CLEVELAND – Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, February 1^st through Sunday, February 7^th.

In three games during the week, James averaged an NBA-best 35.0 points on .541 shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 10.3 assists in 40.3 minutes per game.  James wins the award for the fifth time this season and the 25^th time in his career.  He has also won all three Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards presented by Kia Motors this season.  With winning all three games this week, James has now led the Cavaliers to an NBA-high tying 11-game winning streak (tied with Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers) and the best record in the NBA at 41-11 (.788) record. Cleveland has also now won nine straight games at home and possesses the best home record in the NBA with a 22-3 (.880) record.

James recorded his 19^th double-double this season with 22 points and a career-tying 15 assists and added six rebounds, one steal and one block versus the Memphis Grizzlies on February 2^nd at Quicken Loans Arena.  In a 102-86 victory over the Miami Heat, he finished with a game-high 36 points on 9-16 (.563) shooting, including making a season-high 17 free throws on 21 attempts (.810), eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes.

On February 6^th at The Q, he scored a franchise-record 35 points in the first half  (surpassing Walt Wesley’s 34 points in the second half versus Cincinnati on February 19, 1971) and finished the night with 47 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and a season-high tying five steals in 44 minutes. With the Cavs leading 28-19 with 3:38 left in the first quarter, James scored the team’s next 24 points (all in a six-minute stretch), outscoring the Knicks by 12 to make the score 52-31.  The last player to score 24 or more straight points for his team was Carmelo Anthony, who scored 26 points in a row on December 10, 2008 versus Minnesota.  James’ 23 points in the first quarter tied a Quicken Loans Arena individual record for most points in a period, which he also tied on January 31^st versus the Los Angeles Clippers.  He has now scored at least 20 points in a period five times this season (four of them in the last 14 games) and 11 times in his career.  He also topped the 40-point mark for the 39^th time of his career. James was the first player to have a least 47 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and five steals in a game since Rick Barry (64 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and five steals) did for Golden State versus Portland on March 6^th, 1974.

The Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.  Other nominees for the Eastern Conference Player of the Week were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Boston’s Rajon Rondo, Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson and Orlando’s Dwight Howard.

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CLEVELAND- The Cavaliers are the hottest team in the NBA right now, and they were looking to stay that way as the New York Knicks came into town. Just looking at the numbers, this should have been an easy win for the Cavaliers as they have been mowing over the weaker teams.

The game got started off to a start that would lead you to believe this wouldn’t be a long night for the Cavaliers as LeBron James scored 23 points of a 44 point first quarter while holding the Knicks to 24. Then in the second quarter it was a back and fourth battle as the Cavaliers and Knicks both scored 30 points giving the Cavaliers a 74-54 lead at halftime. Then in the second half the Knicks staged a comeback as they outscored the Cavaliers in the third quarter 26-20 cutting the Cavaliers lead to 14 points. Then in the fourth the Knicks where able to cut the lead down to 3 points before the Cavaliers stepped it up and won the game 113-106 for their 11th win in a  row.

Lebron James led the way with 47 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assist and 5 steals. Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points, 3 blocks, 1 rebound and 1 assist. Anthony Parker had 11 points and 3 rebounds. J.J. Hickson had 10 points and 5 rebounds.

The Cavaliers next game will be Tuesday Feb. 9th against the New Jersey Nets at the Q. Tip off is at 7:00.

CLEVELAND- As the Miami Heat made their way into Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers in an TNT match up, everyone was looking forward to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade  facing off again in their third match up of the season. In the first two meeting but James and Wade’s numbers were very similar. One could only wonder what tonight would bring. The Cavaliers are also on their hottest streak of the season and were looking to do extend it in the same dominate fashion they been in the last four games.

The game got started off to a close game as the Cavaliers had the edge. In the first quarter they outscored the Heat 29-28. In the second quarter the Cavaliers were able to outscore the Heat 27-24 to give them a 56-52 lead at the half. Due to personal reasons Daniel Gibson did not play in the first half, but at halftime adjustments were made and Gibson was back in the line-up as the Cavaliers stepped up their defense to hold the Heat to a 34 point second half. The Cavaliers put up 46 point of their own to give them a dominating win 102-86. A win like this over a top team like the Miami Heat, is just a sign if what the Cavaliers are capable of doing and should be a big confidence buster as the make their back stretch to the play-offs. Plus they extend their winning streak to ten games.

