Game 7 | Cavaliers vs Knicks | November 6, 2009 | 8:00 PM EST

[jlj3184]

Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) vs. New York Knickerbockers (1-4)
11-06-09, 8:00 PM EST

VS.

Television

Radio

Vegas Line: Cavs -8.5, O/U 205

Venue: Madison Square Garden

Head Coaches
Mike Brown

Mike D'Antoni

Projected Starting Lineups
Cavs
PG - Mo Williams

SG - Anthony Parker

SF - LeBron James

PF - Anderson Varejao

C - Shaquille O'Neal

Knicks
PG - Chris Duhon

SG - Larry Hughes

SF - Jared Jeffries

PF - Danilo Gallinari

C - David Lee

Bench:

Cavs
PG/SG - Delonte West
C - Zydrunas Ilgauskus
SF - Jamario Moon
PG - Boobie Gibson
PF - JJ Hickson
PF - Darnell Jackson
SF - Jawad Williams

Knicks
PG - Nate Robinson
PF - Al Harrington
SG - Wilson Chandler
C - Darko Milicic
SG - Toney Douglas
PF - Jordan Hill
PF - Marcus Landry

Inactives/Injured:

Cavs
Coby Karl
Danny Green
Leon Powe - Knee

Knicks
Eddy Curry - General laziness and obesity
Cuttino Mobley - Retired, Heart condition

Storyline:
I debated placing this preview in the LeBron 2010 thread seeing as this is the Cavs' lone trip to MSG this season and ESPN loves pushing LeBron to NY as much and as often as possible. My advice would be to mute the game and toss on 1100 for sound, as it's sure to be non-stop speculation about LeBron loving the mystique and history of the Garden. As for the actual game, the Cavs will be on the second night of their 3rd back to back already this season, so expect this score to be closer than it should be. This is a great game for Shaq to dominate. David Lee is neither big enough or strong enough to consistently guard the Diesel with any success. The Knicks only hope is for either Robinson or Harrington (or both) to catch fire and use their fresh legs to wear the Cavs down in an up and down game. That said, the Knicks don't play enough defense to compete with the Cavs under any circumstances. Cavs win 95-86.

STATS, Inc. Preview:

LeBron James(notes) is coming to town, and New York is throwing a parade.

A little early to start the recruiting pitch, isn’t it?

Actually, the parade is for the Yankees, but James won’t mind. He’s a huge fan of the World Series champions.

Besides, Broadway is all his after that.

“My parade starts at 8 o’clock tomorrow night,” James said Thursday before Cleveland hosted Chicago.

The Cavaliers (3-3) visit Madison Square Garden on Friday night, James’ only chance this season to put on a show at the arena he adores.

Watch out Knicks.

“He’ll be glowing. He’ll be ready,” said New York guard Larry Hughes(notes), a former Cleveland teammate who keeps in touch with James. “He may not say he’s ready, but he’ll be ready to perform.”

James seems to do something spectacular whenever he plays in New York. Last time it was a triple-double - for a couple of days, anyway.

He lost one of the rebounds after a video review but still scored 52 points, joining Michael Jordan as the only visiting players with multiple 50-point games at the present building.

This season’s NBA schedule sends James to Madison Square Garden only once.

Knicks fans hope it’s the last time he plays there as a visitor.

James can become a free agent on July 1 and the Knicks have cleared enough cap space to offer him a maximum salary contract. He’s never said he wants to leave Cleveland, but he’s never ruled out coming to New York, either, so his future will be hotly debated until then - especially Friday.

“There will be a lot of intensity,” James said. “The fact that we only play there once, there’s going to be a lot of energy to the see the team and see us and see me. July 1 is right around the corner so it’s going to be really exciting.”

Friday’s itinerary figures to feature 48 minutes of basketball and at least as much talk about free agency. James can tempt the fans, torture the Knicks and tease the media. And as usual, everyone will hang on his every word, hoping he drops some hints about his plans.

