W Cleveland 93, Indiana 89

[DawgOnKing]

I know it's a day early for game thread, but we could've used another 48 hrs. for the Artest/Peja trade to have gone through. Pacers playing some pretty ugly ball lately, but you can bet the Peja factor will be in full effect tomorrow night.

TGI almost F.

 

[hughes1988]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

pacers are gonna want some major pay back after the cavs made them are bit** just a few days ago, but cavs should still get another win...

 

[Maximus]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

JO is out 2 months with a tear in his groin.
Peja's flight arrives Friday afternoon and he won't play.
Foster injured his back and probably won't play.

 

[DawgOnKing]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

I'll bet Peja does play because O'Neil and Foster are out. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him get some good mins of the bench. That being said, the O'Neil injury helps a lot and it's a team that we should beat. But a road game is a road game and I'll bet the Pacers aren't happy about the kicking they got a few days ago.

 

[Karma]

Cleveland @ Indiana

@

Cleveland Cavaliers (23-17) @ Indiana Pacers (21-20)
Friday, January 27, 2006
7.00pm ET
TV: ESPN
Conseco Fieldhouse

Head Coaches

Mike Brown / Rick Carlisle

Probable Starters

Eric Snow / Jamaal Tinsley

Sasha Pavlovic / Stephen Jackson

LeBron James / Danny Granger

Drew Gooden / Austin Croshere

Zydrunas Ilgauskas / David Harrison

Cleveland Cavaliers Bench

Damon Jones / Luke Jackson / Ira Newble / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson

Indiana Pacers Bench

Sarunas Jasikevicius / Fred Jones / Anthony Johnson / Eddie Gill / Scot Pollard​

Game Notes

* This will be the final game of the Cleveland / Indiana series, with the Cavaliers holding a two games to one advantage.

* Indiana will be without Jermaine O'Neal and Johnathon Bender. Jeff Foster is most likely out, with Scot Pollard hopeful of a return from his back injury.

* New recruit Peja Stojakovic will not join the team until after this meeting.

* The Cavaliers remain without Larry Hughes, there only injury concern.

* Cleveland are riding a 3 game winning streak, whilst the Pacers are on a 4 game skid.

* A Cavalier win would increase there lead over Indiana to 3 1/2 games.

Karma's Keys

* Pound the ball inside. Indiana have zero depth inside and will rely on raw center David Harrison for big minutes. With O'Neal out and Foster likely to join him, Pollard will likely be placed on the active list to be their only genuine big man backup.

* Rangy forward Danny Granger will likely see time at power forward to spell Croshere. Both players will struggle defensively.

* Posting Ilgauskas, Gooden and James should lead to a very efficient offense with the Pacers wary of foul trouble in their thin front court rotation.

* Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley and Austin Croshere will be Indiana's offensive threats. All are streaky from the perimeter, but when hot have had a history of hurting the Cavaliers. Gooden's perimeter defense on Croshere will be key.

* Indiana have Sarunas Jasikevicius and Fred Jones offf the bench continueing their perimeter oriented offense. Again we need to stay focussed on rotations, otherwise Indiana may shoot their way into this one.

* With the Cavaliers having quite an advantage in the front court, look for alot of sagging inside from the Pacers guards. This will allow opportunities for Pavlovic, Snow and Jones. If we get production here, then the Cavaliers offense will be too much for the Pacers to handle shorthanded.

 

[Dungong]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

Normally I'd say this is an easy win, Indy has some major pieces out and Tinsley is just getting back from an injury. However, the game is on cursed ESPN so I have my doubts. It also means that I will have no choice but to listen to Bill Walton

 

[The One]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

The Cavs should get the win with JO out and Peja not playing. It's bad news for the Pacers with Jermaine out 8 weeks.

 

[MarkPrice25]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

For some reason, this game worries me. There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't win by at least 10, but stranger things have happened. I am still predicting a win, but we will have to show up and play hard. Expect Indiana to play a "Chicago-style" game, meaning that they will be scrappy. Hustle and getting loose balls will be the only way this team could hang with us. But, Portland was able to do it. If we give an inspired effort and gain an early lead, they will quit like they did in the second half on Tuesday.

Cavaliers 102 Pacers 86

 

[Coyote]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

My hope is that Mike Brown and his staff make sure everyone knows what's at stake: a series win and potential tie-breaker. Those words should mean everything to the guys that have been here the past two years. The Pacers will play with a lot of pride. Good comparison to the Portland game, MP25. This is a dangerous one. We should win this, but we have to stick to the game plan and be physical.

 

[Karma]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

Discombobulated Pacers ripe for Cavs​

Victory would ensure important playoff tiebreaker

By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal
sportswriter

INDIANAPOLIS - The talk of the NBA is how the Indiana Pacers will react after finally shedding Ron Artest in a blockbuster swap with the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic.
The Cavaliers will never know.

