Cavaliers Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

Free agents available this summer are almost endless: LeBron James(notes), Dwyane Wade(notes), Chris Bosh(notes), Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson(notes) to name a few.

One of the teams with major salary-cap space, the Miami Heat, have a solid fallback plan.

They want to re-sign Wade and add a second superstar player like James or Bosh.

If they strike out with one star, they’ll move onto another.

In Cleveland, it’s not as easy. If the Cavaliers fail to re-sign James, they won’t have the necessary cap space to sign one of the other major stars who will be available.

Basically, they could be out in the cold. They’d have to revert to sign-and-trade deals for centers Shaquille O’Neal(notes) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes).

The Knicks, another team with major cap space, will go all out to try to secure James.

Johnson, the Hawks’ All-Star shooting guard, said this summer will be a spending frenzy.

“I’m sure there will be some chaos,” he said. “No one knows what’s going to happen.”

The 6-foot-6 Johnson was a restricted free agent in 2005 while with the Suns. He went to the Hawks in a sign-and-trade move. He was one of four major shooting guards on the market that summer. The others were Ray Allen(notes), Michael Redd(notes) and Larry Hughes(notes).

Hughes, of course, signed with the Cavs.

Cavaliers 97, 76ers 91:   Cleveland’s defense stiffened in the fourth quarter for the second straight night.

Forward LeBron James finished with a game-high 32 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He made 13 of 20 shots from the field.

The Cavs (10-4) trailed 81-75 after three quarters. After James returned at the 6:42 mark, the Cavs ripped off eight unanswered points. Two of the baskets were dunks by the high-flying Jamario Moon(notes).

The Cavs outscored the Sixers 12-6 down the stretch.

The Sixers shot just 17 percent from the field (4-for-23) in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs outscored their last two opponents 50-23 in the fourth quarter. The Sixers were left in a standstill in the fourth quarter, outscored 22-10.

“We just turned it up (in the fourth),” James said. “That’s where we make our mark. When you have new guys come to the team, they have to understand this is who we are.”

Guard Mo Williams(notes) finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“When you’re his size to come up with eight rebounds, it’s a positive and will only help the team win,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said.

NOTES, QUOTES

• C Shaquille O’Neal missed his fifth consecutive game Saturday. But has he been in Cleveland rehabbing his “strained shoulder”? Maybe, maybe not. He was at a New York art gallery the other day.

• C Zydrunas Ilgauskas figures to break the Cavaliers’ record for most games played in franchise history within a week. He moved into second place Saturday with 721. Danny Ferry is the leader at 723, and Bobby “Bingo” Smith is now third at 720.

Quote To Note:   “LeBron (James), D-Wade (Dwyane Wade) and Kobe (Bryant) are playing at a different level than everyone else. I’ve been fortunate to play with all three of them.”—Cavaliers C Shaquille O’Neal.

ROSTER REPORT

Rotation:   Starters—Point guard Mo Williams, Shooting guard Anthony Parker(notes), Small forward LeBron James, Power forward J.J. Hickson(notes), Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Bench—Forward Anderson Varejao(notes), Guard Daniel Gibson(notes), Forward Jamario Moon.

Player Notes:  

• F LeBron James’ 40-point effort against Indiana on Friday was his 34th career game of 40 or more points. Only five players have recorded more 40-point games: Wilt Chamberlain (67), Michael Jordan (52), Bob McAdoo (47), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38) and Rick Barry (35).

• Don’t bring up the name Allen Iverson(notes) with the Cavs. Cleveland will not sign the free agent guard.

• According to the New York Daily News, at last count 137 NBA players were using Twitter. The only two Cavs players who are known to use Twitter are C Shaquille O’Neal and G Mo Williams. Any objectionable material is subject to a fine from the NBA.

Medical Watch:  

• C Shaquille O’Neal (strained shoulder) has missed the past five games. It’s not known when he’ll return.

• F Leon Powe(notes) (ACL, microfracture surgery on left knee) will miss the first half of the season recovering from the surgeries. He’s expected to return in January or February.