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RECORDS
Cavs: 27-21 (2nd in Central, 4th in Eastern Conference)
Hawks: 21-24 (3rd in Southeast, 7th in Eastern Conference)
Friday, February 8, 2008
7:30 PM ET
INSIDE
IN HOTLANTA, GA
HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown | Mike Woodson
POINT GUARDS
Larry Hughes | Anthony Johnson
SHOOTING GUARDS
Ira Newble | Joe Johnson
SMALL FORWARDS
LeBron James | Josh Smith
POWER FORWARDS
Donyell Marshall | Marvin Williams
CENTERS
Zydrunas Ilgauskas| Al Horford
Cavaliers Rotation
DJ | D. Brown| Gibson | Dwayne
Wizards Rotation
Childress | Lue | Zaza | West
Cavalier Notes
· The Cavaliers have won 13 of the past 16 meetings against the Hawks including six of the last seven games in Atlanta.
· In his last eight games against the Hawks, LeBron James has averaged 32.4 points on .520 shooting, 7.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
· Cleveland has won 15 of their last 20 games overall. Since December 25, Cleveland’s 15-5 record is the best record among Eastern Conference teams.
· Over his last nine games, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has averaged 16.6 points on .505 shooting and 10.1 rebounds per game. He has posted five double-doubles during that stretch.
· LeBron James has averaged 34.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in his last six outings. Entering tonight’s game, he has scored at least 32 points in five of the six games.
· Over his last four games, Larry Hughes is averaging 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
· Among all reserves, Damon Jones ranks eighth in three-pointers made with 63. Since Jan. 6 (15 games), he is shooting .467 (28-60) from three-point range and has made at least one three-pointer in each game.
Hawks Notes
LeBron James could use some help if the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to rebound from one of their worst shooting performances of the season.
They hope Drew Gooden's potential return to the lineup on Friday night against the surging Atlanta Hawks can provide that support.
Gooden, who averages 11.3 points and 8.5 rebounds, missed Thursday's 92-77 loss at Houston due to a right groin strain. The power forward is day-to-day after suffering the injury on a putback dunk in the Cavaliers' 114-113 win over league-leading Boston on Tuesday.
Though Gooden may be back, the Cavs (27-21) will again be without reserve forward-center Anderson Varejao, who is sidelined for at least two more weeks with a sprained left ankle. He's averaging a career-high 8.5 rebounds.
"When you have 20 rebounds not here, it obviously hurts," James said.
With Gooden and Varejao missing, Cleveland was outrebounded 55-35 in the loss to the Rockets. James made 12 of 23 shots for 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but the rest of the team went 19-for-55 (34.5 percent) from the floor.
Larry Hughes was the only other Cleveland player to reach double digits in points with 13.
"We got outworked on the boards and we got outworked on all the loose balls," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
James, the NBA's top scorer at 30.2 points per game, will try to help Cleveland beat the Hawks (21-24) for the 14th time in 17 tries. The Cavs' haven't lost a season series against them since dropping all four games in 2002-03, the season before they drafted James first overall.
The All-Star small forward didn't get much support in the last meeting at Atlanta, a 90-81 loss on Jan. 9. He had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the rest of the team made only 19 of 66 shots (28.8 percent). There was better balance during a 98-94 home win on Jan. 2 when James scored 36 points and his teammates combined to shoot 26-for-55 (47.2 percent).
Gooden totaled 23 points and 18 rebounds in those two meetings.
Atlanta, meanwhile, is looking to close out a four-game homestand by trying to match its season-high four-game winning streak set from Dec. 15-26. The Hawks followed that winning only four of their next 16 before their current surge.
The winning streak reached three games on Wednesday with a 98-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers behind rookie Al Horford's 15 points and season-high 20 rebounds. The former Florida star is providing a strong presence in the paint, averaging 9.2 points and 9.9 boards.
"Coach just wanted us to be solid inside and try to establish the paint, and just defend and rebound," said Horford, who had 10 points and 15 boards against Cleveland on Jan. 9. "That's what I tried to stick to and that's what we tried to do as a team."
Joe Johnson, Atlanta's leader with 21.0 points per game, is looking to build on his 28-point performance from Wednesday, which matched his total from the previous two games when he shot 11-for-32 (34.4 percent).
The guard scored 29 points in the last contest against the Cavs.
http://www.nba.com/games/20080208/CLEATL/preview.html
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