_amon _ones
Needa Beer?
- Joined
- May 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,652
- Reaction score
- 775
- Points
- 113
RECORDS
Cavs: 40-32 (2nd in Central, 4th in Eastern Conference)
Pistons: 51-21 (1st in Central, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
AT
OR, more commonly known as a
INSIDE
HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown | Flip Saunders
Cavs Starting 5
Delonte |Pavlovic | James|Wild Thing|Zadrunas
vs.
Chauncey|Rip |Tayshaun| Rasheed | McDyess
Pistons Starting 5
Cavaliers Rotation
Devin | Wally World| Smith | DJ
Cavaliers Bench
Boobie | DW | Allred
Cavaliers Injuries
Boobie | E Snow |Big Ben
· Daniel Gibson (Left Ankle Sprain; Deep Bone Bruise) is To Be Updated.
· Eric Snow (Left Knee) is out.
· Ben Wallace (Back Spasms) is To Be Updated.
Pistons Rotation
Maxiell | Hayes | Stuckey | Johnson | Affalo
Pistons Bench
Ratliff | Dixon | Hunter | Herrmann |Samb
Pistons Injuries
Rip
· Richard Hamilton (Sore Left Hip) is questionable.
Cavaliers Notes
·LAST MEETING: 3/19/2008 Cleveland 89, Pistons 73 @ the Q
·LeBron James led the Cavs with a 30-7-6 night on 11-19 shooting in the last meeting.
·Z added 20 points and 8 rebounds in the meeting on March 19th at the Q.
·Zydrunas Ilgasukas posted a season-high 29 points on 13-19 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds against New Orleans on Wednesday night.
·Over his last four games, Z has averaged 21.3 points on .576 shooting, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. He has put up at least 16 points and eight rebounds in each game.
·After Z posted his 5,000th career rebound versus the Hornets on Wednesday, he became one of only 11 active players in the NBA with at least 9,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 1,100 blocked shots.
·Anderson Varejao has averaged 11.7 rebounds per game in his last three outings. He has had at least nine rebounds in each game. He posted his fifth double-double of the season on Wednesday against New Orleans with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
·Over his last three games, Sasha Pavlovic has averaged 16.3 points on .543 shooting including 7-16 (.438) from three-point range. He has scored in double figures in all three games.
·In 13 games during the month of March, LeBron James has averaged 32.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He has now scored 20 or more points in 49 straight games.
·LeBron James continues to lead the NBA in scoring at 30.7 points per game. He is on pace to become the first Cavalier in history to lead the league in scoring.
·The Cavs held the Pistons to 39.7% shooting on March 19th.
·The Cavs used a 9-0 run at the end of the first half to go ahead 45-38 at the break. They then used a 9-2 run at the top of the 4th quarter to go ahead 72-59.
Pistons Notes
·Detroit leads the all time series, 105-67.
·Rasheed Wallace scored a Pistons-high 16 points in the meeting at the Q on March 19th.
·Rip Hamilton has missed the last 3 games for the Pistons.
·Rip Hamilton is tied for the lead for the Pistons in scoring, averaging 17.7 ppg, and is second on the team with 4.2 assists per game.
·Chauncey Billups leads the team with 7.0 apg, while tied for the lead in scoring (17.7 ppg).
·Antonio McDyess leads the Pistons rebounding effort with 8.8 rpg, while Rasheed adds 6.8 rpg as the 2nd leading rebounder.
·All five Pistons starters are averaging at least 30.3 minutes per game, and have played in at least 67 of the 72 games. Jason Maxiell leads in minutes off the bench with 21.2 and has played all 72 games. In all, 8 players on the Pistons have played at least 65 games on the season.
·The Pistons clinched their fourth consecutive Central Division title with an 85-69 victory over the Miami Heat on 3/27 at The Palace of Auburn Hills while playing without many of their starters.
·The Pistons are 29-6 at home.
_amon's Keys to the Game
These are basically the same as last time...which seemed to work pretty well.
·Attack the inside. The Pistons seem to want nothing to do on the inside. The only player consistantly there for them is McDyess, who can't do it alone against Cleveland's solid front court. Sheed and Prince prefer to play the outside jumper than try to bang down low.
·Play the Pistons extra physical. This basically goes with key #1. The Pistons used to play hard, physical defense, but that is no longer their calling card. They prefer to keep the ball outside and shoot jumpers than try to get the rock inside for the easy bucket. The bad news is the Pistons' shooters are lethal. The good news is that they can be rattled by playing physical, on-the-ball defense and contesting the outside shots. They like to whine about fouls, especially ticky-tack ones that cause a missed shot. Getting in their collective head is the one weakness that can be exploited...often. Unfortunately, playing this way invites the officiating crew to decide the game, and they haven't been particularly nice to the Cavs this season.
_amon's Prediction
Cavs 98, Pistons 103
Cavs 98, Pistons 103
·The Pistons are 4th in the NBA for the best home record at 29-6 (but tied for 2nd in the loss column with Boston and SA at 6). This is definitely not going to be an easy win for either team. The real question is: which Cavs will show up? The one that pistol whipped the Pistons last week? Or, the one that has been getting dominated and lost 7 out of the last 8 on the road? Tough to say, as they've played very well against NO and Detroit at home, but have given up at least 101 points in each of the last 5 road games (all losses), while not scoring 100 in any of those games.
·The Cavs will be getting Boobie back...as long as there aren't any setbacks. But he will probably be eased into playing time after missing the last 18 games...and 22 of the last 24. The Cavs will also likely be missing Big Ben, who is not listed as the starter, and is technically "To Be Updated". He played a big part in the win at the Q, contributing 2 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assists, and 2 blocks...not that the Pistons will actually attack the inside. His real contribution was inside the head of the Pistons.
·Honestly, with the 4th seed pretty much wrapped up, I can see MB just using this game to ease Boobie back in, work on his rotations, and not give the Pistons any real idea of his plans for a possible matchup...unless he and LeBron want to use this game as another statement...but that's not normally their style. Pistons win this in what has become a typical road loss for the Cavs.
Obligatory Automotion Shots
