Dan Dickau will be a free-agent this summer and with the odds increasing that the Cavaliers will not resign Jeff McInnis, he may be an attractive option for the club.

Dickau appears to agree.

"Of course I would," Dickau said when asked about joining Cleveland. "They're an up-and-coming team and they have the best young player in the league. Playing alongside LeBron [James] would be a lot of fun because he's such an unselfish player. That would help me continue to grow as a player."

With the Hornets he's averaging 13.5 points and 4.7 assists. Dickau has led or tied for team game-scoring honors 16 times.

"All he needed was a chance," said Luke Jackson, who worked out with Dickau during summers in the Northwest. "He works hard and he puts in the time. His game speaks for itself because he can shoot and he's like a fly out on the court. He's hard to catch."

The struggling Cavaliers nearly avoided a loss to New Orleans last night rallying from 17 down in the fourth quarter to go on and win the game in overtime, ending the clubs 11-game losing streak.  Despite a sore ankle, LeBron ?King? James finished with 44 points, going for over 40 for the third time this season.

``My ankle is hurting like hell, but my team needed me tonight and I couldn't see myself sitting on the bench,'' James said. ``We just had to find a way.''

New Orleans looked great, however, as has been the story for most of their season, they just didn?t have enough to pull off the win.  Dan Dickau, the leading candidate for this year's 'Most Improved Award' saw his game-winning layin bounce harmlessly off the rim as time expired.

LeBron James scored 44 points, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers' comeback from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a 109-108 overtime defeat of the New Orleans Hornets on Monday.

Drew Gooden had 11 points and rebounds, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 9 rebounds.

J.R. Smith led New Orleans with 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Dan Dickau had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

It might be the end of March, but going into Saturday night's game versus the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Hornets had yet to win a single game versus a division foe.  The Hornets got the victory, beating the Grizzlies 96-85.

``It's good to get that monkey off our back,'' said forward P.J. Brown. ``We finally got that done. We should have gotten it done a long time ago.''

J.R. Smith scored a career-high 33 points for the Hornets.

``Fortunately, we were on tonight, and ended up beating a pretty good team,'' Smith said.

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have activated forward/center Chris Andersen from the Injured List.

Andersen had missed the last six games (five on the Injured List) with an infected right elbow.  The infection was in a laceration that he originally suffered in the Hornets' game Feb. 28 at Dallas.  Andersen, who has averaged
7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 60 games for the Hornets this season, will be available for tonight's game vs. Houston.

In other transactions, the Hornets placed forward/center Maciej Lampe on the Injured List with lower back spasms.  Lampe had averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13 games with the Hornets this season after being acquired from Phoenix along with Casey Jacobsen and Jackson Vroman on Jan. 21.

With Troy Hudson's hot first quarter shooting giving Minnesota a nice early lead, the Timberwolves were able defeat the Hornets 107-102 on Wednesday night.

There are only 13 games left in the regular season, and from here on out every game counts.  The Wolves are only 2 games back from the Denver Nuggets, who retain that coveted eighth and final playoff spot.

At one point Minnesota had a comfortable 20-point lead, only to allow the Hornets to battle back within four points.  If this team is going to make the play-offs, they cannot hand their opponents these golden opportunities.  They need to finish off each game as strong as they start.

"We're nursing those leads a little bit," coach Kevin McHale said.  "We just have to play better defense."

With Denver playing phenomenal basketball over the last couple weeks, and winning 12 of 13, Minnesota needs a little luck along with a winning record to get a play-off birth.  

"Every game is a playoff game for us right now," Fred Hoiberg said after Wednesday's match-up. "Especially with Denver playing the way they're playing."

Once again Kevin Garnett had a stellar performance.
With his 24 points, 13 boards, and 5 assists, he was named player of the game.  Wally Szczerbiak had a quiet night, while Sam Cassell came up with a solid 14 points, and four assists.  Sam's return is a welcome addition to this team right now.  He may well provide that spark they've been desperately searching for.

The New Orleans Hornets are starting to make a pitch to land their young point guard out of Gonzaga the NBA's 'Most Improved Award.'  Dan Dickau, who seems to have been created in the same scrappy point guard lab as fellow Washingtonian, Luke Ridenour, is having a career season avergaing 13.8 points and 4.6 assists, compare that to his career totals of 3.0 ppg and 1.33 apg.  

"Dan is a player that should be looked at as 'most improved,' John Stockton woked with him during the summer and said he is a very hard worker." -Utah Jazz Head Coach Jerry Sloan.

Other candidates for the award are:
Primoz Brezec (CHA) +10.9 ppg, +6.2 rpg
Gerald Wallace (CHA) +9.1 ppg, +3.5 rpg
Bobby Simmons (LAC) +9.0 ppg, +1.2 rpg

The Mavericks' victories during the Avery Johnson era might only be against the Bobcats and Hornets, but it is a good start for the man who was picked to replace legendary head coach Don Nelson.

In their 103-86 win over New Orleans, Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 8 rebounds.  Devin Harris had a season-high 17 points.

Michael Finley added 16 points and Josh Howard had 15 for Dallas.

Rookie J.R. Smith had a season-high 27 points and Jamaal Magliore added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost six of eight.

The Boston Celtics got the same result on Saturday night as they have on their previous 6 outings, a victory, beating the Hornets 113-100.

Ricky Davis scored 27 points coming off the bench and Paul Pierce scored 23.

``We're rolling,'' Celtics forward Antoine Walker said. ``This builds confidence. ... We've got a good balance of guys who've been there before. We're trying to just keep this train rolling -- just keep winning games however they come.''

``Once we get them on their back, we've just got to put them away. And we did,'' Pierce said. ``You've got a lot of veterans out there who understand the game and understand what it takes to win. We've just got to do a good job of showing the young guys, when they come in, what they have to do for us to be a top-notch team. That's taking care of business, keeping leads, holding on to them and not having any lapses.''

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have activated center Jamaal Magloire and forward David West and have placed forward Chris Andersen on the Injured List with an infected right elbow.

Magloire has missed the last 51 games (48 on the Injured List) with a fractured right ring finger.  He played in 11 games before suffering the injury Nov. 26 in the Hornets' game at Phoenix, averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds.

West has missed the last 47 games (44 on the Injured List) with a right knee contusion.  He played in 14 games before suffering the injury Dec. 4 in the Hornets' game vs. Detroit, averaging 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Andersen will miss at least the next five games on the Injured List with an infected right elbow.  The infection is in a laceration that he originally suffered in the Hornets' game at Dallas on Feb. 28.  Andersen, who also missed Monday night's game at San Antonio, has averaged 7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 60 games for the Hornets this season.