“Guarantee you first time he comes here, if he goes down the corner and has a bagel and says that was good, headline’s going to say, ‘Hey, LeBron loves New York food,”’ TNT studio host Ernie Johnson said last week.

Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and commissioner David Stern are among the NBA heavyweights who have said they hope James remains in Ohio, where he shot to stardom as an Akron schoolboy before turning the formerly losing franchise down the road into a powerhouse.

Others think he won’t be able to resist New York, where he can make the Knicks relevant again on the court while making millions more off it in a much bigger market.

Kenny Smith agreed with Barkley, his TNT partner, that it would be nice to see James stay home. He isn’t sure that will be the case, though.

“That’s a great story, but obviously that story might not play out,” Smith said. “If it was going to play out, I think it would have played out already. I think we would have known last year what’s going on. I think he’s really entertaining moving. He’s not a sentimentalist like we are right now.”

James could refuse to talk about it, but he seems to enjoy the flirtation, meeting the media before games in New York when many superstars prefer to wait in the restricted trainer’s room during pregame availability. He always makes sure to leave New Yorkers hope, such as last season when he said, “You have to stay open-minded if you’re a Knicks fan.”

“I don’t tease,” James said Thursday. “I have never teased the New York media by saying I was coming to New York or playing for the Knicks. I say the same thing every time. When July 1 gets here, I’m going to approach it like a businessman and approach it the best way for LeBron and his family, but I’ve been a Cav for seven years now and I’ve never given any indication of leaving.

“For me to say I’m not going to be a Knick or I’m going to be a Cav, or I’m not going to be a Cav and be a Knick, I’m not going to say that right now because I did a three-year contract for a reason. I want to keep my options open.”

Hughes said the Knicks (1-4) get a kick out of the LeBron speculation, too.

“It could be anything. If we have a bad meal on the plane, ‘Hey, meals would be better if ‘Bron was here.’ It’s things like that,” he said. “We have to have fun with it.”

Friday is probably the hapless Knicks’ most anticipated game of the season, their first nationally televised one at home since March 19, 2006. They risk being embarrassed in front of ESPN’s audience if James is as good as he’s been in recent visits.

He had 50 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in his last 2007-08 trip, then finished with 52 points and 11 assists in February. James scored only 26 in the first matchup last season, but that was only because he sat out the fourth quarter of a blowout.

James averages 30.1 points at the Garden, just slightly behind Kobe Bryant’s(notes) 30.5 for most by an active player, according to STATS LLC.

“I don’t want to be cute or flippant, but there’s a lot of arenas that he goes into that he has big games,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “So we notice it because we’re here, but I’m sure if you’re in Sacramento, you go, ‘Man, every time he comes in here he’s killing us.”’

And if James does it again Friday, Knicks fans will cheer him like he’s one of their own.

They hope someday he will be.

​

 

[sjeppe]

Cavs game is on TNT not FSN

but nice graphics!

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Premature postage, and where are the Knick girls? The game is in NY...Cavalier ladies will not be in attendance. Knickerbroads!!!!

 

[Soda]

Cavs game is on TNT not FSN

but nice graphics!

No its not. It's actually on ESPN, which is included in the preview.

 

[elbarko]

I know why the Knicks are 1-4...


They are starting Gallinari and Hughes over Harrington and Chandler? And you would think if D'Antoni wanted to run and play up tempo, he wouldn't have one of the quickest players in the league coming off the bench in Robinson.

 

[sjeppe]

I was thinking about tonights game my bad.

 

[Splitz]

Temporarily closing. Will reopen after tonights game.

 

[Karma]

No better confidence boost then a trip to New York.

Let's keep this simple. Rebound the ball and little David Lee's scrappy baskets. Put a hand up on their shooters (Chandler and Gallinari). Let players like Harrington beat us. Harrington posting big numbers and winning aren't a pairing.

Basically LeBron should dominate, Shaq may enjoy the lights and I'm sure the rest of the supporting cast want to erase the horrible effort they produced at home to the Bulls.

