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We got ourselves an early one today as the Lakers and Cavaliers tip off at 4:00 Cali time (or shortly thereafter). All together now: Pau Gasol's still out. So are Steve Nash and Steve Blake. Nothing new here, move al-... wait a second, what's this? Jordan Hill's starting! It'll be only the second time in his Lakers career he's been in the starting lineup. I'm good with this move. I know people have concerns about pairing him and Dwight Howard on the floor, but honestly the Lakers need to have their most talented guys on the floor as much as possible right now. And they need guys on the floor who will try hard, and Jordan's certainly that.
The big news on the Cleveland side is the return of electric point guard Kyrie Irving. He's missed the last 11 games with broken finger. Kyrie's return gives the Cavs, along with Anderson Varejao, two whole above-average players, which given how the Lakers have looked recently could be more than enough to secure Cleveland's fifth win.