On a night in which the Wine and Gold were without Shaquille O'Neal, the Cavs still held their own in the paint behind yet another solid performance by JJ Hickson.  Just two nights after setting a career-high in points, the sophomore forward shined again, scoring 20 points on 7 of 13 from the field in 38 minutes of work.

Cleveland led through three quarters of play but caved on a late surge by Utah and surrendered the lead  with 1:56 to play on a free throw by former Cavalier Carlos Boozer.  Then the King stole the show.  LeBron James scored the last 8 points for his team and finished the game with 21 points on 6 of 15 from the field while gathering 6 boards and finding his teammates on 9 assists.  The second half of the Cavs' dynamic duo, Mo Williams, added 21 points and 6 assists of his own on the night.

Cleveland continued their sweet-shooting ways from downtown, going 9 of 22 from deep.  Prized free agent acquisitions Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon led the three-point assault, canning four and three tres respectably.  Parker finished with 14 points on the night while Moon chipped in with a solid 11 points and 4 boards in just over 16 minutes of play.

After a rocky start, the Cavaliers have settled in and will carry a four game win streak back into the Q for Tuesday night's contest with the Golden State Warriors.

After beginning the 2009-10 campaign with back-to-back losses to Eastern Conference foes Boston and Toronto, critics began to claim the Cavaliers were overrated and Shaquille O'Neal was too old, too big, and too slow to play with the premier centers in the NBA.

 The last two games, however, the Wine and Gold have began the game by going right to their dominate post presence and setting the tone. In Wednesday night's matchup with Dwight Howard, it took O'Neal and the Cavs just over two minutes to force Superman into foul trouble. The Big Witness Protection nearly matched Howard point-for-point in the contest posting 10 points to Howard's 11 and controlled the paint for much of the night against Orlando's young superstar.

Thursday night's contest against the Miami Heat played out in a similar fashion. Cleveland established their presence in the paint early in the game, going right to O'Neal on each of their first two possessions. The result: Four points on 2 of 2 from the field. He completed that contest with 14 points.

The addition of Shaq added an unfamiliar dimension to the Cavaliers game plan this season and, therefore, produced a share of hiccups in the early going. But the Cavaliers carry their three game win streak back into the Q for Saturday night's contest against the Utah Jazz with their tanks running on Diesel.