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If I was fluent in Photoshop, I would have changed the names and numbers, etc to have LBJ and Kobe. Would be cool if anyone wants to take a stab....
VIDEO PREVIEW:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3883997&categoryid=2459788
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
7:30 pm ET, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
TV: FSN Ohio HD, Radio: WTAM 1100
RECORDS
Cavs: 38-9 (1st in Central, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
Knicks: 21-26 (3rd in Atlantic, 9th in Eastern Conference)
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HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown
REGULAR SEASON
W 183 L 110 (.625)
POST SEASON
W 26 L 20 (.565)
Mike D'Antoni
REGULAR SEASON
W 288 L 198 (.593)
POST SEASON
W 26 L 25
PROBABLE STARTERS
Cavs Knicks
Mo Williams Chris Duhon
SEXY Quentin Richardson
LeBron James Al Harrington
Ben Wallace David Lee
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Jared Jeffries
BENCH
Cavs
Boobie Gibson|J.J. Hickson|Anderson Varejao|Lorenzen Wright|Darnell Jackson
Knicks
Wilson Chandler|Anthony Roberson|Nate Robinson|Danilo Gallinari|Jerome James|Tim Thomas|Malik Rose
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Injury Report
Cavs
Sasha Pavlovic - Flu (TBD)
Lorenzen Wright - Flu (TBD)
Tarence Kinsey - Right Ankle Sprain (O)
Delonte West - Non-Displaced Right Wrist Facture (O)
Eric Snow - Left Knee (O)
Knicks
Chris Duhon - Flu-Like Symptoms (P)
Al Harrington - Sore Left Leg (P)
Eddy Curry - Sore Right Knee (O)
Jerome James - Ruptured Right Achilles (O)
Ladies of New York
Game Notes
At 38-9 (.809), Cleveland is tied for the 2nd best record in the league based on winning percentage.
The Cavaliers have won the last three games against the Knicks including the last two games at Madison Square Garden.
With last night’s win against Toronto, the Cavaliers established the franchise’s longest home winning streak at 23 games, besting the 1988-89 team’s previous record of 22 straight games from Dec. 15, 1988 - March 2, 1989. Cleveland also tied the 1949-1950 Rochester Royals as the only NBA team to win 23 straight home games to begin a season, each by a margin of at least four points. (Elias)
The Cavs remain the only undefeated team at home in the NBA at 23-0, where they hold opponents to NBA-lows 89.0 points on .415 shooting while averaging 105.1 points (8th) and shooting .489 (3rd – Phoenix, Boston). Cleveland is the first team in the NBA to win at least their first 23 home games in a season since the Chicago Bulls (37 games), the Orlando Magic (33 games) accomplished the feat in the 1995-96 season and only the 4th team since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77 to go 23-0 (1977-78 Portland Trail Blazers). The team has scored 370 more points at home than they've allowed for a 16.1-point average margin of victory, the largest margin of victory over the last decade.
The Cavs are 25-0 when they score 100 points, averaging 108.6 points to opponents 93.0 (15.6 point margin) and are shooting .498 while opponents are only shooting .422. Of those 25 games, 14 have come at home and 11 have come on the road.
For the 2008-09 NBA season, the Cavaliers rank in the Top 5 in the following defensive and offensive statistical categories: The Cavs are one of only three teams (Boston, Orlando) to rank in the Top 10 in both points scored and points allowed and are winning games by an 10.4 point differential, which ranks 1st in the NBA and is the only team to have a double-digit differential. The team ranks 1st in overall opponent points allowed per game, allowing only 90.5 (the only team to allow under 91.0 points) and ranks 2nd (Boston) in defensive field goal percentage, allowing opponents to only shoot .425 from the field. Cleveland ranks 2nd (Boston) in the league in opponents points per game in the paint, allowing only 35.3 points per game. The Cavs rank 3rd in the NBA (Portland, Boston) in opponent rebounding, holding teams to only 38.3 rebounds per game. The team ranks 5th (L.A. Lakers Utah, Milwaukee, Boston) in converting points off turnovers at 18.4. Cleveland ranks 5th in the NBA (Phoenix, Boston, Los Angeles, Utah) in offensive field goal percentage at .475.
Last night, Mo Williams scored 16 points and added a game-high nine assists. In his last eight games, Williams is averaging 23.5 points on .476 (69-145) and 5.8 assists per game. Williams has now scored in double figures in 21 straight games, the longest streak of his career.
Against the Raptors, LeBron James finished with 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. With his 30th point of the game (a free throw at the 7:00 minute mark in the fourth quarter), James scored his 12,000th point, becoming the youngest player (24 years, 35 days) to reach that plateau in NBA history passing Kobe Bryant (25 years, 220 days).
James was 13-13 from the free throw line in that game, marking the 6th time is his career he has been perfect from the line with 10 or more attempts. The 13-13 ties his career high for most free throw makes without a miss in a game (4/3/05 vs. Dallas). In his last 12 games, James is averaging 28.8 points on .445 shooting (121-272), 9.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game.
In his first start of the season last night, Wally Szczerbiak scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds and tied his season high with three assists.
Notable: New York is without Eddy Curry (personal reasons). . . . The Knicks will be catching the Cavs on a back-to- back, New York was off Tuesday. . . . The Cavs are 8-2 on the second night of back-to-backs this season, 5-2 on the road. . . . The Cavs are 2-0 against the Knicks this season and have won their past two meetings in the Garden, including a 119-101 win Nov. 25.
