Thursday roundup

There were a few story threads to follow around the Cleveland sports scene Thursday, but not enough to sustain an entire column. So I'm going to bounce around a bit today.

The Cavaliers looked about as good as they have looked in quite some time in dropping the Nuggets Thursday night at The Q, 94-85.
Two days after their worst performance of the season in a loss to Atlanta, the Cavs rebounded with tight defense and clutch shooting to snap a three-game losing streak.
LeBron James did what he ususally does when the Cavs win: eschewed his own scoring to get his teammates involved. Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones hit four three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Jones finished with a season-high 17 points. He was still a bit reckless in heaving threes, but exhibited more control over his game than recently.
Defensively, the Cavs prompted me to ask "Where has this been since Thanksgiving?" Their spacing was good, energy up, and LeBron, possibly motivated by playing good friend Carmelo Anthony, helped hold him to 23 points on 23 shots. At one point in the second quarter, the Cavs had four straight defensive stops.

All you Browns fans who think linebacker Andra Davis is overrated and underproductive, I have bad news: he's going to be here for a while after inking a five-year contract extension Thursday.
It's not as bad as you think. Davis was the AFC Defensive Player of the Week following Cleveland's 22-0 win over Miami four weeks ago. While he's not a franchise defensive player, he could be a nice compliment to an as-yet-unacquired stud linebacker (A.J. Hawk, anyone?)
After struggling early to adjust to coach Romeo Crennel's 3-4 schemes, Davis apparently looks like a keeper to the Browns. The contract is a huge vote of confidence for Davis, considering how crucial linebackers are in a 3-4 defense.
It also might help reverse the fortunes of Davises in Cleveland, which haven't been too good recently (Ricky, Butch, Andre).

The Indians are still waiting for an answer from free agent Nomar Garciaparra, which could come by today. If general manager Mark Shapiro gets Garciaparra to spurn offers from the well-endowed Astros, Dodgers and Yankees to sign with Cleveland, he might have a future in sales if this whole baseball thing doesn't work out.