As all of you know, Dwyane Wade and his Miami Heat will come to Cleveland tonight to face the Cavs and that, of course, means that LeBron James is coming to town. The first time around, the Cavaliers' fanbase brought all the venom they could muster albeit in vain as the Heat torched the Cavaliers in a game that was never close. As Part II approaches, the media is not nearly as interested in the lowly Cavaliers this time around. Many suggest that Cavs fans have moved on and don't feel nearly as passionate about it as they did on December 2nd. 

Some of my favorite Cleveland writers suggest that we have collectively moved from hate to indifference in this article from WaitingForNextYear. To their prompted question of "does anyone care?" I respond with a resounding YES. Clevelanders are certainly not as obsessed with their former star and have gotten over it to a degree, but I refuse to believe that the general feeling of hate has dissipated. 

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The Cleveland Cavaliers welcome the Golden State Warriors to The Q tonight and will be as close to full strength as they can be at this point of the season.  Head Coach Byron Scott said earlier today that Daniel Gibson is likely to return from the quad injury that has been plaguing him much of the past two months.  Gibson has been in and out of the lineup as he has tried to deal with the injury.

Scott also mentioned that guard Baron Davis will continue to come off the bench as he and the Cavs try to manage a painful knee that Davis has been dealing with.

Daniel Gibson suffered a left ankle sprain in Wednesday night's game versus Toronto at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. He was examined yesterday by Cavaliers Head Team Physician Dr. Richard Parker and received an MRI at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, the results of which confirmed the sprain. Gibson did not travel with the team on their upcoming five-game road trip and will remain in Cleveland to receive treatment at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Joey Graham remains Out, but traveled with the team and will continue to receive treatment for his right quad strain.

Anthony Parker missed the game versus Toronto due to a low back strain. He was examined by Cavaliers Head Team Physician Dr. Richard Parker and received an MRI at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, which confirmed the strain. He traveled with the team and will continue to receive treatments. He is listed as Questionable for tonight's game vs. Golden State. 

Leon Powe experienced a right knee contusion in Wednesday's game. He did not travel with the team and is currently slated to be re-examined by Dr. Parker at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health tomorrow (Friday). His status will be updated as appropriate.

Anderson Varejao experienced a left ankle sprain during yesterday's team practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. He received an MRI and x-rays at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health which confirmed the sprain. He traveled with the team and will continue to receive treatment during the trip. He is currently listed as Questionable for  tonight's game vs. Golden State.

The Cavaliers will be a bit shorthanded tonight in Indiana when they face the Pacers.  Forward Joey Graham has been ruled out of the game with a quad injury suffered during the loss to the Miami Heat Wednesday night.  Graham remained in the game, but his condition worsened over the past couple of days.

Jamario Moon will be active for the game, though Jawad Williams will take Graham's place in the rotation.

The Cavaliers have lost 8-straight games.  The Heat have won 9-straight, all by double-digits.  This has to be a mis-match, right?  Yes, it is, but that's why they play the games.  The Cavaliers need a spark.  They need to show some effort against LeBron James and the Miami Heat this time, no national TV, everyone isn't watching this time.

The 118-90 loss to the Heat two weeks was more than a loss.  It deflated the Cavaliers.  It seemed as though, that night, they realized LeBron James was gone and he was never coming back.  Fight or flight?  They chose flight.  Tonight they can regain some of their pride and dignity.  Can they win?  I don't know, at 7-17 it is becoming less about wins and losses and more about trying to figure out who the pieces are moving forward.

What they can do is show they won't let LeBron, or anyone push them around.  That is what I am looking for, and hopefully we'll see a bit of that tonight.  Win or lose.

GO CAVS!

While the Cavaliers welcome back on piece of the puzzle, another might be lost.  F Antawn Jamison missed yesterday's practice with soreness in his knee and is a gametime decision.  Jamison has struggled so far this season and was clearly hampered by something in the 2nd half against Sacramento on Saturday night.

Last night, during the game thread for the Toronto game, I mentioned that I had feared that there might be a letdown after the win over the Celtics the other night, and that the true test of the Cavs this season would be in how they performed against the teams they are more evenly-matched with.

Needless to say, last night did not go well -- but then again the Cavaliers were without Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams. So, truthfully, last night's game was not the best of barometers.

Someone else said that the game tonight against Sacramento is very important, because the Cavs need to keep the fans fired up at home, to paraphrase.

I agree with that assessment and I am wondering: How important do you see this otherwise unremarkable game tonight with the Kings? If the Cavs win does it wash away the taste of the loss last night? Or did the Raptors take the bloom off the rose of your excitement and/or hopes, even though the Cavs played short-handed?

Your thoughts, please.

Anderson Varejao did not travel with the Cavaliers to Toronto following practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts this afternoon.

He was excused from traveling in order to be with his father who is scheduled to have heart surgery tomorrow in Cleveland. Anderson's game status will be updated tomorrow afternoon, but he is currently listed as Doubtful for tomorrow night's game vs. the Raptors.

If Varejao does not play, Ryan Hollins would get the start in his place at center.

Our thoughts and best wishes are with Anderson, his father and their family.