Game Preview – Tuesday February 9, 2010 – New Jersey Nets @ Cleveland Cavaliers

Game Preview – Tuesday February 9, 2010 – New Jersey Nets @ Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers will look to make it an even dozen in a row, as they host the New Jersey Nets for a Tuesday night showdown at the Q. The Cavaliers are absolutely on fire, as their 7 point win against the Knicks was the lowest margin of victory for the Cavaliers since their 1 point win in Miami on 1/25, broke a string of 8 straight opponents held to under 100 points, and broke the string of 4 straight opponents they held to under 90.

That victory over New York was paced by LeBron James, who just would not let the Knicks get close enough to pull it out. In yet another amazing performance, LeBron scored 24 straight Cavalier points in the 1st half, en route to 35 1st half points. He finished the ball game with 47 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals, in what might be one of his best all around performances. As if that wasn’t enough, Shaquille O’Neal decided to pitch in 19 of his own points on 8-13 shooting, while J.J Hickson added 10 points with 5 rebounds. Boobie Gibson had his streak with double digit points end at 7 games, as he scored just 6, but did hit 2 of his 3 treys on the night. Anthony Parker picked up the slack for him, however, as he added 11, as he broke a 10 game single digit scoring streak.

Even though they now have lost 6 in a row and stand at 4-46, New Jersey has lost their past 6 games by an average of just 5.8 points. They are coming off of a 99-92 loss @ Detroit, paced by Brook Lopez & Devin Harris, as they combined for 41 points on 15-24 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds, 12 assists, and 3 blocks. The rest of the team, however, shot just 19-50, for 38%. Kris Humphries did provide a bit of a spark off the bench, going for 14 points & 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

Tuesday February 9, 2010

New Jersey Nets @ Cleveland Cavaliers

7:00 PM EST

FSN Ohio/WTAM 1100

Probable Starters:

New Jersey:

Devin Harris

Courtney Lee

Jarvis Hayes

Yi Jianlian

Brook Lopez

Cleveland:

Daniel Gibson

Anthony Parker

LeBron James

J.J Hickson

Shaquille O’Neal

All-Time Series:

• Overall: Cleveland 82 (100.7 PPG) – New Jersey 62 (100.0 PPG)
• LeBron era: Cleveland 12 (96.0 PPG) – New Jersey 11 (95.9 PPG)
• The Cavaliers have won the past 6 meetings, including 5 of  the past 6 at the Q.

Last Meeting:

January 2, 2010: Cleveland 94 – New Jersey 86.

New Jersey actually got out to a 7 point lead after 1 in this one, and led by as many as 9, but the Cavaliers used a 16-5 run to gain the lead that they wouldn’t relinquish, as they outlasted New Jersey by 8.

LeBron James led the way with 28 points, 9 rebounds & 7 assists, going 13-15 from the line, and just 7-16 from the floor. Mo Williams & Andy Varejao picked up the slack by combining for 33 points on 14-27 shooting, with Varejao adding in 12 rebounds off the bench.

New Jersey was led by Devin Harris, who shot 7-13 for his 22 points to go along with 5 rebounds & 6 assists, while Brook Lopez added 20 with his 7 boards & 4 assists. Chris Douglas-Roberts also chipped in with 16 on 8-14 shooting to keep New Jersey close throughout the contest.

Continue the dominance:

As has been stated, the Cavaliers have won 6 straight meetings with New Jersey. To add on to that point, the last time the Cavaliers gave up 90+ points to New Jersey was March 12, 2008, a 104-99 loss. (There have been 6 meetings between the 2 teams since then). In those 6 meetings, New Jersey has shot 38.3% from the field total.

Cleveland’s Highlight Performance:

March 27, 2004: Cleveland 107 – New Jersey 104.

LeBron James: 15-29 FG; 1-2 3s; 10-10 FT; 41 Pts; 6 Rebs; 13 Assists; 3 Steals; 2 Turnovers

New Jersey’s Highlight Performance:

December 9, 2005: New Jersey 109 – Cleveland 100.

Vince Carter: 15-21 FG; 3-4 3s; 5-8 FT; 38 Pts; 11 Rebs; 6 Assists; 4 Steals; 2 Blocks; 4 Turnovers

Don’t Let Them Turn the Century:

The Nets are 3-4 when they score 100+ points, and 1-42 when they don’t.

