Shaq's impact on the Cavs was in plain sight Saturday night. In the win over the Thunder, Shaq got the most touches he's had all season and responded more than satisfactory, to the tune of 8 of 10 shooting for 22 points, six rebounds and three assists. The only blemish was a 6-for-15 performance from the free throw line. His +/- was +13. An overall stellar performance. This makes sense for several reasons. One, the Cavs were missing a big chunk of their rotation in Mo Williams, Delonte West and Jamario Moon. So Shaq picked up the slack. Second, the Thunder don't have a center to match up with him (with respect to Nenad Kristic). This is why the Cavs traded for Shaq. What a weapon he is in these situations. You have LeBron getting a near triple double, playing one of his better games of the season. As if that wasn't enough for the Thunder to handle, Shaq is piling up points in the paint. This may not work against the Magic because of Dwight Howard. But I am curious to see if the next time the Cavs play the Celtics, Shaq gets lots of touches. Also, look for him to have a big game against the Heat tonight as Jermaine O'Neal is not much of a matchup problem.
Daniel Gibson is going to be crucial with Mo Williams out. Against the Thunder on Saturday, Gibson started poorly but hit a crucial 3-pointer late in the game. That's exactly what the Cavs need from Gibson, late-game shooting. But they may need a little more now that his minutes are going to pick up due to Mo Williams and Delonte West being injured. Gibson scored 13 points in 34 minutes on Saturday. The 34 minutes were the most he's played all year since game No. 2 in Toronto all the way back in October. Expect him to play at least that many while Williams, West and Jamario Moon are all out. Gibson will be a key piece to the Cavs as the season progresses. They'll need his shooting, no question. I haven't always been his biggest fan so I hope he proves me wrong.
Breakdown of upcoming schedule: This week's slate features a home game against the Heat tonight, home against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, at the Pacers on Friday and home against the Clippers on Sunday. All four are winnable games, with the Heat being the toughest of the four opponents. The Cavs then open February with six straight home games, with the highlight being a Feb. 11 game against the Magic, the fifth of the six games. This stretch of 10 games might be the time where the Cavs put some distance between themselves and Boston as far as the Eastern Conference standings (although the Celtics did just get Kevin Garnett back on Friday and proceeded to beat the TrailBlazers in overtime).
Finally, trade rumors. The Arizona Republic reported late Sunday night that the Cavs are one of three teams in the sweepstakes to trade for Amare Stoudemire of the Suns. Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer touched on the rumors here: Windhorst blog piece. In a nutshell, BW believes the rumors to come from a credible source and he hypothesizes that the Cavs would give up JJ Hickson, Z and possibly draft picks, and the condition would most likely be Stoudemire would have to sign a long-term deal (he will be a free agent this summer). This is very interesting on many levels. Stoudemire is obviously a premier talent and would be a nice star-caliber player to pair with LeBron over the long-term. But Stoudemire did not have any kind of success playing with Shaq in Phoenix, in fact the experiment worked horribly. So that part remains to be seen. I'll be writing more on this topic as it continues to unfold, if it does.
* Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
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