I'm calling first real blowout for the season!

 

[Lionheart]

Awesome preview Juice! This will be the first game that I will be watching fully (work gets in the way :chuckles.

From Stereo's Cavs vs. Bulls post (per Windy blog):

Please file the memory of the ending of the Cavs' 86-85 loss to the Bulls for later reference. Most specifically when people complain about LeBron James passing too often with a chance to take the last shot. Also, please put it in the opposing view file when it is suggested that Mr. James gets all calls. This goes next to the games are rigged, David Stern tells the officials to protect stars, etc., etc. (*edit* So cool it wiz fans ) Sometimes it is better to pass and sometimes the officials make the correct call regardless of the player involved.

After watching the replay, it seems pretty clear that Joakim Noah went straight up and did foul LeBron under the rules. The photo above seems to back this up, LeBron is creating the contact going into Noah's airspace. It did appear Luol Deng put his hands on James going to the basket, which is a foul in most circumstances. But not there and nor should it be. The Cavs' protests after the game were tepid, they had seen the replays after all. They also knew that allowing 86 points on your home floor should be enough to win.

* In the locker room after the game, both LeBron and Shaquille O'Neal were pretty much at peace. They both feel like the Cavs are hurting themselves and that they'll work things out in time. Neither of them showed the slightest bit of distress whatsoever. In fact, both were in perky moods. Shaq did play reasonably well tonight with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. He's getting burned at times on rebounds because of his lack of lateral speed but this isn't breaking news and it isn't fatal. But in many of the halfcourt sets the Cavs ran for him, he was ineffective. He turned the ball over and didn't set up his teammates well. In other words, the exact opposite from what happened Tuesday.

* There are a lot of issues to be discussed with Mike Brown's rotation tonight, however, start with this. On a night when the offense was poor and no one could hit a shot, why does Anthiny Parker get 35 minutes and a struggling Delonte West get 27 minutes while Daniel Gibson (hit 3-of-4 shots and 2-of-3 3s) only got 16. Jamario Moon didn't play at all. Now, sure it could be the Bulls matchups but this didn't seem to bother Mike Brown when he was putting Shaq and Zydrunas Ilgauskas out together against the Bulls athletic bigs.

Vinny Del Negro couldn't get his good-shooting bigs out there fast enough in the fourth quarter when he saw Shaq and Z out there. I'm not saying the match won't work against certain teams like, say, Washington and the Lakers. But it doesn't seem like it can work against teams like, say, Toronto and Chicago. And, for that matter, New York either. Perhaps I'll be proven incorrect on this. If Z had one 1-of-9 instead of 0-of-9 in theory the Cavs would have won. Obviously it creates problems for the other team but Mike Brown thinks defense first and defensively, this is often a bad idea. I think it is a mistake to try it every night.

* J.J. Hickson is going the wrong direction. This game may rank up there with one of the worst of his career. He played three minutes, took three bad shots and then was swatted at the rim on his fourth. With Anderson Varejao playing so well -- though, as an aside here is there a sale on reverse layups or something, even the Bulls where throwing them up there -- I can't see how Hickson earns more time. Three straight double doubles for Varejao. Not that anyone gets a pass for him taking a jumper in the final two minutes of a close game.

* The Cavs used some sets tonight I haven't seen them use much before or at all. One had LeBron in the corner with Shaq on the block and Mo Williams on the wing. Then they can operate out of it with movement depending on where a double team to Shaq might come from. But tonight they didn't run it well and Shaq didn't make the right decisions or execute several passes. Then Williams had a terrible shooting night, going 4-of-13.

This is a play that makes sense. LeBron loves the corner 3, Mo loves the wing 3 and you can't leave either of them. So if the countermeasure is for the defense to bring help from the weakside, Shaq would need to dump off to a cutting big man or other wing for spot-up jumper. This is prudent offense, heck this is the sort of stuff the Orlando Magic run all the time.

