CLEVELAND: Final thoughts from another loss and a blown opportunity against a short-handed opponent...

* Prior to Tuesday night, Kent Bazemore hadn't played more than 18 minutes in a game this season. His career high was six points. He played 30 minutes against the Cavs, scored 30 points and even made the only 3-pointer he attempted. He began the night 1 of 7 on 3s.

CLEVELAND: The Cavs’ three-game winning streak came to a crashing thud thanks to an inept defensive effort against a short-handed Golden State Warriors team playing the final night of a four-game East Coast trip.

Kyrie Irving had 14 points, but shot just 5 of 17, and the Warriors made 11 3-pointers while shooting 54 percent in their 108-95 victory at Quicken Loans Arena. The Warriors were playing without three starters and a key reserve, including leading scorer Stephen Curry, who sprained his ankle in a win at Toronto on Monday.

Time: 7 p.m.; Place: The Q; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR

INDEPENDENCE: Kyrie Irving missed shootaround this morning because he is sick. He is 50/50 to play tonight when the Cavs host the Golden State Warriors.

Irving, the reigning player of the week who averaged 35.7 points in three victories last week, has battled an illness bug off and on for a couple of weeks.

INDEPENDENCE: Dion Waiters will remain in the starting lineup even though C.J. Miles is over his virus and available to return. 

Scott joked Monday that coaches, players and ex-players are all superstitious folks, and since Scott is both a coach and an ex-player, he certainly qualifies. And yes, he is superstitious. 

INDEPENDENCE: Kyrie Irving has been named Eastern Conference player of the week after leading the league in scoring. It is his first player of the week honor.

Irving averaged 35.7 points and shot 61 percent in a remarkable week that also included his first All-Star nomination. The Cavs went 3-0 for their first three-game winning streak in nearly a year.

TORONTO: Final thoughts from a stunning win and a rare three-game winning streak...

TORONTO: Kyrie Irving’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc with seven-tenths of a second remaining gave the Cavs a stunning 99-98 victory Saturday over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

The Cavs trailed 98-96 after the Jose Calderon beat Irving off the dribble and got an easy layup for the lead. Coming out of a timeout with 12.6 seconds left, Irving slowly dribbled to the top of the arc and fired with about three seconds left.

CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving isn’t just an All-Star, he has now joined an elite circle exclusive only to Hall of Fame players, too.

Irving was named to his first All-Star team on Thursday, named as a reserve by the league’s coaches in just his second season. He becomes the sixth-youngest player ever named to an All-Star team (20 years, 331 days) and one of seven to make it before turning 21.

INDEPENDENCE: The league approved the Cavs/Grizzlies trade this afternoon, but it wasn't in time for the new Cavs to practice. That means they won't play tomorrow against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Coach Byron Scott's rule is players must practice before they can play. Since the Cavs have a back-to-back over the weekend, their next practice isn't until Monday. That means Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby will be available to play in Tuesday's home game against the Golden State Warriors.

Every year around this time, NBA teams come running out from behind the curtain screaming, "Pay no attention to that Forbes report!"

A lot of it is probably conjecture on Forbes' part. After all, the Sacramento Kings are ranked 11th at $525 million only because of reports that;'s what the Ballmer-Hansen group are willing to spend to get a franchise back in Seattle.

INDEPENDENCE: Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby did not practice with the Cavaliers on Wednesday because they did not clear their physicals in time and both sides hadn't signed off on the deal. They are expected to practice Thursday and be available for Friday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 6-foot-10 Speights is expected to make the biggest impact of the three based on his size and the Cavs' need for bigs. Coach Byron Scott said he would play the new guys Friday "if the opportunity presents itself."

CLEVELAND: Final thoughts from Kyrie Irving's All-Star game audition tape at Quicken Loans Arena...

* The story I just filed to the Beacon is all about Irving's All-Star chances after he dazzled with a 40-point night. But there is a bigger picture issue here that may or may not have been solved. It's far too early to say with any certainty.

CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving scored 40 points, including 11 in the final 2:33 in the Cavs’ 95-90 victory Tuesday over the Boston Celtics.

Irving dazzled most of the night, but particularly at the end. He scored 15 in the fourth, including the Cavs’ final six. When he and Rajon Rondo chased a loose ball to the Cavs’ end of the court, Rondo caught it and tried bouncing it off Irving before falling out of bounds. Instead, Irving stepped back, caught the ball and laid it in.

INDEPENDENCE: The Cavaliers have acquired Marreese Speights, Josh Selby and Wayne Ellington from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for little-used forward Jon Leuer in a move designed to get the Grizzlies under the luxury tax and give the Cavaliers another appealing draft pick.

