Cleveland Cavaliers (21-17) @ Indiana Pacers (21-19)
Tuedsay, January 24, 2006
7.00pm ET
TV: WTTV, FxOh
Quicken Loans Arena
Head Coaches
Mike Brown / Rick Carlisle
Probable Starters
Eric Snow / Jamaal Tinsley
Sasha Pavlovic / Anthony Johnson
LeBron James / Stephen Jackson
Drew Gooden / Jermaine O'Neal
Zydrunas Ilgauskas / David Harrison
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Damon Jones / Luke Jackson / Ira Newble / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson
Indiana Pacers Bench
Sarunas Jasikevicius / Fred Jones / Danny Granger / Austin Croshere / Jeff Foster
Yahoo Game Preview
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are glad to be home.
James and the Cavaliers look to put aside disappointment from a six-game road trip when they take on the slumping Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland went 1-5 on the road trip, salvaging the finale and ending a six-game slide with a 108-90 win Saturday over the Utah Jazz.
James scored 51 points on 19-of-35 shooting after indicating that a sore right knee nearly kept him out of the game.
"I was just fighting through it," James said. "I was trying to fight through a cold, but I didn't want to make any excuses. I didn't want to be in the position where I wasn't there for my team tonight."
James' big effort came after a string of rough performances by the 21-year-old superstar, who shot less than 35 percent on the first five games of the trip.
He missed a potential game-winner late in a 99-98 loss Jan. 12 to the Los Angeles Lakers and missed a potential tying free throw in the final seconds of a 90-89 loss Wednesday to the Denver Nuggets.
James also went 5-of-22 from the field and matched a season low with 14 points in a 99-79 loss Friday to the Golden State Warriors, drawing plenty of blame for Cleveland's woes.
"The criticism he's taking is unfair," Cavaliers forward Donyell Marshall said. "We all need to take the blame."
The Cavaliers are 3-7 without starting guard Larry Hughes, who had surgery on a broken right middle finger Jan. 6.
Indiana dropped its third straight, 104-94 Monday to the Atlanta Hawks. Jermaine O'Neal had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter.
"I don't know what to think," O'Neal said. "There are the same questions every day. As a player, I don't know what to say. I don't know what's wrong with this team.
"It's the first time I don't know where my team is. Obviously, we don't have enough pride."
O'Neal's critical comments came after Indiana committed 17 turnovers and failed to reach the 100-point mark for the seventh straight game.
"We've got another tough one (tonight), so we can't hang our head," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We have Cleveland waiting for us."
Indiana has defended James well this season, limiting him to an average of 16.5 points on 28 percent shooting in two games. James had never been held to less than 20 points against the Pacers until each of this season's two meetings.
Team Comparison
Indiana 21-19 4th Central / 6th East 93.8 91.5 Road 9-13 Lost 3 4-6
Cleveland 21-17 2nd Central / 4th East 99.0 95.9 Home 14-5 Won 1 3-7
Indiana Notes
Jan 24 All-Star C Jermaine O'Neal was so upset about the loss at Atlanta he was quoted saying. "For the first time in my career, I don't know where my team is, "I don't know what's wrong with this team. You think about it all day. Do we want to find a way? Do we want to win games? Do we want to be considered a team that could make the playoffs? "I don't care what anybody feels about being traded. In a while, (management is) not going to have a choice. It's a situation where we are not getting the job done."
Cleveland Notes
Jan 22 The Cavaliers snapped a six-game losing streak with Saturday's win. ... F LeBron James notched his third career 50-point game. It also was the first time Cleveland won when he scored 50. ... The Cavs were 10-of-22 from the arc. James and F Donyell Marshall both were 4-of-8. ... G Damon Jones, who had been in coach Mike Brown's doghouse of late, played 30 minutes off the bench and scored eight points, making 2-of-3 3-pointers. ... Third-year G Sasha Pavlovic scored nine points in a starting role against his former team. Pavlovic began his career with the Jazz in 2003.
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