After one of the most successful starts in franchise history -- they are the fastest to 40 wins ever by a Cavs' team -- changes might have to be made.
The Cavs are hinting that they will stand pat at the trade deadline, but that might be foolish. This team has goals of winning an NBA championship. If the two losses to the Los Angeles Lakers showed, the Cavs might not be good enough. They lost by a total of 27 points to the Lakers in the two games. That might be the team waiting for them in the NBA Finals.
The Cavs might need to upgrade their big-man rotation. Both Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are starting to show their age at the All-Star break. Anderson Varejao, their best big off the bench, is still a bit inconsistent. Rookie J.J. Hickson, despite showing promise, isn't ready to play against the big boys. That's why another quality big might be needed.
The Cavs are clearly one of the elite teams in the league. One never knows when one can get this close again. The problem is, their best bargaining chip -- swingman Wally Szczerbiak -- is a key piece to the team. He's currently their starting shooting guard. It would be difficult to send him elsewhere right now with guards Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic and Tarence Kinsey injured.
CAVALIERS 109, SUNS 92: When the night started, Cavaliers guard Mo Williams felt fatigued, his back hurt and he couldn't wait for the All-Star break to begin.
That icky feeling soon left him when his jump shots started falling. Williams exploited the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday for a career-high 44 points in the Cavs' victory at Quicken Loans Arena. As a result, the Cavs head into the All-Star break with a 40-11 mark.
Williams, added to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Tuesday, showed he belonged.
"Mo showed why he was an All-Star," Cavs forward LeBron James said. "We all believed he should have been there. Now he's there.
"He's really excited. That's part of the reason he played so well tonight, to let everyone know he belongs there."
It came two weeks after he erupted for 43 points against Sacramento on Jan. 27.
"Offensively, we knew what he could do," James said. "He torched us last year in Milwaukee. Defensively, we didn't know how good he was. And as a leader, he's a true point guard and that helps a lot."
The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder made 18-of-26 shots from the field, 7-of-9 from behind the arc. He added seven assists and three steals.
"It was a great night," Williams said. "When you're feeling like that as a shooter, you feel if you get your shot off, there's a great chance it's going in.
"When I have it going like that, it frees things up for other guys."