The Cavs just aren't executing much. I know they get ripped for having bad offense but this is a play that should work. The Cavs obviously just need more practice with it. Which goes back to my point that I'm not sure enough was done in the preseason with offense, not all the play designs themselves.

I know the game last night was horrible + terrible + superbad.

With that said (see bold+red text above), like many of us, I'll be following our next 10 games closely as I believe that this is where we finally build our identity as a team. I still believe in Mike Brown even if some of our opinionated members do present very interesting+thoughtful facts, it feels like I just have to (believe).

 

[Benedict_Boozer]

Lebron will be in playoff mode since it's at MSG so this is virtually a guaranteed win. Pound it into Shaq early, force the double teams and get Lebron going off the ball movement and single coverage.

 

[*L-Train*]

windy's beat blog for tonights game:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/11/windhorst_beat_blog_cleveland_1.html

"Starting lineups

Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Anderson Varejao, Shaquille O'Neal

Knicks: Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, David Lee

Officials

Ken Mauer, John Goble, David Gutherie

* Knicks guards Nate Robinson and Toney Douglas are out with injuries. The Cavs are healthy.

* The Knicks don't even pretend to play defense. They give up an average of 114 points a night and their opponents are shooting 50 percent. They play very loose and usually play small, good-shooting lineups. They want to play fast and they love to shoot quick, even if it is contested. Most of their players, even some of the guys coming off the bench like Al Harrington, really just want to score above all else. They don't have quality bigs, they have a power forward playing center and stretch forwards playing power forward.

* This is not, I repeat, this is not the type of time the Cavs can likely effectively go big against. Also, Lee is an active rebounder who moves well side-to-side, which potentially will give O'Neal trouble on the boards. But overall the Knicks are not a good rebounding team because they play small. Shaq should create serious matchup issues for New York since they don't play help defense well. But he and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are going to be targets in pick-and-rolls.

However, this is a game where the Cavs could use their good sized wings in small lineups. Jamario Moon didn't play against the Bulls but would be a good fit out there with various mixes of Parker, James, Daniel Gibson and Delonte West with Varejao as the big man.

* Obviously all eyes will be focused on LeBron. He's had several great games the last couple of years here at MSG. Though the fans like good play and have received him well, they have never openly cheered for him in the past despite the media's efforts to get them to go that way. He should be fired up to play well no matter what, namely that the Cavs could use a win after last night's loss.

Fully expect him to continue to tease the media and for the large New York base to ask creative questions and seize on his answers. Last night in Cleveland he was very playful with reporters, leaving all doors open and enjoying the process. Expect him to only increase that.

* Dress code rules technically prohibit players from doing interviews with baseball-style hats on and James usually doesn't wear them. But it wouldn't be surprising if he arrived at the game with a Yankee hat on."

 

[mAo_mAo]

IF Mike Brown uses the Twin towers in this game again. We are F*cked.

 

[JJ Smooth]

I'm with Karma, this game has "blowout" written all over it. I don't want it to be a blowout because its the Knicks. I don't want it to be a blowout because Nate Robinson thinks he can take on Lebron in the dunk contest. I don't want it to be a blowout so we can stick it to the media who've dismissed our team already.

I want it to be a blowout because I feel like being selfish and Cavs fans need it. No offense to the Knickerbockers, but their in our way and need to be made an example of. We need this game as a pick-me-up after last night and I will accept nothing less than a 20 point plus beatdown. Lebron gets a triple double, Mo, Shaq, and Andy all go double double, and Delonte tells Larry to get him his doughnuts.

No more "preseason" mode, go out and show the world (on ESPN) that we're in the upper echelon of the NBA. Being .500 disgusts me with the talent we have. I'm venting now, but I need a little wine and gold catharsis tonight. No mercy, that's what RCF needs.

 

[jkads]

Anyone going to the game? I might try and pick up some tickets off a scalper outside MSG...

Stubhub is pretty expensive...

 

[Ajak0410]

David Lee's nipples are terrifying to me for some reason...