When James was slapped with a technical foul Tuesday night for hanging on the rim after a dunk in Memphis, he moved into the top five in the league in technicals with seven. The Pistons' Rasheed Wallace leads with 12.

The midpoint of the season hasn't arrived but it's already James' career high - he had just two all of last season - and he's on pace to brush up against the 16 technical-foul barrier which means an automatic suspension.

While that likely won't happen, James has already reached the NBA threshold where fines for technicals get a 50 percent hike. The standard fine is $1,000 but now James is paying $1,500 for each. Like most things, the Cavs seem to be following James' lead in this regard as well.

The Cavs have racked up 21 technical fouls this season, not including two they got for delay-of-game penalties. Last year the Cavs had 26 for the entire regular season. Five of those last season belonged to coach Mike Brown. This season, Brown has earned just two, both coming in a matter of seconds when he was ejected in Washington earlier this month.

"Everybody is human and guys have voiced their opinion," Brown said. "To a certain degree, I've got to let guys do it as long as they don't do it all the time."

There are four Cavs - James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao - who have earned multiple technicals this season. It isn't all that surprising, the Cavs have been noticeably chirping more about calls this season than in years past and officials are responding with quick whistles.

The irony is, this season Cavs' opponents have been called for about one more foul per game than the Cavs. Last season, when there was less complaining, the Cavs were called for more fouls than their opponents. So perhaps the complaining is paying off, even if the fines are racking up.

"A lot of the time it is led by me," Brown said. "We want to win and we're fighting for everything we can out there."

Wallace out again: Wallace missed his second consecutive game Thursday while recovering from the flu. Battling dehydration and weight loss from three or four miserable days earlier in the week, Wallace still didn't feel like himself and the Cavs had no interest in pushing it. He will again be listed as questionable for tonight's game with the New Orleans Hornets and will probably be a game-time decision.

That's a remote starter: The forecasted temperature for the Cavs' scheduled arrival in Cleveland after the game with the Bulls was around zero. But they have a minor antidote for it. A Basketball operations assistant has the job of starting the players' cars and having them warmed up when the team's charter jet lands at the airport. Cavs equipment manager and travel coordinator Mark Cashman, a native of Minneapolis, used to have that job himself when he was starting out in the league with the Minnesota Timberwolves and brought the tactic to Cleveland.

Correction: In Thursday's Plain Dealer it was reported James was the only player in the NBA averaging ate least one block and one steal per game. He was the only small forward with those numbers. The Pacers' Danny Granger has since joined him.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166

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Cavaliers vs. New Orleans Hornets

Tipoff: 8 p.m., The Q.

TV/radio: ESPN, FSN Ohio; WTAM AM/1100.

Notable: The Cavs have lost three straight to the Hornets, including a 104-92 loss Nov. 1. (The most recent win came Feb. 27, 2007.) . . . This is the Cavs' first back-to-back in a month - they are 7-2 on the second night this season. . . . Hornets guard Chris Paul neared a quadruple double in the Hornets' win Wednesday in Dallas with 33 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals.