"When Antawn Jamison fractured his left pinky finger last month, he took more than just 18 points and 6.7 rebounds with him to the operating table.

He took his voice. Turns out, the Cavs might miss that most of all.

The Cavs have lost four in a row and five of six without Jamison. Of course, they were only 11-48 with him, but they seemed to be giving better effort and looking like a different team since ending that horrendous 26-game losing streak.

With no real vocal leaders on the floor or in the locker room now, coach Byron Scott agrees the team has regressed lately — particularly the past two games, when the Cavs suffered 20-point blowout losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder.

''We need that guy who can not only speak, but a guy that is going to yell, scream and do some of the other stuff that sometimes you have to do when the coaches aren't in the locker room,'' Scott said. ''I don't think that guy is here right now.''

To help solve that, Jamison rejoined the team late during Sunday's loss to the Thunder. He was at practice on Monday and quickly slipped back into his old role, speaking up during the film session following practice. He will accompany the team during this week's West Coast trip and stay with them for the foreseeable future.

''We need him around,'' Scott said. ''These young guys need to see him every day. He says things that are on his mind, which is good, that sometimes they need to hear from a fellow player instead of us harping on it every single day.''

Scott doesn't disagree with the theory that some of the younger players might start coasting now that the finish line to the season is in sight.

J.J. Hickson understands why Scott might believe that, judging from the game films lately and the lack of energy and focus on defense. But he doesn't believe it to be true.

''We have a defeated look on our face and our body language shows it,'' Hickson said, conceding that all the losing is wearing on the players. ''Losing is not fun. It's tough to get up for games when you know you're having the season we're having.''"