Since trading for Antawn Jamison and sending Zydrunas on a leave-of-absence, the Cavaliers are struggling. The first test after the all-star break was against Carmelo Anthony and the surging Nuggets, and an epic duel broke out between two of the NBA’s premiere players. Long story short, LeBron played out of his mind, messed around and got a triple-double.(43 Points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds) but Carmelo’s game winning shot sealed the deal.

After that heartbreak which ended the losing streak, the Cavs went to Charlotte and layed an egg. In Antawn Jamison’s first appearance as a Cavalier, he failed in grand proportion, missing all 12 of his field goal attempts, and never looked even remotely in-sync with his new team. In summation, Cavaliers lose their second in a row, and it appears that hell has frozen over. This is why the showdown in Orlando today was immeasurably important in terms of turning the ship around.

There were multiple storyline angles to consider in today’s game. First you have the growing nickname debacle between Shaq and Dwight. Shaq is upset, and rightly so. He was the original “Superman.” Another thing to watch for was the play of Antawn Jamison, and the Cavaliers ability to incorporate him into the offense.

So what does the King do? He comes out on a tear, and in the 1st half he dropped 21 points on 9/15 shooting. Shaq plays solid, battles Howard, and makes his first 8 attempts from the floor. Jamison looked out of sync and didn’t really have a good grasp of the offense still. The Magic played amazing defense on the Cavs and controlled the tempo of the 1st half, even without Dwight Howard who yet again picked up fouls leading to his early exit.

Early in the 3rd quarter, Jamison caught up to the offense and scored a bunch of points in a row. He makes impossible shots look easy, and this game definitely helped Antawn get a better feel for what he can contribute to this team. Shaq continued his vendetta against Dwight Howard, and early in the second half he not only blocked Howard’s hook shot, but also lost him defensively and slammed it home one-handed while drawing the contact for the And-1. Shaq does not like Dwight Howard, and he's taking the Superman-nickname war to another level.

The reason the Cavs couldn’t pull this game out was because of the defensive effort in the 4th quarter. The Magic hit some big 3 pointers late, and Vince Carter waited until the end to make his impact. Tough loss for LeBron and company, and we’ve now begun the wrong type of streak.. losing three in a row. Hopefully they can get it together and end this slide Tuesday night when New Orleans comes to town. This 3 game losing streak marks the first of its kind in over 2 years. There is one common theme during this skid; Zydrunas has averaged roughly 0 minutes. Oh wait, he's not on our team anymore. This might actually help the team though, because it’s better to lose a few now.. than a few in the playoffs which would mean no ring for the King. LeBron will soon put an end to this ignorance. LeBron James is underrated