LeBron James led the way with 36 points, 8 assist, 7 rebounds and 2 steels. Shaquille O’Neal had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist. J.J Hickson had 12 point, 5 rebounds, 2, blocks and 1 steal. Daniel Gibson had 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.

The Cavaliers next game is Saturday Feb. 6th against the New York Knicks at the Q. Tip off is at 7:30.

LEBRON JAMES NAMED NBA’S EASTERN CONFERENCE

PLAYER OF THE MONTH PRESENTED BY KIA MOTORS

WINS AWARD FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE MONTH THIS SEASON AND FOR THE 14^TH TIME IN HIS CAREER

CLEVELAND – Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month presented by KIA Motors for games played in the month of January.

James averaged 30.7 points on .503 shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 8.5 assists in 39.1 minutes per game, leading the Cavs to an NBA-best 12-3 (.800) record for the month of January. Their 12 wins also marked the Cavaliers most wins in any January in franchise history and the team finished January by winning their final eight games of the month.  The Cavs currently stand at a league-best 39-11 and own a season-high nine-game winning streak.  James has now won the award for the 14^th time in his career: for the third consecutive month this season, four times in 2008-09; two times during 2007-08, once in 2006-07, twice in 2005-06 and twice during the 2004-05 campaign.

During the month, James ranked first in points per game (30.7), second in assists per game (8.5) and fifth in steals per game (1.6) among Eastern Conference players. He scored 20 or more points in 14 of the 15 games this month, including nine games of 30 or more points.

In a 106-94 victory over the Trail Blazers on January 10^th, James scored 41 points on 13-19 (.648) shooting from the field, added 10 rebounds and eight assists. It marked his fifth game this season of at least 40 points (tied with Carmelo Anthony for the second-most 40-point games this season) and notched his league-leading third game of the season with at least 40 points and at least 10 rebounds.

James knocked down a season-best six three-pointers on his way to a game-high 37 points versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 23^rd.  He also tallied nine rebounds, a then season-high tying 12 assists and blocked Kevin Durant’s game-winning layup attempt in the closing seconds of the game.

He scored 12 points in the final period, including the go-ahead basket with 40.5 seconds left that put the Cavaliers up for good in their 93-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at The Q on January 21^st.   He finished with a game-high 37 points, five rebounds and nine assists. The win gave the Cavaliers a season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers for the third time in the past four seasons.

In the Cavs’ 92-91 victory at Miami, James scored a Heat opponent record tying 20 points in the second quarter on his way to a team-high 32 points. It marked his 10^th career 30-point game against Miami. His steal of a Dwyane Wade pass with 6.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave him the 900^thsteal of his career and after being fouled, he hit two game-winning free throws.

In the final game of the month vs. the Clippers at home, he scored 23 of his game-high 32 points in the first quarter, while knocking down 5-6 (.833) shots from behind the arc and tying a Cavaliers individual record for three-pointers made in a period.  The Cavaliers also tied the NBA record for total three-pointers made in a period, with 11 that night. His 23 points also tied a Quicken Loans Arena individual record for points in a period and was one point away from his franchise record.  James has now scored at least 20 points in a period four times this season (three of them in the last 10 games) and 10 in his career.

The New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul was named the Western Conference Player of the Month.  Other nominees for Eastern Conference Player of the Month presented by Kia Motors were Boston’s Rajon Rondo, Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson, Chicago’s Derek Rose, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.

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CLEVELAND- When Mo Williams and Delonte West went down there was a lot of talk the the Cavaliers where going to have to fit to get every win possible. Well it is completely the opposite. Every team that the Cavaliers face have to fight to even try and have a chance against them, injured or not. One of the big reasons for this is due to the impressive play but Daniel Gibson and Shaquille O’Neal. I think the Cavaliers coaching staff has finally figured out what they have in O’Neal. On top of that they also realized that they can run the offense through him and that will open up a lot more options.

