Starting center Shaquille O’Neal will be out for a little while due to a sprained right thumb. He has played in 53 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 23.4 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. With Zydrunas Ilgauskas out of town the Cavs will turn to Anderson Varejao as the starting center while Shaq is out. Varejao has played in 57 games (6 starts) for the Cavs this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Cavs will need J.J. Hickson to step up and replace Varejao as the first big man off the bench until Shaq returns to action. He has played in 58 games (51 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 19.4 minutes, 7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Cavaliers should be o.k. until Shaq is ready to return to action.

UPDATE: O’Neal will miss the next 6-8 weeks as he recovers from thumb surgery. The Cavaliers are hoping that Zydrunas Ilguaskas will re-sign with them in the next 3-4 weeks.

Rookie SG/SF Danny Green has played o.k. when he has gotten the chance but the Cavaliers’ roster is so deep that he is often inactive for games. Green has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Cavs this season and he is averaging 5.2 minutes, 2.5 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Green looks like a keeper for the Cavaliers but he might not get legit playing time for at least a couple of years.

Antawn Jamison got his first start for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night and helped the Cavs end a season-high three-game losing streak.  Jamison played 37 minutes, going 7-14 from the field and finishing with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in a 105-99 win over the New Orleans Hornets.  Jamison has now put together two good games after a horrendous debut with the Cavs.  In his first outing after being acquired in a trade from the Washington Wizards, he went 0-12 and finished with just 2 points.  He bounced back well in the next game and had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block in 31 minutes off the bench.  It looks like Jamison quickly forgot about that terrible debut and is already settling in nicely with the Cavs.  He has looked like the Antawn Jamison everyone has grown accustomed to seeing in his 11 years in the NBA, where he has career averages of 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 46% FG shooting.  .

The Cavaliers are going to insert Antwan Jamison into the starting lineup at power forward for tomorrow’s game at home against the Hornets. Jamison has played in 2 games (off the bench) for the Cavs so far and he is averaging 28.5 minutes, 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 steal on 34.6% shooting from the floor. Jamison looked lost in his debut with the Cavs against the Bobcats when he was 0 for 12 shooting finishing with 2 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 26 minutes. But yesterday against the Magic in Orlando the Cavaliers got a glimpse of the real Antwan Jamison. He played 31 minutes before fouling out and he finished up with 19 points and 8 rebounds on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor. Look for the offense to be in high gear for the Cavaliers with Antwan Jamison bumping J.J. Hickson to the bench.

Starting point guard Mo Williams is back for the Cavaliers as he healed more quickly than originally projected and that’s great news. Williams has played in 44 games (43 starts) this season for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 35.2 minutes, 16.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Williams is shooting 43.2% from three point range and he will definately help the Cavs get the offense in full gear especially now with another brand new shiny weapon in Antwan Jamison.