Cleveland career stats vs. Nets:

Player	Games	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	FT%	3pt%
Zydrunas Ilgauskas	33	29.0	15.0	8.1	1.5	50.6%	84.4%	0.0%
LeBron James	22	40.4	28.2	7.1	7.2	46.2%	76.3%	26.3%
Shaquille O’Neal	37	34.5	23.1	10.7	2.7	57.4%	52.1%	-
Delonte West	18	26.2	10.1	3.1	3.3	47.8%	78.3%	59.3%

New Jersey career stats vs. Cavaliers:

Player	Games	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	FT%	3pt%
Keyon Dooling	20	21.0	8.6	1.8	2.8	47.3	76.7%	48.3%
Devin Harris	11	30.2	13.9	3.1	4.0	45.8%	84.6%	35.7%
Yi Jianlian	8	25.5	6.9	4.4	0.5	29.2%	68.2%	28.6%
Brook Lopez	5	36.0	16.4	10.2	1.8	42.2%	84.9%	0.0%

Who’s Hot:

Player	Time Period	Points	Rebounds/Assists	FG%	Misc
Keyon Dooling	5 games	10.4	5.2 APG	50.0%	47.1% 3pt
Devin Harris	4 games	19.3	9.3 APG	41.4%	3.8 RPG
Jarvis Hayes	5 games	11.8	5.2 RPG	51.1%	39.1% 3pt
Courtney Lee	4 games	12.5	3.8 RPG	46.3%	43.8% 3pt

Who’s Not:

Player	Time Period	Points	Rebounds/Assists	FG%	Misc
Tony Battie	Has played 16 minutes since 1/10
Josh Boone	Has not played in last 6 games
Chris Douglas-Roberts	13 games	5.2	2.9 RPG	42.1%	20.8 MPG
Trenton Hassell	Has played in 1 of the last 6 games
Kirk Humphries	6 games	8.2	8.0 RPG	32.1%	1.5 TOPG
Yi Jianlian	4 games	8.5	5.5 RPG	30.2%	30.0 MPG
Brook Lopez	3 games	17.0	4.7 RPG	54.3%	0.3 BPG
Chris Quinn	Has not played last 2 games, after playing in 12 straight
Bobby Simmons	Has played 6 minutes since 12/19
Terrence Williams	6 games	3.5	3.7 RPG	40.0%	19.0 MPG

Match-up to Watch:

Shaq vs. Brook Lopez.

Shaq has been dominant as of late. Lopez has struggled. However, both are perfectly capable of getting their numbers across the board in a flash. Lopez is a very skilled offensive player & can rebound with the best of them. Both guys will have their hands full on the defensive end, but will it affect their offensive game? It has been proven that at least 1 will be affected. In the 1st meeting, Lopez went just 6-17 for his 22, while Shaq went 7-9 for his 16. In the 2nd meeting, Lopez went 6-13 for his 20, while Shaq went just 4-11 for his 12.

Rotation to Watch:

Harris-Lee-Hayes-Yi-Lopez.

This one was tougher to pick than the New York 5some. Their 8th most used lineup was really the only option, as they are the only bunch who has not been outscored. Of course, they have a +/- of 0, but at least it’s not in the negatives. They have scored just 1.02 points per possession, while giving up 1.04, the best differential of the 5 man units of the Nets.

What to Watch:

• Devin Harris. Harris has been playing some great basketball of late, both scoring & distributing the basketball. He will be a handful, and hopefully Delonte West is able to make his return to the court in this one.

• Brook Lopez. Brook has struggled scoring & rebounding the basketball the past few games, but he is always a threat to get his numbers on the board. Shaq will have a tough match-up on his hands.

• Looking ahead. The Cavaliers have Orlando, then Denver after this New Jersey contest, but they cannot look ahead. Even though New Jersey is 4-46 & obviously haven’t been playing good basketball, it doesn’t mean they can’t sneak up on you. The Cavaliers just have to continue to play 1 game, 1 quarter, 1 play at a time.

• Delonte West. Reports are that he will return in the New Jersey contest & it should be exciting to see him back on the court. The Cavaliers will need his perimeter defense to help keep Devin Harris somewhat in check.

• Um… Beyonce? Hopefully? Honestly, there’s not much to watch for in this contest (at least, hopefully not). However, maybe Jay-Z will make an appearance at the Q w/ Beyonce in tow.

Game Preview – Tuesday February 9, 2010 – New Jersey Nets @ Cleveland Cavaliers

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