The Cavaliers wanted to continued that approach as the Memphis Grizzlies came into town last night. Last time these two team met the Cavaliers lost 111-109, plus keep in mind the Grizzlies are also coming a big win against the L.A. Lakers. But it was a different story as the Cavaliers stepped up their defense. The Cavaliers outscored the Grizziles 28-16 in the first quarter and in the second quarter they also outscored the Grizzlies 27-21 to given them a 55-37 lead at the half. Then it was more of the same in the third quarter as the Cavaliers outscored the Grizzlies 31 -21. Then in the fourth quarter the Cavaliers were able to relax play some more of their bench player as they were outscored by the Grizzlies 27-19 giving the Cavaliers a 105-89 victory.

Leading the way for the Cavaliers was LeBron James with 22 points, 15 assist, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Daniel Gibson had 16 points, 3 assist, 2 steals and 1 rebound. J.J. Hickson had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 5 rebounds, Shaquille O’Neal had 13 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assist.

The Cavaliers next game is Thursday against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat at the Q on TNT. Tip off is at 8:00.

CLEVELAND- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers got their home stand off to an explosive start as they were hosting the L.A. Clippers in the first of a seven games at home. The Cavaliers came into tonights game looking for their eighth win in a row which would be their longest win streak of the season.

The first quarter was the best that the arena has ever seen as it was amazing on a lot of accounts. Here are the accomplishments made in the first quarter alone, LeBron James ties Cavaliers individual record for 3 pointers made in a quarter with 5, Cavaliers tie franchise record for points in a quarter with 46, Cavaliers tie NBA record and set a franchise record for 3 pointers made in a quarter with 11, Quicken Loans Arena team record for points in a quarter with 46, Quicken Loans Arena team record for 3 pointers made in a quarter with 11 and a half with 13. LeBron James ties a Quicken Loans Arena record for individual points in a quarter with 23, Cavaliers set a franchise record for 3 pointers in  a half with 13, All-time Cavaliers game record- two teams in 3 pointers made in a half with 17 and All-time Quicken Loans Arena record- two teams in 3 pointers made in a half with 17.

The Cavaliers outscored the Clippers in the first quarter 46-20, 23 points by James, the Cavaliers were also 11 of 13 from the 3 point line. The second quarter was not the Clippers either as they were outscored again 19-21 giving the Cavaliers a 67-39 lead at halftime. The Clippers would not go down without a fight as the fought back in the third quarter out scoring the Cavaliers 28-16. Then the Cavaliers put the pressure back on the Clippers outscoring them 31-22 in the fourth quarter giving them a 114-89 victory.

Leading the was was Lebron James with 32 points, 11 assist, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Shaquille O’Neal had 16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assist and 1 block. Daniel Gibson had 14 points, 6 assist and 2 rebounds. Jamario Moon had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Jawad Williams had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Anderson Varejao had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

The Cavaliers next game is Tuesday February 2nd on Ground Hog Day against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Q. Tip off is at 7:00.

INDIANA- The Cavaliers rolled into Indiana to take on the Pacers and hopefully extend their win streak to seven games. This was the second sellout in a row for the Pacers due to the fact they just played the L.A. Lakers last night and the Cavaliers tonight. But most it seemed as if most of the crowd was there to see LeBron James and the Cavaliers instead of their Pacers team.

The game got off to a great start in the first quarter as the Cavaliers where dominating the Pacers. LeBron James had 9 assist as they outscored the Pacers 36-18. Then in the second  and third quarter the Cavaliers put it in cruse control and were rotating all the bench player in and out of the game. Then in the fourth quarter the Cavaliers threw the knockout punch outscoring the Pacers 17-9 giving the Cavaliers the 94-73 win.

LeBron James led the way with 22 points, 13 assist, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Shaquille O’Neal had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Daniel Gibson had 10 points, 1 assist and 1 steal.

The Cavaliers are head back hoe to start off a seven game home stand Sunday night as the host the L.A. Clippers. Tip off is at 6:00.

CLEVELAND-  As the All-Star break nears there is a lot of talk going on. Everyone is wondering if the Cavaliers, who have the best record currently in the NBA, is going to have more than one player in LeBron James in the All-Star game. “It would be unfortunate because we have more guys that are deserving,” said Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown,” Mo Williams in my mind is an All-Star and Shaq is too. Shaq, his deal is a little different because we have kind of held him back a little bit.”

