Beat Blog
By Brian Windhorst
January 14, 2010, 4:32PM
SALT LAKE CITY -- Pregame from Energy Solutions Arena:
Projected starting lineups
Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, JJ Hickson, Shaquille O'Neal
Jazz: Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur
Officials
Derrick Stafford, Leon Wood, Sean Wright
• These two teams don't match up well with each other. Shaq and Okur are opposites, Kirilenko's size can bother LeBron a little but he's not strong enough to keep LBJ from getting inside, the thought of Hickson covering Boozer is frightful, and Deron Williams has smoked the Cavs regularly since he came into the league. Pile all of that together and what you get is a game that will probably have lots of swings of momentum. The Jazz played the Cavs very tough in November despite having a bunch of injuries and they are tough at home. Going to be a challenge.
• Mo Williams has been in a bit of a slump over the last few games. He had 16 points in the win in Portland but he was just 5-of-15 shooting. He's not shot the 3 well over the last four games and he seems not to be looking for his shot as much. This is what Mo does, he runs hot and cold. Two weeks ago he was red hot. He loves coming back to Utah, where he played as a rookie. Perhaps that will get him going. The Cavs need him to be churning heading into next week's game against the Lakers.
• After not playing great defense for a few games, Mike Brown thought the Cavs did a good job against the Warriors the other night. They gave up just 42 percent shooting and did a great job defending the rim. The Jazz are a team that will challenge the interior, especially Boozer and Paul Millsap, and the Cavs will have to be strong in that facet.