Stojakovic intends to take the permitted 48 hours to report to the Pacers after Wednesday night's trade, which means that he won't make his Indiana debut against the Cavs tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Pacers also will be without All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, who stands to miss up to two months after tearing his left groin muscle against the Cavs on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

It leaves the Cavs with a golden chance in their final meeting of the season with the Pacers. A victory over the wounded and shaken team, which is in the middle of a four-game losing streak and is still reeling from a 30-point loss to the Cavs earlier this week, would give the Cavs a 3-1 victory in the season series.

Not only would it be an emotional boost -- the Cavs haven't won a series from the Pacers since 1996-97 -- but it also would give them a potentially important tiebreaker. Currently gripping the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have the series advantage on the three teams on their heels, the Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks.

If fans don't think tiebreakers matter, just refer to the past two seasons when the Cavs finished one game out of the playoffs because of tiebreaker losses.

Still, the Cavs, winners of three consecutive games, after winning Wednesday in Atlanta, are figuring they will be tested with some pride at stake after they embarrassed the usually proud Pacers earlier this week.

``It is going to be a tougher game because it's at their place,'' forward Donyell Marshall said. ``Regardless of the trade, it was going to be tougher.''

Especially considering the two sides don't exactly like each other. There were seven technical fouls called and a brief on-court scuffle Wednesday and lots of trash-talking, as well. It started when Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic elbowed Stephen Jackson in the face, and David Harrison returned it with a sharp pick in Pavlovic's back on the next possession.

Frustrated and on the wrong end of the breaks recently, the Pacers might come out looking to get physical in front of their fans.

``That's all right with me, it doesn't bother me at all,'' Pavlovic said. ``All it does is make me play better.''

Link

 

[Karma]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

Coach’s Corner: Paul Westhead on Cavs-Pacers Matchup

By Paul Westhead (As told to Andrew Pearson)

Last time these two teams met, the Cavaliers blew out the Pacers 96-66, despite only leading by four points at halftime. Indiana was surely looking forward to the rematch but unfortunately they will be without their best player, Jermaine O’Neal, who will be sidelined for at least eight weeks with a torn groin muscle, as well as the newly acquired Peja Stojakovic, who most likely won’t play until Tuesday against Washington.

Stojakovic is an extremely important addition for the Pacers. They have missed an offensive punch all season, and now they have acquired a shooting machine. Peja is having a little bit of an off year, but probably the change in venue will be exactly what he needs. They need him so much that I am sure after a few games they’ll find ways to create offensive opportunities for him. He’ll surely get more touches. Unfortunately, with Jermaine O’Neal out, Indiana is a much less effective team offensively as well as defensively on the boards. This is not the best situation for Peja to come in to because teams will focus on him, but because of his outside shooting ability, he’ll still score in bunches and the team will score minus Jermaine O’Neal.

The Pacers will have to wait one more game for Peja.

X-FACTORS

The obvious one for Indiana would have been for Peja to show up and get them 32 points and have the crowd enamored with him immediately. He would have been the oncoming X-factor, especially with the absence of Jermaine O’Neal. With his absence, they are going to have trouble scoring the ball.
For Cleveland, who’s been on a roll having won three straight, stay on a roll. They are sharing the ball pretty well. They are obviously getting good games from LeBron James. Ilgauskas is a threat inside. Gooden is rebounding very well. An added x-factor could be their outside shooting from Donyell Marshall or Damon Jones coming off the bench.

Their defensive turnaround of late certainly has helped them. Over the last five games they have allowed an average of 87 points on 42 percent shooting. Some of their players are good defenders, which starts with Eric Snow who has always been a consistent on-the-ball defender. Drew Gooden at times can defend and rebound the defensive glass. If Ilguaskas can stay out of foul trouble, he is a defensive presence.

BOTTOM LINE

The only good news for Indiana is that the game is in Indianapolis. Rick Carlisle, especially off last season, is very good at playing shorthanded and coming up with techniques defensively and isolating his key offensive players and playing a slower paced game. I am sure he doesn’t want the game to be in the 60’s like last time, but Indiana despite their misfortune, will play a very effective game. They will want to keep the game in the 70’s and hope they can do something to contain LeBron James. Without its superstars, Indiana is hoping for someone to step up as Superman and match the scoring of LeBron. It’s a big task.

nba.com

 

[West Remy]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

The crowd seems a little quite to me. I'm sure they'll get louder as the game wears on. But I expected a more hostile envionrment early on.

 

[West Remy]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

Eric fouled on a jumper. It's one thing to pressure Snow but I wouldn't foul him while he's shooting (if I were guarding him).

 

[West Remy]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

We look good early on but we should put this team away. When you're on the road, the home team can always come back to beat you if you don't put them away.

 

[West Remy]

Re: Cleveland @ Indiana

At the end of the first quarter, we lead by 7 points (27-20).