As Cleveland Cavaliers lose games, rookie Manny Harris wins more minutes

A six-game losing streak means a chance for rookie guard Manny Harris to showcase his skills and inject some rookie energy into the Cavaliers lineup.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — With six whopping games of playing experience under his belt, the game is finally, at long last, starting to slow down a little for Manny Harris.

At least on one side of the court.

"It did a lot on the defensive end," Harris said after the Cavaliers fell to Chicago on Wednesday. "On the offensive end, I just had to slow down a little bit. . . . Offensively, I have to continue to be patient."

The undrafted rookie guard from Michigan will have time to work on his patience. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott activated Harris for the 88-83 loss to the Bulls, and Harris played a season-high 21 minutes while scoring six points on 2-of-7 shooting.

The player who has seen action in just two of the past 12 games and has played a total of 67 minutes in the NBA is about to get his chance to see if he can figure out the offensive flow of the game. Scott said he plans to stick with lineup changes he injected Wednesday, despite the Cavaliers' sixth loss in a row.

That includes former starting small forward Jamario Moon on the inactive list, Daniel Gibson and Antawn Jamison in the starting lineup and either limited time for some starters (J.J. Hickson played nine minutes) or no time for others (Ramon Sessions didn't play).

Harris was Scott's first substitution of the game Wednesday, replacing Gibson with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. His first shot attempt was blocked 11 seconds later.

But he nailed a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to bring the Cavaliers to within one point of the Bulls, he was active and energetic defensively and, in general, exhibited the kind of fearless play that helped him earn a place on the roster ahead of last year's second-round pick, Danny Green.

"Manny played particularly well. He gave us exactly what we wanted," Scott said.

"He was real good on the defensive end, and didn't really force anything."

With a player like Harris still trying to impress, Scott and the Cavaliers are bound to see the 21-year-old exhibit his energy whenever he's on the court. And he's happy to finally have his chance.

Now, if he can just get the game to slow down a little on both sides of the court.

"It felt good to get out there and play a little bit," he said.

Dribbles: Scott said he has been concerned about Jamison's balky left knee in deciding whether to foist more playing time on the 34-year-old power forward. But Jamison played 34 minutes

while starting in the loss to Chicago on Wednesday, and Scott said that's just about right. Jamison has been averaging 25.8 minutes as a reserve in 18 games this season.

"I think he can play 30, 34, 35 minutes right now," Scott said. "Obviously, I won't kill him in practice, but I wouldn't do that anyway." . . . Hickson said he didn't hear specifically from Scott what he needs to do to earn more playing time. "I guess rebound and play harder," he said after the loss to the Bulls. Hickson is averaging 5.2 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game. . . . Scott said he wasn't allowing players to use a snowstorm as an excuse for arriving late to Wednesday's game at The Q. About half the team arrived only about 30 minutes before tipoff, and a few had to abandon cars and run the last few blocks to the arena. "Our players were late getting here, and it didn't excuse them," Scott said. "They're all still getting fined."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654