It is hard for me to give much praise to the Cavs tonight.  A win is a win and they all equal the same, I suppose.  Watching them again chuck jumpers in the fourth quarter left me to consider dragging out my old links again.  So on this night they made them, which will probably happen roughly 33 percent of the time.

Miami -- So the Cavs lost here after a terrible offensive effort.  I simply refuse to go over all this old ground.  So I am going to do what I said I was going to do.  I will refer to this blog post and this story from December and move on the to the next game.  Oh, and, of course, the Cavs always remind me why I hate the jump shot.  Nothing I had to say back then is any different today.

The Cavs were unable to make a trade by today's deadline.  I am told by sources that general manager Danny Ferry and his staff worked like crazy for days trying to get something done.  They had three and four-team packages lined up, huge chucks of players moving here and there in an effort to get Sacramento to bite and deliver Mike Bibby.  It just didn't work.

Didn't go it to Toronto tonight, my first missed game of the season.  But this was no off day, I was working the phones hard.  I talked to several organizations and it has become clear the Cavs are going all out as to land Mike Bibby.

Vegas -- Here's an idea for the next time the NBA comes to LVNV for the All-Star Game, and we all know it will happen.  Play the game on Friday.  After three days in Vegas, the players didn't seem to have much energy left to actually play the game tonight.  After all this flash and dash, the turnoverfest/blowout was a letdown.  Most All-Star Games are, this one especially so since it was supposed to be "special."

Vegas -- Let me start with this: I haven't seen so many skintight, short pieces of clothing since I was forced to cover two days of the state wrestling tournament as a newbie sportswriter.

Los Angeles -- It is almost 2:45 a.m. back in Cleveland.  My guess is most fans didn't get to see the Cavs finish off a 114-108 win over the Lakers tonight at the Staples Center.  Enjoy the highlights, they will be all over the place tomorrow.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Salt Lake City -- Thoughts following the Cavs 99-98 loss here tonight:

3:34 p.m. -- Welcome to the live blog.  All the hugging and kissing and hand slapping is going on.  When ABC deems fit, we'll start.

I can not imagine why Hughes is playing mad.  I love the kid but give me a break he is making lots of money (some are calling it the worst free agent signing in recent years), he most of the time gets his 36 minutes where he gets his 15 shots a game...I do not think a true point guard helps this team at all.  James will still start the offense 50% of the time and unless this new true point guard can actually hit a shot then it is no different than Snow.
-John

Here are a few things I know.  Or at least I think I know.

2:45 p.m. -- Pistons 13, Cavs 11.  I got a lot of flak from e-mailers about my story today about Daniel Gibson only being a quick fix because he's not a true point guard.  Lots of people think I'm way off.  Well, in the first seven minutes here, I've seen Chauncey Billups repeatedly burn Gibson defensively.  He had three assists and Gibson has two fouls.  I assume Eric Snow will be in after this timeout.

Today I will be live blogging the Cavs-Pistons game. Let's see how this works, perhaps it will become a regular feature. So check back after the start of the game. And feel free to e-mail me with questions or make comments.

Miami -- I was about 80 percent convinced yesterday that LeBron intended to play tonight here in South Beach.  At shoot-around this morning the team said 50/50, which makes me 95 percent sure he'll be playing.  Of course, I don't think he should because I think he'll probably tweak his toe again and be in danger of missing the weekend.  A few games in midseason don't really matter and he knows that.  But he just can't stand sitting, especially when a national television audience is watching.  I know he plays Mr. Team in the media, but he's just as vain as anyone else.  Yes, when it comes to stats and awards he is too, despite what he says.