Less than 24-hours after beating LeBron James and the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics come to Cleveland to face LeBron's old team.  That, more than anything said or done to date, will help the Cavaliers and their fans turn the page on the LeBron James-era in Cleveland basketball.

It was interesting to me, at least, watching last night's game, that the Heat looked similar to the Cavaliers in terms of lack of offensive creativity.  For large parts of the game, the Heat simply gave the ball to James and watched.  It was the same type of play that people criticized the Cavaliers for  - though Cleveland was always bashed for anything inadequate talent around James, so all they could do is watch. 

The Heat, however, don't have that problem yet there it was - LeBron with the ball at the top of the three-point arc while his 4 teammates stood around waiting for James to make a move.  Boston ate up the Cavaliers for this, and last night they chewed up the Heat.

How the Celtics handle the run-and-gun approach the Cavaliers hope to employ this season should be fun to watch.  Byron Scott wants to get up and down the court, something the Celtics have had trouble in the past dealing with.  Of course, the Cavaliers never did it long enough - especially during the playoffs - to take advantage, chossing instead to play a slow-down, halfcourt system that played right into Boston's hands.

As it is, the Celtics come to Cleveland on a back-to-back, the day after an emotional win.  Teams rarely play well in these situations, especially early in the game, so Cleveland needs to be ready to take advantage.

Mo Williams is questionable right now for tonight, with Scott wanting to see Williams go through an entire workout after missing most of Camp with an injury and a death in the family.

We'll have the open thread up and running for ya about 30 minnutes before game time!  See you then!

Ramon Sessions led the Cavaliers to victory Thursday night with a team/game high 26 points on 10-19 shooting
against his old team, the Milwakee Bucks.

Although the Cavaliers were forced to play without Mo Williams and Boobie Gibson, they managed to pull out the 83-77 win with a solid performance from Anthony Parker, who finished 6-12 from the floor, with four assists and zero turnovers. Coach Scott was very impressed with the ball management of Parker, praising him after the game. "(Parker) played 38 minutes and not one turnover," said Scott. "That means you can count on him to do the little things, and he's one of the guys who knows what we're doing pretty well." It's great to see a veteran like Parker step into a leadership role and help carry this team when they are short handed.

The preseason has diffinitely shown some promise for this Cavaliers team moving forward, but come Wednesday night, this team must be ready to preform at the highest level and continue to improve. The Celtics come to town Wednesday night, and will help to gage where the Cavaliers stand early on in the 2010-2011 season. It would be great to start the season with everyone healthy, a big win, and a boost of confidence for the upcoming year.

Box score after the jump...

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J.J. Hickson scored 22 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-95 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in preseason action at U.S. Bank Arena.

Hickson went 11-of-16 from the field for the Cavs, who are 5-1 in preseason play. Daniel Gibson added 15 points and nine assists, while Ramon Sessions and Jawad Williams each had 12 in the victory.

Anderson Varejao recorded 11 points and 11 board for Cleveland, which had eight players in double figures.

Mo Williams made his season debut, scoring 11 points in 25 minutes.

Andre Iguodala had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Sixers, who fell to 1-5 in their exhibition schedule. Andres Nocioni had 17 points, Jrue Holiday 16 and Louis Williams 15 in defeat.

Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins was not in attendance due to concussion symptoms. Associate head coach Michael Curry took over in his absence.

Box Score after the jump...

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The Cleveland Cavaliers announced today that they have waived center Loren Woods. Woods made one appearance, playing 16 minutes and tallying four rebounds and an assist. The Cavaliers roster now stands at 16.

J.J. Hickson scored a game-best 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and Ramon Sessions filled the stat sheet with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, as Cleveland pounded San Antonio, 106-80, in preseason action.

Daniel Gibson added 13 points and six assists, while cult sensation Manny Harris chipped in 11 points and four rebounds for Cleveland, which has won four of five in the preseason and put on a show for the basketball-starved city of Pittsburgh.

The win was overshadowed by an injury to Cavaliers F Antawn Jamison who left in the first half with a knee injury.  The initial word is positive, however, with the injury not considered serious.  The Cavaliers also lost G Anthony Parker to a minor hand injury.

Gary Neal led a depleted Spurs roster with 10 points. Nearly all of San Antonio's projected rotation sat this game out. DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess, who both figure to log some minutes in the frontcourt, scored nine and eight points respectively, while Blair also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists. Blair played his college ball at the University of Pittsburgh.

Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson, Manu Ginobili and Matt Bonner did not play for the Spurs, as they trailed for most of the contest.

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced today that they have waived guard Cedric Jackson and forward Tasmin Mitchell. Jackson appeared in two games for a total of six minutes during the preseason while Mitchell did not appear in any games for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers roster now stands at 17.

From my perch in Pennsylvania, I may be in the dark a bit about Manny Harris, surely much more in the dark than most of you, who I assume live in Ohio, are.

Harris has burst on the scene in the last two pre-season games, first leading a charge back from a deficit in the win over Houston and then going off for 14 points -- on 4-of-5 shooting, including two three-pointer's -- and grabbing four rebounds and dishing four assists in 24 minutes against Dallas.

So who exactly is Manny Harris? Will be stick with the Cavs (he had better, I am thinking)? Will this Manny be better for Cleveland in the long run than that other Manny was? (You know the one I mean, the one with the dreadlocks.)

Frankly, I have had to glean my information on Manny from other sources, and I feel a need to refer you to a couple of those sources, so you can read and see for yourself where this comet came from. "Comet?", you ask? Yes, for while a meteor shines brightly for a brief time and then burns out, a comet comes back over and over again, even if Comet Harris will hopefully not wait 86 years to have another good game, like Halley's would. Surely the way Harris has burst into Cavs' fans consciousness in the past few days reminded me of a comet's sudden appearance in the night sky of LeBron James's departure.

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Anderson Varejao is back in Cleveland after spending over a week in Brazil following the death of his grandfather.  Varejao was at this morning's shoot-around, but head coach Byron Scott said Varejao is not ready for game action.

"He looked great and it was good to see him," Scott said. "Obviously we're going to bring him along slowly and get him up to speed conditioning-wise and what we're doing on both ends of the floor."

Of course, Andy is also recovering from an ankle injury he suffered against Spain in the World Championships.  The Cavaliers are being extra careful with Varejao's ankle and it is doubtful we'll see him until he is close to 100%.