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- Messages
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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
8:00 pm ET, Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Available tickets here, courtesy of TicketCity
TV: ESPN, Radio: WTAM 1100
RECORDS
Cavs: 2-2 (3rd in Central, 5th in Eastern Conference)
Bulls: 2-2 (3rd in Central, 5th in Eastern Conference)
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HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown
REGULAR SEASON
W 147 L 103 (.588)
POST SEASON
W 26 L 20 (.565)
Vinny Del Negro
REGULAR SEASON
W 2 L 2 (.500)
POST SEASON
W 0 L 0 (.000)
PROBABLE STARTERS
Cavs Bulls
Mo Williams Derrick Rose
Delonte West Thabo Sefolosha
LeBron James Luol Deng
Ben Wallace Tyrus Thomas
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Drew Gooden
BENCH
Cavs
Boobie Gibson|Tarence Kinsey|Sexiness|J.J. Hickson|Anderson Varejao|Lorenzen Wright|Sasha
Bulls
Kirk Hinrich|Ben Gordon|Andres Nocioni|Joakim Noah|Aaron Gray|Demetris Nichols
Injury Report
Cavs
Darnell Jackson - PF, Wrist, Out Indefinitely
Eric Snow - PG, Knee, Soon to be retired
Bulls
Larry Hughes - PG, Shoulder, Out
Obligatory Cavalier Ladies
GAME NOTES
- The Cavaliers have held their first four opponents to a combined .417 shooting (123-295), which ranks 11th in the NBA and are only allowing opponents to score 88.5 points per game, which ranks 7th in the NBA and 3rd in the Eastern Conference (Atlanta, Boston).
- The Cavs have outrebounded their first four opponents on the defensive end in each game by a combined 175-141 margin and lead their opponents in blocks 23-9.
- The Cavs have shot .459 (135-294) from the field, which ranks 7th in the NBA and are averaging 19.8 assists on 33.8 field goals made in four games.
- LeBron James is the youngest player ever and the fastest player ever in the NBA to reach all of the following milestones in five statistical categories: 10,000 points, 2,500 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 700 steals and 300 blocks. Michael Jordan was the second fastest in number of games (417) and Kobe Bryant was the second youngest in age (26 years, 102 days old).
- After four games, LeBron James is averaging 22.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game, which ranks 6th in the NBA (Paul, Calderon, Nash, Kidd and Parker). He is the only player with those combined averages.
- In his last two games, Delonte West is shooting a combined 8-11 (.727) from the field and 7-9 (.777) from three-point range. West is averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in those games.
- In his last three games, Daniel Gibson is averaging 15.3 points per game in 29.3 minutes off the bench. For the season, Gibson ranks 7th in the NBA in scoring off the bench at 13.0 points per game.
- In his last two games, Ben Wallace is averaging 11.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game in 21.0 minutes per game.
- The Cavs and the Bulls will square off twice in three days a the Cavs next four opponents are all in the Central Division (Indiana and Milwaukee).
ARTICLES
BULLS AT CAVALIERS
Tipoff: 8 p.m.
TV/radio: FSOhio, WUAB Ch. 43, ESPN; WTAM 1100/AM
Notable: Former Cav Larry Hughes will not play for Chicago due to a dislocated shoulder. ... The Bulls start Derrick Rose, No. 1 overall pick from last June's draft, at point guard. ... Drew Gooden is now starting at center and had a 20-point game and a 20-rebound game in the last week. ... The Cavs rank as one of the best defensive teams in the league so far, giving up just 88.5 points and 41 percent shooting. ... The Cavs were stranded in Dallas Monday due to mechanical problems with the charter flight and flew up Tuesday afternoon. ... Wednesday night begins a stretch in which the Cavs play five of the next six games at home.
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Bulls-Cavaliers Preview
By MATT BEARDMORE,
STATS Writer
(AP) -- Derrick Rose has already faced the defending World Champions and one of the league's most dominant big men on the road.
Now he'll get a shot at a fellow No. 1 overall pick and arguably the NBA's most dynamic player as the Chicago Bulls look for their first road victory of the season on Wednesday night against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After scoring a team-best 18 points at Boston on Friday and a game-high 26 against Memphis on Saturday, Rose had the least productive game of his brief NBA career on Monday in Orlando with 14 points and only one assist.
"He's going to have some bumps in the road because all rookie point guards do, but we'll just keep working with him and he'll mature every game," Chicago first-year coach Vinny Del Negro said following the Bulls' 96-93 loss.
Rose, who leads Chicago with 17.3 points per game, pulled the Bulls (2-2) within 93-90 with 54 seconds left by sinking a short jumper.
But after Orlando's Rashard Lewis hit 3-of-4 from the foul line in the final 23 seconds, Andres Nocioni missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as Chicago almost erased a 17-point third-quarter deficit.
"That was a good comeback," Rose told the Bulls' official Web site. "We showed heart out there. We are a young team and we are trying to get to know each other and play with each other. For us to go out there and come back like that really showed good signs."
Nocioni had season-highs with 20 points and seven rebounds, Gordon scored 17 and Drew Gooden had 21 points in addition to guarding Dwight Howard.
"It is a huge load guarding Dwight," Gooden said. "I think he is applying himself as a dominant center in this league. It was a team effort and there is only so much a man can do. He is a great basketball player."
That's a typical description of James, although the 2007-08 scoring champ was averaging just 19.7 points heading into Monday's game at Dallas. James had 29 points and eight rebounds in the Cavaliers' 100-81 victory over the Mavericks, but was on the bench as Mo Williams scored nine and had two assists during a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter.
"We took a stand," said James, who made just 8-of-20 shots from the field with only three assists. "When they tied it up, we buckled down and worked defensively. Then we made some shots. I didn't shoot the ball particularly well, like I know I can. I was in attack mode all night, but I missed some shots I know I can make."
Williams and Delonte West scored 14 points apiece, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Ben Wallace added 13 rebounds.
"It's a nice win, a good way to close out the road trip," said James, who has averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 10 career home games against Chicago.
Cleveland (2-2) plays five of its next six at home - the Cavaliers' road game during this stretch is Saturday at Chicago. The Bulls won three of four meetings with Cleveland in 2007-08 by an average of 6.3 points.
http://stats.cleveland.com/nba/preview.asp?g=2008110505&home=5&vis=4
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CCF'S PREDICTION
Cavaliers - 102
Bulls - 91
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