Game Preview – Wednesday March 24, 2010 – Cleveland Cavaliers @ New Orleans Hornets
He’s back! The Cavaliers welcome back Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and it couldn’t be better timing for the big fella. The Cavaliers are at 7 wins in a row, and it’s their 3rd such streak of the season & their 6th of the past 2 seasons. The Cavaliers have now won 13 of their past 14 games, and are now 53-12 since starting the season 3-3. Out of their last 11 opponents, 1 has hit the century mark and only 3 have reached 95 points, with the Cavaliers allowing just 91.9 points per game over that span.
The Clevelanders are coming off of a 25 point route of the Detroit Pistons in the Q, leading by 14 at the break & not letting up in the 2nd half. Eleven Cavaliers scored in the game, 9 of them at least 6 points. They were led by Leon Powe’s big night off the bench, as he delivered 16 points & 7 rebounds on 5-8 shooting, while Delonte West also came off the bench for 15 of his own points to go along with 4 rebounds & 3 assists. LeBron James played just 31 minutes, and added 15 points, 7 assists, and a couple of 3 point hits, while J.J Hickson delivered 13 points & 8 boards on 6-10 shooting. The starting back court of Mo Williams & Anthony Parker combined for 23 points, 6 rebounds (4 by Mo), 13 assists (8 by Mo), & 4 triple hits (2 each), while Andy Varejao brought down 9 boards in just 17 minutes off the bench.
New Orleans, meanwhile, is coming off of their 2nd biggest win of the season, a 115-99 victory over Dallas. Chris Paul returned to action after missing 25 games, and scored 11 points, but played just 21 minutes as they ease him back into play. Rookie Marcus Thornton (name sound familiar?) led the way for the Hornets with 28 points on 12-22 shooting (4-9 from downtown) to go with 4 rebounds, while David West had a big night, shooting 10-17 for 25 points, 6 rebounds, & 10 assists, his 19th double double of the season. Morris Peterson went 8-11 for his 20 points, as he added 4 3 point makes & 5 rebounds, while Darren Collison dropped in 16 off the bench, to go with 4 boards & 8 assists in the 1st Hornets victory in the past 4 games.
