Game 26 | Cavaliers @ Nuggets Dec. 19th, 10:30PM (ET)

[Splitz]

STANDINGS

TICKETS

Click HERE for tickets


INJURIES

Nuggets: Healthy and ready to roll
Cavaliers: G Eric Snow (knee) will retire as soon as the Cavs receive a disability claim from the insurance company., C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (sprained left ankle) could return for the Denver game on Friday if he has no complications. G Daniel Gibson (sprained left big toe) could return to practice sometime next week. He still has pain in the big toe when he pushes off. He said he’s not ready for full contact. He also missed eight games with the same injury as a rookie.



GAME NOTES

-F LeBron James is shooting a career-high 80 percent from the free-throw line.

-The Cavs are 8-4 (.667) away from home this season.

-The Cavs have now won 20 of their last 22 games, including six in a row over the T-Wolves (4-21).

- LeBron James said he can see improvement in both rookie F Darnell Jackson and F J.J. Hickson.

“The young guys are getting better every day,” he said. “They are going to make mistakes, just like you do when you’re a rookie. It happens. They are learning from their mistakes and are going to get better. We can help them get through a lot of situations. I have a lot of confidence in them. They are going to make mistakes. They are hard-working and they want to get better.”

More to come..


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YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN​

Cool under pressure

Getting to second base at an awards show, priceless...

I'm starting to understand what Melo sees in her

J.R. Smith, the illustrated man...


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Carmelo Kiyan Anthony rapping up a storm :chuckles:
*Parental Advisory Explicit lyrics*

Support it

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[Chardon]

I just dont want Z and boobie to rush back. This is going to be tough for us to win.

 

[wuck]

I'm curious to see how the Cavs decide to guard Billups. He torched them in the 1st half at Cleveland until they made an extra effort to get the ball out of his hands in the 2nd half.

Put Mo on him with a shorter leash and more help?

Put West on him, let Mo cover Dahntay Jones (6' 6") and see if Jones can take advantage of it?

Probably the first option to start.

Jones often gets subbed by J.R. Smith, so the guard matchups are going to involve a lot of Sasha, too.

 

[Three6Pavia]

Thread looks great as always Splitz. This is going to be a tough game, hopefully we can come back to form with Z back in the middle.

Lets hope the Cavs silence the critics with a big win in Denver tonight.

 

[The Special One]

I think this is going to be a great game with a win for the Cavs probably being our biggest of the season. A W would definately put some doubt over whether we can beat the BIG teams on the road to rest, especially against a formidable home team like the Nuggets.

Personally, I think we match-up pretty well with them. Especially if Z can make his return for us in this game we'll be looking very good if you ask me. He could potentially be rusty, but his size and length would cause a lot of problems for their relatively small frontcourt in Nene and K-Mart. Containing Billups could be an issue, but from the get-go we might see Mike assigning Delonte on him who is still the much, much better on-ball defender and the quickest of our gaurds around the perimeter. LeBron vs. Melo is going to be a great match-up but hopefully Melo will struggle to keep his intensity going on BOTH ends of the floor, which is something he'll HAVE to do against LeBron.

Luckily, we've got one day off during the long travel to Denver so that's not going to be an issue. It's a very tough homecourt to have to into and a place where we haven't won in a long, long time. I hope Z can come back for this game. I too, don't want him to be rushed back in, but if he's all clear to go, we need him to play against such a well-rounded team. If Boobie can come back that's just a bonus, but he doesn't make or break us. You put Z into the starting 5 again, and everything will just flow from there. We still don't seem comfortable with their frontcourt rotation whilst he's been out. A big offensive contribution from Mo would also go a long way to helping us grab a win.

On the whole I'm optimistic. This can be a really HUGE win for us. I've got faith that we can pull it off.

 

[Zog]

Hopefully LeBron plays the same defense against Carmelo that he did in the game at home earlier this season. If that happens, we have a very good chance of winning.

 

[KU_216]

Good test. Should be a very tough game.

 

[Cavatt]

I think we match up better with them than we did in years past. I think this is actually a good game for the rooks too. We might see some more jj magic tonight. Love the picture of the starters. Z looks smoother than he ever has.

 

[Mdog1]

I think we might lose this one. But with Z or Boobie back then things would cetainly change.

 

[JJ Smooth]

Where's Maximus to say:

This one worries me...

Your right, this one does worry me because the Nugs are playing good basketball right now. If Chauncey is hitting shots and same with Melo it could be a long night. But notice how I said "could be", because we need to bring the pressure. No fancy oops, dunks, passes, or dribbling here because we need to play SMART basketball. I'm talking a strong defensive presence and gettting back into position with each possession. The Nuggets will run and will shoot often, we need to make that our advantage, not theirs.

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

I forgot how fat Melo was.

On the road.... playing a good team.... this is a loss.

 

[KIisKing]

This be a grind out. Even if Z comes back and just come off the bench, I think that will help us alot. Lebron has to play very good D on melo and someone has to make Billups gets hot.

 

[KingSimba]

Great Preview Splitz. Man im so happy. Tommorow is the first day of Christmas break for me and I get to watch this game on ESPN. I love this

this should be a tough game. If Z is back im predicting we win. If not im thinking we will lose.

Hopefully Wally and West play as good as they did yesterday cause we will need it and Mo only scored 6 points but only took 8 shots. We will need all 3 of them to step up tommorow

 

[ZooCrewDude]

If Z comes back I don't see him getting enough minutes to truly be a difference maker. Mike Brown will likely ease him back onto the court.

If we're going to steal this one, then we need to approach it without Z.

 

[Dungong]

This is the current Western Conf 3 seed, and they're playing better every day since Billups has arrived, or since Iverson left however you want to put that one...

Anyhow, a win here would go a long way in quieting some of our road concerns vs good teams, a loss and you'll think the sky is falling when you read the boards the next day