_amon _ones
Needa Beer?
- Joined
- May 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,652
- Reaction score
- 775
- Points
- 113
RECORDS
Cavs: 23-19 (2nd in Central, 6th in Eastern Conference)
Lakers: 27-14 (2nd in Pacific, 6th in Western Conference)
AT
INSIDE
HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown | Phil Jackson
POINT GUARDS
Larry Hughes | Derek Fisher
SHOOTING GUARDS
Ira Newble | Black Mamba
SMALL FORWARDS
LeBron James | Luke Walton
POWER FORWARDS
Drew Gooden | Lamar Odom
CENTERS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas| Kwame Brown
Cavaliers Rotation
DJ | D. Brown| Gibson | Varejao
Cavaliers Injuries
Pavlovic| Marshall
. Sasha Pavlovic (Left Foot Sprain) is out.
. Donyell Marshall (Wrist) is out.
Lakers Rotation
Farmar | Turiaf | Vujacic | Mbenga
Lakers Injuries
Bynum | Vlad-Rad | Ariza | Mihm
. Trevor Ariza (fractured right foot) is out.
. Andrew Bynum (subluxated patella, left knee) is out.
. Chris Mihm (right ankle bursitis) is out.
. Vladimir Radmanovic (sprained right ankle) is a game-time decision.
To the NBA, this is all about...
...or, in other words...
Famous Laker Fans Vs. Famous Cavs Fans
Cavaliers Notes
·LAST MEETING: 12/20/2007 Cleveland 94, LAKERS 90 @ the Q
·Cavs held the Lakers to 12 points on 22.7 percent shooting in the 4th quarter of the last meeting...the lowest quarter opponent score in Q history.
·LeBron James led all scorers with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
·Anderson Varejao came off the bench to post 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and added 4 steals.
·The Cavaliers have won four straight games against the Lakers.
·Cleveland has won 11 of their last 14 games.
·Over his last seven games, LeBron James has averaged 32.4 points on .503 shooting, 9.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.
·Anderson Varejao leads all NBA reserves (at least 15 games played as a reserve) in rpg at 8.7 per outing. He has averaged 9.5 rpg in his last six outings.
·Zydrunas Ilgauskas has averaged 22.5 points on .760 shooting, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in his last two games.
·With eight points today, LeBron James would pass Mark Price for third place on the all-time Cavaliers scoring list. Price finished his Cavs career with 9,543 points in 582 games. James has 9,536 points in 353 games.
Lakers Notes
·Kobe Bryant led four Lakers in double-figures with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists against the Cavs.
·Lamar Odom (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Andrew Bynum (17 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in the last meeting.
·93rd meeting between the two teams with the Lakers holding a 55-37
series advantage.
·The Lakers are 7-1 against the Cavaliers all-time at STAPLES Center with last season’s 2/15/07 loss to Cleveland snapping a seven-game home win streak.
·Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 10-5 against Cleveland.
·In 21 games against Cleveland including 18 starts, Kobe Bryant is averaging 21.7 points per game.
_amon's Keys to the Game
·Attack, Attack, Attack. With all of the Lakers injuries to the frontcourt, they have resorted to signing DJ Mbenga to a 10 day contract and inserted him immediately into the rotation. This is a prime opportunity for the Cavs to dominate the inside.
·Kobe is going to get his points. The Cavs don't have the Kobe Killer for this game, but the Lakers are just 2-3 with the injury to Bynum. Bynum was finally reaching his potential, and had become a double-double machine, before the knee injury side-lined him. Since then, Kobe has averaged 42 minutes per game, up from the 36 mpg before the injury.
·Build a healthy lead and rest the starters. The Lakers are vulnerable with their injuries. Aside from Bryant, Odom is the only consistent threat they have...and he's not the most consistent player...especially when Kobe turns into Mr. Selfish and stops trusting his teammates. The Lakers just don't have enough bodies right now to be able to stop the Cavs from scoring inside, causing foul trouble to a depleted frontcourt.
_amon's Prediction
Cavs 111, Lakers 103
Cavs 111, Lakers 103
·Honestly, it shouldn't be that close, but this is the NBA's premiere matchup of superstars, so expect the Lakers to get a healthy dose of the home court national TV refs, and the Cavs to continue their streak of terrible officiating against them.
Obligatory Laker Girls Shots
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