Cavs vs. Hornets Complete Recap

First Quarter: First of all lets go ahead and say happy birthday to Daniel Gibson, who turned 15 today, and is said to be eagerly anticipating being able to get his temporary drivers license this year. As for the start of the game, the Cavs seemed to be able to get any shot they wanted... however making them was a different issue all together. It was nice to see Sasha return to the court from flu-like symptoms (I suppose he's a little run down after spending the bulk of his time starring in Fox's hit show Prison Break). After one quarter of play: Cavs 25, Hornets 18.

Second Quarter: The second quarter started off at a make-up sex pace...bodies flying everywhere and a look of anger in the combatants' eyes. The Cavs were able to overcome an early run by David West and company, and Lebron finished off one of his most complete halves of the year: 13, 6 & 5 (He also had one of his best dunks of the year, which drew the oohs and ahhs of about 17 die-hard fans). He looked well on his way to a triple double, and the Cavs defensive effort seemed to have them well on their way to a home victory. Halftime: Cavs 52, Hornets 43.

Third Quarter: I started off watching the second half with a pretty good feeling about the way the Cavs were playing, and that's been a rare occurrence as of late....aaaand then jump shot time began (I don't think that Mike Brown's halftime speech included the words "Hey guys, I want you to go out there and forget about what's been working for us; just stand around and launch fadeaways for a while." However, the way the team came out, you could easily convince me that this was the plan). Thankfully for the Cavs, the Hornets forgot how to play defense as the quarter dragged on, and Chris Paul figured it'd be a good idea to get into foul trouble and not attack on the offensive end. The Cavs also switched gears and started attacking the basket again, and what do you know they extended their lead. At the end of the third: Cavs 77, Hornets 65.

Fourth Quarter & Final Thoughts: A couple of questions to start with: Why is it that Larry Hughes can't dribble a basketball? And, how many times during this game can he drive to the basket, and just lose control of the ball without anyone even swiping at it? Those being asked, the Cavs came out in the fourth extremely flat, and the Hornets quickly cut into the lead. With four minutes left, the game was tied at 83, my remote was broken and King Nick's lock of the night wasn't lookin so hot. I don't know why when the end of the game comes around, the playbook really gets creative and has LBJ holding the ball at the top of the key until there's only five or six seconds left on the shot clock, but hopefully we can resolve that in time for the playoffs. Just because I wrote that, Lebron went ahead and hit two consecutive 28-foot three pointers to ice the game, and although I don't agree with the shot selection, I will shut up because they went in. The Cavs had 16 turnovers tonight, which is certainly something to improve on, although they showed resilience in being able to hold off a few big second-half runs to get the home victory. Was great to see Lebron show the ability to finish a game again, man I missed that. All in all, not a bad Tuesday night. Cavs 97, Hornets 89.

photo courtesy of Mark Duncan/ AP