Read More: George Hill (G – IND), Kyrie Irving (G – CLE), Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers, Dec 30, 2011 6:00 PM CST

The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off of a convincing road win against the Detroit Pistons and have a chance to win another in Indiana on Friday night.

Behind strong shooting from inside the arc, the Cavaliers have a 47-45 lead after the first 24 minutes.

While the Cavs have a two-point advantage at the break, they are shooting just 57-percent from the line and 1-of-9 from long distance. The Pacers outscored the Cavs 8-5 in the final 2:50 of the first half, too.

The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, Kyrie Irving, leads all scorers with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting with two assists and two rebounds for the Cavaliers. George Hill is the leading scorer for the Pacers with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting off the bench.

For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, go to Fear The Sword. You can also head over to SB Nation’s main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers were treated to a nice surprise on Wednesday, December 28. After last year’s abysmal 19-win and 63-loss performance, we got used to the fact that wins were hard to come by. We hoped for an improved squad this season but knew there would be some growing pains. A solid victory always helps.

As the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons by the score of 105-89, Cleveland improves to 1-1 on the season while Detroit falls to 0-2.

Ramon Sessions was the top performer of the game for the Cavs scoring 16 points with seven rebounds and six assists coming off the bench. While he led the team in scoring he was only 4-11 from the field, which is still cause for some concern.

For the Pistons, rookie Brandon Knight led the team with 23 points on the night paired with a rebound and six assists. Unlike Sessions he was 10-13 from the field. Ben Gordon scored 25 points on the night but Knight gave a better overall performance in the Pistons’ losing effort.

Rookie Kyrie Irving had a much better night scoring 14 points with four rebounds and seven assists on the night. He was 5-9 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. After his disappointing opening night performance against the Toronto Raptors, he had nowhere to go but up. I was happy to see him show much improvement in this game.

Tristan Thompson played well yet again adding 10 points, four rebounds, and an assist coming off the bench. While he has only played in two games in his young career, I have no complaints the Cavs picked Thompson as high as they did in the draft.

Already this season has a different feel to it. Fans realize the Cavs are young and rebuilding. Last year was a season filled with anger and hostility. This year is a season filled with promise. There is the promise that comes with knowing Dan Gilbert is dedicated to building a team the right way this time around and the promise that while the team will surely take its bumps and bruises this season, they will get better.

Cavs’ fans have something to look forward to again.

Next up for the Cavaliers are the Indiana Pacers on Friday, December 30.

More Cleveland Cavaliers Commentary from this Contributor:

Cleveland Cavaliers drop opener to Raptors 104-96, Irving struggles: A fan’s reaction

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Omri Casspi shines in his preseason debut: A fan’s reaction

Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving defeat Detroit Pistons 91-87: A fan’s reaction

Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers is better for business: A fan’s perspective

Cleveland Cavaliers use amnesty clause, waive Baron Davis: A fan’s reaction

Sources:

All data provided by NBA.com

Paul Rados is an avid Cleveland Cavaliers fan and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook. For a complete look at his freelance work please visit his Blog.

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By Scott Schroeder

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 26, 2011 – The Cleveland Cavaliers poor season last year secured the ability to draft Kyrie Irving with the top spot in the NBA Draft, but one can bet Dan Gilbert is expecting better results than a lottery pick this season. The road out of the cellar starts Monday evening for the Cavs as they host the Toronto Raptors.

Byron Scott’s team represents an interesting mix of young and old, but the latter gets the nod in the opening night’s starting lineup as Cavs.com currently projects Ramon Sessions, Anthony Parker, Omri Casspi, Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao will be the first players on the floor for the season-opener. It wouldn’t be surprising if the young guns, particularly Irving, sneak into the starting lineup at some point during the season.

The Raptors aren’t projected to be very good this year, but they’ll try to prove the critics wrong with a team set to showcase DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani around an underwhelming supporting cast. The Raptors finished last place in their division last year with a 22-60 record.

Monday night’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. with the television broadcast coming from Fox Sports Ohio. For more on the Cavs, be sure to check Fear The Sword.

Read More: Anthony Parker (G – CLE), Andrea Bargnani (C – TOR), Antawn Jamison (F – CLE), Anderson Varejao (C – CLE), Ramon Sessions (G – CLE), DeMar DeRozan (G – TOR), Omri Casspi (F – CLE), Byron Scott (H – NOH), Kyrie Irving (G – CLE), Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers, Dec 26, 2011 6:00 PM CST

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By Scott Schroeder

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Dec 22, 2011 – The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be inserted into the starting lineup right away. The Cavs made an opening for the starting point guard when they released Baron Davis last week under the new amnesty clause.

Head coach Byron Scott told the media on Thursday that he’ll make a decision whether to start Irving or incumbent Ramon Sessionss sometime over the weekend, according to the Plain Dealer.

The Cavaliers coach said he won’t decide whether to start Irving or Ramon Sessions until the weekend and won’t make it public until Monday when the club opens its regular season at home against Toronto.

“The one good thing is I have two good point guards and that’s a plus. Right now it’s a toss up. I will use (next two days) to figure out where I am.”

Sessions started the Cavs two preseason games, but Irving is obviously being looked at the future.

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Dec 16, 2011 – The Cleveland Cavaliers will play their first game of the season on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons in a game scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. on NBA TV. Due to the NBA lockout, the only other preseason game the Cavs will play comes next week at home against the Pistons.

The preseason isn’t typically an indicator of too many things, but the one thing to keep an eye on is the point guard position. Cleveland selected Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, but reports indicate that veteran guard Ramon Sessions will start the game at the point

Fear The Sword’s Conrad Kaczmarek wrote that he’s going to trust the team’s best judgement when it comes to the Sessions vs. Irving battle.

Truthfully, I have no problem with whoever Scott chooses to start. If he believes that Irving will be better suited off the bench as he learns the PG position in the NBA, then that’s fine with me. Sessions played quite well last season and it may be wise for the Cavaliers to showcase him along with various other veterans (Jamison, Varejao) if they intend to bump up their trade value and get young assets in return. In the long run, however, I believe Irving will be the starter and I expect that to be sooner rather than later.

Maybe Friday night’s game will provide some clarity, but that’s rather doubtful at this early juncture in the season.

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