From the Knicks POV
The Knicks host the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on February 4 in the second game of “Dream Week.” This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season with New York heading to Cleveland on March 15.
The Knicks trail the season series 2-0 with losses in Cleveland (118-82) on December 3 and at the Garden on November 25 (119-101).
New York dropped three straight to the Cavs, last defeating them at the Garden, December 19, 2007, 108-90, behind 22 points and 11 rebounds from David Lee.
Al Harrington is leading the Knicks with 16.5 points against the Cavs this season. David Lee is averaging 14 points and 14.5 rebounds in the two games. LeBron James is averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the two meetings.
RECENT MEETINGS
On December 3, 2008 - Cleveland opened up a 21-point lead with 5:50 remaining in the second quarter and extended their lead to as many as 42 points in cruising to a 118-82 victory over New York at Quicken Loans Arena. New York was led by Al Harrington’s 20 points and seven rebounds (13 points (6-9 FG, 1-3 3P) in the first quarter). David Lee recorded his seventh consecutive double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Cleveland shot .506 (43-85) from the field and was led by 21 points from LeBron James and 14 points and 10 rebounds from Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
On November 25, 2008: - New York scored a season-low 38 points (15-48 FG, .313, 4-18 3P, .222) in the first half, and watched Cleveland build a 67-38 lead at halftime before cruising to a wire-to-wire 119-101 victory at Madison Square Garden. Quentin Richardson led seven Knicks in double-digits with 22 points. Nate Robinson was the only Knick who didn’t score in double figures, but he left the game in the second quarter with a strained groin. David Lee recorded his third consecutive double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Cleveland was led by LeBron James 26 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Game Preview
http://espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=290204018
Injury Report
CLEVELAND
· Lorenzen Wright PF - Feb 3: Day-to-Day
· Sasha Pavlovic SG - Feb 3: Day-to-Day
· Delonte West SG - Feb 3: OUT
NEW YORK
· Eddy Curry C - Feb 3: OUT
· Jared Jeffries C - Feb 1: Day-to-Day
Team Stat Leaders
CLEVELAND NEW YORK
Points L. James 28.0 A. Harrington 20.6
Rebounds L. James 7.4 Z. Randolph 12.5
Assists L. James 6.9 C. Duhon 8.0
Steals L. James 1.9 N. Robinson 1.5
Blocks B. Wallace 1.5 W. Chandler .8
Madison Square Garden probably hasn't hosted a better set of acts than it's getting this week, as the NBA's three best teams visit the New York Knicks in a five-day span.
The world's most famous arena certainly hasn't seen a performance like it did in the Knicks' latest game -- one LeBron James is more than capable of repeating.
After giving up an MSG-record 61 points to Kobe Bryant two days earlier, New York will get a visit from another superstar on Wednesday as James and his Cleveland Cavaliers look for their eighth win in nine games.
The Knicks (21-26) ended January playing their best basketball of the season, closing the month by winning six times in seven games to pull within a half-game of Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference's eighth playoff seed.
To begin February, though, New York returned home for perhaps the most intimidating three-game stretch in the NBA this season -- visits from Los Angeles, Cleveland and Boston, teams that as of Monday had combined for 114 wins.
The total increased by one that night at MSG. Bryant scored 61 and the Lakers had at least 30 points in every quarter of a 126-117 win over the defenseless Knicks.
Bryant is the league's reigning MVP and third-leading scorer this season, and now the Knicks will have to defend James -- the NBA's second-leading scorer -- and the Central Division-leading Cavaliers (38-9).
"Kobe made a lot of tough shots," said Knicks center David Lee, who's averaging 20.4 points and 14.0 rebounds in his last seven games. "I'm sure LeBron will probably do the same thing and we're going to need to play our best ball."
James has done it in New York before. He had one of his five career 50-point games at MSG on March 5, hitting exactly 50 to go along with 10 assists, eight rebounds and four steals in a 119-105 Cavaliers win.
His numbers haven't been that impressive against the Knicks this season, but that's largely because he's been relaxing on the bench in the fourth quarter. James scored 26 in New York before sitting out the final 12 minutes of the Cavaliers' 119-101 victory on Nov. 25, then had 21 before leaving with 2:33 left in the third of Cleveland's 118-82 blowout on Dec. 3.
Even with Bryant's heroics on Monday, James said he isn't interested in anything except leaving midtown Manhattan with a victory.
"I just go out and play my game," James said. "I'm not a video game where you can just expect me to go out there and score 60 or 70. I play the game to win the game. I'm not into individual accolades. Kobe Bryant's performance was unbelievable. I watched every second of it. It's not about individuals in this league."
James had 33 on Tuesday, surpassing Bryant as the youngest player in league history to reach 12,000 points, in a 101-83 victory over Toronto as the Cavaliers improved to 23-0 at home.
"He's still going to get better," coach Mike Brown said. "That's the scary thing."
As good as James has been, point guard Mo Williams, acquired from Milwaukee in the offseason, has also been a major reason why Cleveland is 11 games ahead of its pace from the same point last season.
Williams is averaging 23.2 points and 6.6 assists over his last five games, making up for the absence of fellow starting guard Delonte West, who's been out since Jan. 15 with a broken wrist.
West's replacement, Sasha Pavlovic, was the latest Cavalier to miss a game when he sat out Tuesday's win with the flu. Pavlovic's status for Wednesday is unclear.
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CCF'S PREDICTION
Cavaliers - 2
Spike Lee - 0
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