lakers starting winning, and are being called by many the second or third best team in the west, and they are playing like it.   Bryant is still Bryant, averaging over 26 points a game, and a threat to go for 50 every night, but it’s the play of Andrew Bynum that has really turned heads.  Bynum is averaging 12.1 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks a game.  What may be more impressive is he 62 percent field goal percentage, which means, when he gets the ball, he’s finishing.  Bynum has been giving just as much praise for the turnaround as any of the other players, including Bryant.

It’s not much you start off a story without mentioning the high flying Suns, but the Lakers are actually playing better.  The Suns are still very good though, with Steve Nash continuing to play highly successful basketball.  Nash is averaging 12 assists a game, with a good portion of those going to Amare Stoudemire and his 22 points a game.  Stodemire is also averaging 9.1 rebounds a game.

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