GAME 11 | Cavs vs Nets | Nov. 18, 2008 | 7:30 PM

[djlofi]

BENCH:


NETS STARTERS



BENCH



INJURIES:

For the Cavs:
Darnell Jackson
Eric Snow

For the Nets:
Josh Boone
CDR
Stromile Swift
Eduardo Najera​

Keys to the Game:

• FOCUS: The Cavs play the Nets on Tuesday and then jet to Detroit to play the Pistons on Wednesday. The Nets are a team that gave the Cavs fits last year, and if the Cavs have got thoughts of the Palace and AI on their mind, the Cavs could struggle tomorrow. This year's Cavs don't lose to teams like the Nets, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility for the Cavs to drop Tuesday's game. The key here is to focus and take one game at a time.
  
• GUARD PLAY: Mo Williams and Delonte West will face tough assignments in Devin Harris and Vince Carter. Harris is the quick playmaker and scorer that always gives the Cavs D fits. Carter will use his size on Delonte, but West should have an easier time with Carter than Mo will have with Harris. Mike Brown usually has a gameplan that neutralizes one or two of an opposing team's scoring threats, so look for one of the Nets starting guards to have a sub-par game. My guess is it will be Carter.
  
• STOPPER: Expect Sasha to see some minutes as a defender against VC. It's one of the highlights of the young Serbian's shaky resume, but in the 2006 playoffs, Sasha earned his contract with the way he was able to frustrate VC thoughout the series.
  
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  Glory days of Sasha...
  
  
• BIGS: The Nets may have a strength in the backcourt, but the Cavs have a HUGE advantage in the frontcourt.The experience of LBJ, Z, Wallace, Varejao, Wally and Hickson should allow the Cavs to feast on the inexperienced front line of NJ. The Nets have two bangers in Lopez and Anderson, a finesse guy in Yi and an energy guy in Williams. The rebounding numbers are similar (40.4 RPG for the Nets to 39.7 RPG for the Cavs), but The Cavs cannot afford to let any of these young fellas get hot.

Jam of the Game:

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LeBron's message to Nets fans:

Hate it or love it the underdog's on top
And I'm gunna shine homey until my heart stops

Go head envy me
I'm the NBA's MVP
and I ain't goin nowhere
so you can get to know me


Fast Facts (via cavs.com):

• Cleveland has now won seven straight games, the longest win streak for the Cavs since they won eight in a row from March 3-17, 2007.
  
• The Cavaliers are winning games by a 7.5 point differential, which ranks 2nd in the NBA (Los Angeles Lakers). The team has an even higherpoint differential in home wins (10.3).
  
• Going into the New Jersey game, LeBron James currently stands at 10,987 career points scored. If he scores 13 points against the Nets, he will become the youngest player in NBA history (23 years, 323 days) to score 11,000 points (Kobe Bryant - 25 years, 99 days).
  
• Cleveland has scored 100 or more points in six of their last seven games and is averaging 105.4 points per game on .485 shooting in that span.
  
• Cleveland ranks 1st in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the NBA (Phoenix, Sacramento) in field goal shooting at 368-768 (.479) while ranking 5th overall in points scored at 101.1 points per game.
  
• Cleveland ranks 10th in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage at .428 (331-773) while allowing opponents to only score 93.6 points per game, which ranks 8th in the NBA.

The last two points are the ones that should stick out to most Cavs fans. The Cavs rank in the top ten in offensive and defensive field goal percentage and points per game and points allowed per game. Who would have ever thought it in the Mike Brown era? Those are championship numbers right there.

Ben Wallace and JJ Hickson share a laugh.

 

[Thunder]

I wanna win this because I think the Detroit game will be a loss.

 

[Glen Infante]

Awesome looking preview!

 

[Maximus]

I'd love to know what the Cavs record is against the spread at New Jersey the last few years...

 

[camakazee]

I'd love to know what the Cavs record is against the spread at New Jersey the last few years...

Cleveland is 6-18 ATS in its last 24 games when playing New Jersey
Cleveland is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against New Jersey


Bodog is your friend.

P.S. Another Bodog stat--Cleveland leads the league in rebounds allowed at 37.3.

 

[SanduskyCav]

I wanna win this because I think the Detroit game will be a loss.

Way to be confident.

 

[Maximus]

Cleveland is 6-18 ATS in its last 24 games when playing New Jersey
Cleveland is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against New Jersey


Bodog is your friend.

P.S. Find this Bodog stat very troublesome--Cleveland leads the league in rebounds allowed at 37.3.

Thanks...I figured it was pretty ugly. What's the spread tomorrow?

Regards,

Former gambler

 

[camakazee]

Thanks...I figured it was pretty ugly. What's the spread tomorrow?

Regards,

Former gambler

Preaching to the choir :chuckles:.

CLE -6

I used to bet against my favorite teams (most notably the Cavs) because
1.) they sucked,
2.) I looked at it like either my team won or I got money.

LeBron put an end to that trend.

 

[abuC]

P.S. Find this Bodog stat very troublesome--Cleveland leads the league in rebounds allowed at 37.3.

You have it mixed up Camakazee, the Cavs are giving up the fewest total rebounds to their opponents, and are 6th overall in rebounding differential.

 

[camakazee]

You have it mixed up Camakazee, the Cavs are giving up the fewest total rebounds to their opponents, and are 6th overall in rebounding differential.

Ah, nevermind, thanks for pointing that out. I assumed that was allowing the most since the Cavs were outrebounded a few games. You know what they say about assuming

 

[Aussie]

That video of Sasha makes me wish Sasha wasn't so Sasha. We could really use him at the 2 guard if he was playing like that again. Imagine if we had Delonte coming off the bench. Damn you Sasha.

Great preview by the way

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

Yea, that video made me a little depressed. I loved Sasha that year we made the Finals. If he was back to that Sasha again, we would be a lot better.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Awesome preview. After that Sasha highlight clip, I want to see him play more

 

[Karma]

Great preview. Big test after a week of home cooking, we take this show on the road for a pair of tough games. Wally and Sasha should be switching roles sooner rather then later.

 

[Karma]

Must be noted that New Jersey just swept a home and away series with the Hawks. Fair effort. Devin Harris has had 3 consecutive 30+ games. Lets just say he would be player of the week if it wasn't for some LeBron dude.

The Nets have active bigs, and scoring guards.

I believe we can pull this out, but this does look like a troublesome matchup.