LeBron, Shaq and winless Cavs coming to town Friday

Posted on October 29th, 2009 – 5:10 PM
By Jerry Zgoda

Who would have figured this?

You’ve got the undefeated Timberwolves (OK, they’re only 1-0 and how they are that, who really knows?) and the winless Cleveland Cavs set for tomorrow night at Target Center.

The Wolves practiced for more two hours this afternoon to get ready for LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and the Cavs, who lost at home to Boston on opening night and then lost at Toronto Wednesday night.

“He probably won’t be too happy,” Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said of James. “He has also been around long enough and been the leader of a team long enough and in the playoffs long enough to know it’s a long season. The reality is most people won’t even remember how you start off a season.”

Rambis suggested you could see the first appearance of Nathan Jawai, the 6-10, 300-poundish forward acquired from Dallas last week, tomorrow night for a big-body presence to defend O’Neal.

Just don’t mention anything to Jawai about Shaq vs. Baby Shaq or the Australian Shaq, two nicknames the big fella has been given either in his native Australia or here in the U.S.

“Don’t call me that name again,” Jawai said of Baby Shaq after practice Thursday. “I hate that name. That’s not my name. That guy is a future Hall of Famer, so why compare me to him?”

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