Dr. Gymbo
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It's Game Time! Happy New Year 2016, RCF! 
(19-14)
@
(21-9)
Date: January 2nd, 2016
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Time: 7:30 PM [EST]
Watch on Fox Sports Ohio:
The Good Guys
Coach Blatt
Cavaliers' Projected Starting Lineup
Cavaliers' Bench
Versus
Coach Skiles
@
(21-9)
Date: January 2nd, 2016
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Time: 7:30 PM [EST]
Watch on Fox Sports Ohio:
The Good Guys
Coach Blatt
Cavaliers' Projected Starting Lineup
Cavaliers' Bench
Versus
Coach Skiles
Magic Projected Started Lineup
Magic Bench
Injuries: N/A
Game Preview:
Magic Bench
Injuries: N/A
The Orlando Magic feel like they were bullied on the court last time out and now they'll face a team that has buried them twice.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have won 12 straight over the Magic, including two lopsided victories this season, and will have Kyrie Irving for Saturday night's matchup.
Orlando (19-14) opened a three-game trip with Friday's 103-91 loss at Washington, dropping its 11th straight in that series. The Magic felt they weren't physical enough after they were outrebounded 46-39.
"Teams are going to try and punk us," guard Victor Oladipo said. "They're going try to be physical, they're going to try to push us around, bully us. We can't let that happen."
Now they must regroup versus Cleveland, which has the two best shooting performances allowed by Orlando this season. The Cavaliers shot 53.1 percent and got a season-high 34 points from Kevin Love in a 117-103 win Nov. 23 before connecting at a season-high 56.9 percent clip with LeBron James scoring a game-high 25 in a 111-76 rout Dec. 11.
The other key to those victories appear to be halftime adjustments considering Orlando has been outscored 63-36 in the third quarter of those games.
Those Cavaliers wins came without Irving, who is shooting 34.0 percent in four games since returning. He scored 22 in his last one, a 101-97 win at Phoenix on Monday.
Irving sat out twice on that 2-2 trip, missing Tuesday's 93-87 victory over Denver. Cleveland (21-9) is being cautious with the guard as he works his way back from knee surgery.
"I don't see him going out there and playing 40 minutes anytime soon but we've moved along pretty well, we've been very specific and very committed to a certain path in terms of bringing him back and I think we're at a point where he's back more or less," coach David Blatt said.
James' teams have won 13 straight over Orlando in addition to Cleveland's streak in the series. This is his first game since turning 31 on Wednesday.
"I don't feel any different than 30," he said. "I feel a lot different than 18 though."
James had 34 points on 54.2 percent shooting against the Nuggets after struggling to average 17.0 points and shoot 36.7 percent in the first three games of the trip.
"That was a very tough trip, the West coast trip with four games in five nights and two back-to-backs," Blatt said.
The Magic have made strides in winning seven of 10 games since they last faced the Cavs. That improvement wasn't evident Friday when they were outscored 24-14 on the fast break.
''They were sprinting. We were jogging,'' Skiles said.
Oladipo scored 20 off the bench while Orlando's starters combined for 45 points.
The Magic have dropped three of five when playing the second game of a back-to-back.
"We've got a big game tomorrow, a huge game for us tomorrow," Oladipo said. "It's going to be a tough environment, a tough team to play but we gotta find a way to
win."
Bonus Article (On Improving Cavaliers' Defense)
Turn on ESPN, watch the Top Ten plays on any given night, and you would think every NBA game is a 48-minute dunk-fest.
Sure enough, LeBron James is a highlight reel going to the hoop every game, but another trademark of the Cavaliers is team defense. It was on display during most of the four-game road trip last week and as long as there is no jet lag, which there should not be since the team was back home by Dec. 30, it should be on display at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 when the Cavs host the Orlando Magic at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs are allowing 95.1 points a game. Only the San Antonio Spurs, allowing just 88.6 points a game, are better defensively. The defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors are 18th defensively, allowing 102 points a game, but they are an NBA-best 30-2 because they are scoring a staggering 114.1 points a game. By comparison the Cavs are 21st, averaging 99.7 points.
“I don’t think (we’re where we want to be defensively), even though we’re second behind San Antonio at the end of December,” James said after practice on Jan. 1 in Independence. “We want to continue to build. We’re finally starting to get the flow of things. We’re finally starting to get some practices under our belt. As Shump and Ky and everyone starts to get their legs back and get a feel back on the floor, we’ll start to become even more dynamic defensively.”
Shump is Iman Shumpert. He has played in eight games after missing the early part of the season with a wrist injury and then two more games with a groin injury.
Kyrie Irving has played in only four games. He returned from a fractured kneecap on Dec. 20 in a game with the Philadelphia 76ers. He is averaging 13 points and three assists. Those numbers are likely to increase as his playing time increases.
The Cavaliers had two back-to-back sets on the Western road trip. They played in Portland, Ore., a night after playing the Warriors in Oakland, and then played in Denver a night after playing in Phoenix. Coach David Blatt rested Irving against the Trail Blazers and Nuggets. After practice Jan. 1 he said it is time to let the string out a little more on Irving, who along with a healthy Shumpert could make the Cavs even better defensively.
“Part of (improved defense) was Shump coming back and part of it was a renewed commitment to that end of the floor,” Blatt said. “We’re close on (Irving). I don’t see him playing 40 minutes anytime soon, but we’ve moved along pretty well. We’ve been very committed to a certain path bringing him back. We won’t be limited to 15 or 20 or 23 minutes like we were.”
The Orlando Magic carried a 19-13 record into their road game with the Washington Wizards on Jan. 1. They were 7-3 over the last 10 games before playing Washington and were riding a two-game winning streak. They are 7-7 on the road.
Let's go Cavs!!!
