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The Cavalier reached double-digit victories back in November. Their opponent on Wednesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves, came into the match up sitting on nine wins.

There’s always next game Minnesota.

The Cavaliers fell behind early in the first period but quickly righted the ship to win 104-95 in front of a sold-out crowd at Quicken Loans Arena.

Leading the way in the victory was not LeBron James or even Shaquille O’Neal, who both sat comfortably on the bench for most of the uneventful second half. Instead J.J. Hickson took the scoring reigns most of the night, registering a career-high 23 points and also grabbing eight rebounds.

“He was really active, slashing to the rim, grabbing offensive rebounds and just making plays,” said James after the game. ”It was good to see him with his legs up under himself tonight. He was excellent.”

Hickson shot 8-10 from the floor, with all of his field goals coming in the paint. James assisted on four of Hickson’s shots as the second-year pro continues to benefit from the lack of attention opposing defenses give him when the ball is in James’ hands.

“I’ll take the open shots if they’re going to keep leaving me open,” said Hickson. “I’ll take the easy looks, easy layups and dunks.”

James tied a season-low with just 12 points, well below his season average of 29.6 points. The reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month didn’t attempt a single dunk or layup in the game. He opted, instead, to let Hickson and others do the bulk of scoring, resulting in 11 assists for the 25-year-old.

“He has an unselfish personality,” said Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis. ”He really understands the game and he knows how to keep his teammates. If he wanted to, he could dominate the ball all the time, take all the shots.”

James, along with O’Neal, became a spectator by the start of the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers held an 85-66 lead when the final period began so Cavs coach Mike Brown opted to let his two superstars ride out the final 12 minutes of the game on the bench. That didn’t seem to bother either O’Neal or James, who have both logged big minutes as of late as injuries pile up for the team.

“A win is a win,” said James. ”We’re okay with having ones where our starters don’t have to play a lot.”

A total of six Cavaliers scored in double-figures for the game, including Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jamario Moon off the bench.

Moon finished with 14 points, while Ilgauskas poured in 13.

Even rookie Danny Green got in on the scoring as he finished with six points in 10 minutes of play.

Our team is deep,” said Brown. ”There is a lot of versatility on our roster. …This team is built to play at any type of size.”

Although the Cavaliers controlled the entire second half, the Timberwolves weren’t always playing from behind.

Minnesota led several times during the first quarter, although their biggest advantage was just four points. They trailed by just one after the opening period, but the Cavaliers’ advantage ballooned to 12 (60-48) by halftime.

“We kind of got off to a slow start,” said O’Neal. ”But whenever this team gets off to a slow start, I know were going to come back.”

The Cavaliers continue to play well without guards Mo Williams and Delonte West. They are now 3-0 since West went down.

“We’re a good team from LeBron all the way down to the last man on the bench,” said Hickson. “Our whole team is prepared to play anytime, so when someone gets hurt the next man has to step up. We’ve been doing a good job of stepping up.”