There is talk also about the Cavaliers having three players in the top  ten in three-point shooting but they don’t have a representative in the three-point competition. One can only wonder why not. But if coach Brown or GM Danny Ferry has anything to do with it, there will be more players from the Cavaliers at NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas on February 14th.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were in town tonight to take on the Cavaliers and they are hoping to stop the bleeding and get a win against an injured Cavaliers roster. Starting off in the game the Timberwolves came out hanging with the Cavaliers as they were just 1 point down at the end of the first quarter 27-26. Then in the second quarter the Cavaliers put the pressure on with the defense and offense outscoring the Timberwolves 33-22 giving the Cavs a 60-48 lead at half time. Then in the third quarter the Cavaliers took control of the game when they outscored the Timberwolves 25-18. Once the Cavaliers had such a commanding lead they were able to give the fourth quarter to the bench so they could get some more playing time than usual, and were able to min the game easily 109-95.

Leading the way for the Cavaliers was J.J. Hickson with 23 points and 8 rebounds and 1 block. Jamario Moon had 14 points, 3 assist, 2 rebounds and 1 block. Shaquille O’Neal had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assist. Daniel Gibson had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assist. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assist. LeBron James had 12 points, 11 assist, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.

The Cavaliers hit the road for their next game on Friday against the Indiana Pacers. Tip off is at 7:00.

NASA Astronauts from Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission to

Attend Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Game on Wednesday

Crew will Showcase NBA All-Star Jersey that Went Along for the Ride

On November 16, 2009, the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis delivered parts to the space station, including a spare gyroscope. The mission featured three spacewalks and delivered 14 tons of cargo to the orbiting laboratory.   Each astronaut was allowed to take 20 personal items with them into space, and Mission specialist Bobby Satcher a long-time NBA fan, chose to take an NBA All-Star jersey as one of his items.

Satcher along with his Atlantis crewmates will attend the Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, January 27^th to give Cavs fans a look at the All-Star jersey, one side displaying “East” and the other side “West,” before it makes its way to Dallas, Texas for the All-Star Game on February 14^th.  The NASA crew will be recognized during the game along with video of their space mission.

In addition to Satcher, other crew members in attendance will include the STS-129 Mission Commander Charlie Hobaugh, a graduate of North Ridgeville School, pilot Barry Wilmore, mission specialists Leland Melvin and Mike Foreman who hails from Wadsworth, Ohio.  Also attending the game will be NASA Glenn Research Center Director, Dr. Woodrow Whitlow Jr.

NASA will have activities for the fans on the concourse where they can learn how playing basketball would be different in space, on the moon and on Mars.  After viewing a video of astronauts demonstrating how to play basketball in weightlessness on the space shuttle, fans will be able to try to make their own shots using a specially modified basketball hoop.  The crew will also be available on the concourse for a brief period of time before the game to meet and greet the fans.

Before the game the crew will visit the NASA Glenn Research Center to present a post-flight briefing to NASA employees to recognize their contributions to the success of the mission.

For more information, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/main/index.html.

An interview with Bobby Satcher about his choice to fly the jersey is available online at:

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/11/11/satcher.qa/index.html

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MIAMI- Cleveland Cavalier rolled into Miami to play the Heat with a list of injuries. But one of those names, Jamario Moon was able to pull up his socks and lace up his shoes to help the Cavaliers try to extend their current winning streak to five. One thing that you could be sure of in this game is that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will bring their A-game as they tend to bring out the best in one another.

Things seemed to be going the Heats way early in the game as they outscored the Cavaliers 34-24 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter the Cavaliers would bounce back to show how deep this team really is outscoring the Heat 26-20 to cut the Heats lead to just 4 points. Then in the second half they didn’t let up and with the great defensive play of James, they were able to outscore the Heat 42-37 to give the Cavaliers a 92-91 victory.

LeBron James lead the way with 32 point, 9 rebounds, 4 assist and 1 steal. Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assist and 1 block. Daniel Gibson had 15 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist. Anderson Varejao had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assist and 1 steal.

The Cavaliers head back home to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday at the Q. Tip off is at 7:00.