Game 20 | Cleveland vs Milwaukee | December 6th, 2009 | 3:00pm EST

[Splitz]

VS​

Featuring​

INJURIES

Cavs: Leon Powe Oct 26, 2009/ Left knee - out 4 months
Bucks: Michael Redd DTD Sore left knee, Luc Maboofukyomomma DTD, Sprained left foot, Joe Alexander Hamstring​

GAME NOTES​

Milwaukee, WI - Winners of six of seven, the Cleveland Cavaliers still don't believe they are playing at their peak level.

The Cavs look to win their fifth straight over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon when they open a three-game road trip.



After a 3-3 start, Cleveland (14-5) has turned things around and begins this trip looking to win its fourth straight. The Cavs completed a 3-0 homestand by beating Dallas, Phoenix and Chicago by an average of almost 16 points.

Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook Sports Interaction have made the Cavaliers –7 point spread favorites for Sunday’s game against the Bucks. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 65% of more the 181 bets for this game have been placed on the Cavaliers -7.

"There is a long way to go; it's just December," said LeBron James, who scored 23 and added 11 assists in Friday's 101-87 win over the Bulls. "It is good to play well now but at the same time we do not want to reach our peak right now. We want to continue to get better and closer to playoff time is when we really want to start dominating."

James, the Eastern Conference player of the month for November, helped key a 21-4 run Friday after Cleveland fell behind 54-52. He had eight points and three assists during that stretch.

"His energy was great," coach Mike Brown said. "When he came to the sideline for a timeout, I told the coaches to step aside and said, 'Bron, you take over the huddle.'"

The Cavaliers have limited opponents to an average of 91.4 points over the last seven games and they'll open their trip - which also includes matchups with Memphis and Houston - against a Milwaukee team they held to 88.5 while sweeping the four-game season series in 2008-09.

James averaged 37.8 points against the Bucks last season, scoring 55 in his last visit to Milwaukee. He hit a career-high eight 3-pointers in the 111-103 victory.

The Bucks (9-9) are looking to avoid losing a third straight and fall below .500 for the first time since opening 1-2. They have dropped six of seven, with five of the losses coming on the road.

Milwaukee is coming off a 105-96 defeat at Detroit on Friday. The defense struggled to contain the Pistons, who shot 57.4 percent and outrebounded Milwaukee 46-30.

"They dominated us on the glass, and their backcourt dominated us," assistant coach Jim Boylan said. "We've been talking a lot lately about our defensive approach to the game, but that's all it was - talk. There was no substance tonight to what we've been talking about the past few days."

Milwaukee's opponents are averaging 104.0 points in the last seven and have shot better than 50 percent in four of those games. The Bucks gave up 94.5 points and allowed only three of their first 11 opponents to shoot better than 50 percent.

Rookie Brandon Jennings shot 6 of 20 to finish with 15 points against Detroit. He's shooting 30.4 percent over the last seven games.

The Bucks were missing Michael Redd (knee) for a fourth straight game.

Milwaukee plays four of its next five at home, where it is 7-2. The Bucks also hope to get a boost from the return of coach Scott Skiles, who served a one-game suspension Friday for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after being ejected during Wednesday's 104-102 loss at Washington.

SPLITZ' RANDOM WTF MOMENT

 

[chiefwahoo]

 

[Andrew]

Why the hell is this game in the afternoon?

 

[chiefwahoo]

Why the hell is this game in the afternoon?

To spare us from having to watch the Browns?

Thank you NBA!

 

[theSTEREO.]

Nice work Splitz!

Old school rep for putting this together on short notice. Much appreciated by everyone.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

:chuckles:

 

[Otsego Mar]

Wow....it took me like an hour to realize why these pictures were in the thread.......

 

[CBBI]

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[JJ Smooth]

Good picture of the one guy using the zoom option right into that cheerleader's cleavage. :chuckles:

I'm really hoping we don't play down to our opponent and decided to play 24 minutes or less of basketball. From opening tip I'd like us to keep the pressure on all game and see some sweet garbage play. No doubt we'll come out and blitz the Bucks early (as seems to be the norm at the start of games), but know that no team will just lie down after being put in a deep hole, it'll be up to us to keep it that way.

And for any fans just shrugging their shoulders saying there's no need to watch, let me give you reason numero uno: Mo and Jennings shoot-out. You know its gonna happen and should be fun to watch.

 

[The Oi]

CBBI loves that goddamn clip. This is a game I just do not see the Cavs losing, given how they've been playing lately.

Cavs: 106
Bucks: 93

 

[Imadogg]

Luc Maboofukyomomma DTD

I loled.

Go Bucks!!!

I hope Jennings has a good game, want him to always do well. Tough to see them Bucks winning but you never know.

 

[Obawan12]

Cavs by 40.

 

[Rick Astley]

Cavs by 30 (with some heads rolling c/o Shaq and hitmen company, I hope I hope I hope!)

 

[GoGetta]

cavs by 5 in a slow painful game.

 

[-Akronite-]

It looks really nice... but when did Anderson Varejao become JJ Hickson?