Anderson Varejao developed a blood clot in his lower right lung and will miss the rest of the season, the Cavaliers announced on Monday. The clot developed following his surgery on Jan. 10 to repair a split quadriceps muscle near his right knee. Varejao was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic on Jan. 17 to treat the clot.

He is expected to make a full recovery, but will need to be on blood thinning medications for about three months. 

SALT LAKE CITY: FInal thoughts from the Cavs' fourth loss on this road trip, which dropped them to 3-14 against the West...

SALT LAKE CITY: Tired and weary from a 10-day road trip and with the finish line in sight, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott gathered his players at halftime Saturday and told them the importance of beginning the second half with a sense of urgency.

Nobody listened.

PORTLAND, ORE.: A 17-point lead at the half was chopped to 12, then 10 and finally nine Wednesday night at the Rose Garden. As he called a timeout and huddled with his coaches just two minutes into the third quarter, coach Byron Scott knew he’d seen this script before – and it almost always has a tragic ending for the Cavaliers.

Time: 10 p.m.; Place: The Rose Garden; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR; Injury report: Cavs: Anderson Varejao (knee) out; Blazers: Meyers Leonard (ankle) out, Elliiot Williams (Achilles) out.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.: The points in the paint at the end of the night were dead even at 52 apiece, but the Sacramento Kings were more powerful in the way they muscled to a 124-118 victory over the Cavaliers on Monday.

As the growing list of areas where the Cavaliers need to improve continues to swell, add one more – they need to get tougher inside. The Kings scored 32 points in the lane in the first half, DeMarcus Cousins bashed and bruised his way around the court and the Cavs failed to really punch back.

Time: 10 p.m.; Place: Sleep Train Arena; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR

LOS ANGELES: In this sometimes upside-down NBA world, the Cavs’ 113-93 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday isn’t such a bad thing.

The Cavs are playing for draft lottery position at this point and desperately need the Lakers to make the playoffs in order to snatch their first-round pick in this summer’s draft.

Time: 9:30 p.m.; Place: Staples Center; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR

DENVER: The Cavaliers went scoreless for nearly two minutes late in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets rallied late for a 98-91 victory at Pepsi Center.

Time: 9 p.m.; Place: Pepsi Center; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR

DENVER: Kyrie Irving missed shootaround this morning and is questionable for tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets.

Irving walked on to the team bus this morning and coach Byron Scott immediately sent him back to his room to rest.

Anderson Varejao will have surgery Thursday to repair a split quadriceps muscle near his ailing right knee and will miss another six to eight weeks, the Cavaliers announced Wednesday.

He is not expected to miss the rest of the regular season, a league source said, but this makes it highly unlikely Varejao will be moved prior to the league’s Feb. 21 trade deadline.

INDEPENDENCE: Anderson Varejao missed practice again on Tuesday and will not play in Wednesday's home game against the Atlanta Hawks, marking the 11th consecutive game he has missed with what has been diagnosed as a bruised knee.

For the first time since Varejao was injured, coach Byron Scott referenced the rest of the season. Scott seemed more ominous today than usual when discussing Varejao, but when asked about it, he said that wasn't his intent.

CHICAGO: There was a point early on Monday when the Cavaliers appeared poised to end this long, miserable drought against the Chicago Bulls. But by the end of the night, by the time the Bulls were done dismembering the Cavaliers throughout a bloody second half, that time was difficult to remember.

The Cavs lost their 11^th straight to the Bulls on Monday 118-92. The Bulls set a season high for points, surpassing the old high of 115 – which was also set against the Cavs on Nov. 2.

Time: 8 p.m.; Place: United Center; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR

CHICAGO: Omri Casspi declined to comment to the Beacon Journal when reached Monday about a Yahoo! Sports report that he has asked to be traded. 

One league source dismissed the report as inaccurate.

Samardo Samuels was released by the Cavaliers on Sunday, four days before his contract would have become guaranteed for the rest of the season. 

The Cavs are not expected to fill the open roster spot right away. Teams can start signing players to 10-day contracts on Monday.

CLEVELAND: Final thoughts from the Cavs' 97-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings, who improved to 2-13 on the road this season...

CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving’s heave from beyond half-court bounced off the rim at the buzzer and the Cavaliers were pounded inside in a 97-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings after coach Byron Scott shuffled his starting lineup to no avail.

The Kings improved to 2-13 on the road despite missing two of their top three scorers in Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton.

CLEVELAND: C.J. Miles will start for the Cavaliers at shooting guard tonight against the Kings and Dion Waiters will come off the bench. 

Coach Byron Scott said he made the decision after watching Miles work with the starters the last two days in practice. 

Time: 7 p.m.; Place: The Q; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WTAM, WLEC, WAKR