Cleveland vs Houston

[ChicagoCavFan]

Game Number 60

VS

Cleveland Cavaliers (34-25)
VS
Houston Rockets (36-23)

Monday, March 5th, 2007
7:00pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
Television: FSN HD
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

Head Coaches

Mike Brown / Jeff Van Gundy

Probable Starters

Sasha Pavlovic / Rafer Alston

Larry Hughes / Tracy McGrady

LeBron James / Shane Battier

Drew Gooden / Juwan Howard

Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Dikembe Mutombo

Cavs Bench

Anderson Varejao / Shannon Brown / Donyell Marshall / Eric Snow

Mavericks Bench

Kirk Snyder / Luther Head / Jake Tsakalidis / Chuck Hayes

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GAME NOTES

Can we send this guy back to Houston for some dirt?

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Even though Yao is hurt, he has plenty of support in his recovery:

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· Over his last three games against the Houston Rockets, LeBron James has averaged 29.7 points and 6.7 rebounds.
· Larry Hughes tied his second-highest scoring output of the season with his 27 point game against Toronto on Saturday. Cleveland is now 15-5 since last season when Hughes tallies 20 or more points in a game.
· Cleveland comes into tonight’s game with a 9-1 record against Western Conference teams at home.
· With 29 or more points tonight, LeBron James will have scored at least 29 points in eight straight games giving him the second longest streak of his career with 29 or more. His personal best is 11 straight games of over 29 points last season from March 19 – April 10.
· James has averaged 33.6 points on .538 shooting in his last seven games. He leads the NBA in scoring since February 15.
· Anderson Varejao has averaged 9.5 points on .517 shooting and 11.0 rebounds over his past eight games. He has three double-doubles during that stretch. In his career, the Cavaliers are 8-1 when he posts a double-double.

ROCKETS 81, CAVALIERS 63 – Toyota Center, Houston, TX (12/2/06)
Houston held the Cavaliers to a season-low 63 points on .282 shooting as they rolled to a 81-63 win over the Cavaliers at Houston. The Rockets held the Cavaliers to season lows of 29 points on .263 shooting in the first half as they jumped out to a 43-29 lead after one half. It was an uphill battle for the Cavaliers in the second half as Houston pushed their lead to 22 points after a 10-2 run to open the quarter. The Rockets extended their lead to 26 points with 6:37 left in the game before Cleveland cut the lead to 13 with 3:47
remaining. The Rockets then scored the next seven points and cruised to the win. Yao Ming led the Rockets with 24 points and five rebounds while LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists.

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Houston's Game Notes (from their perspective)
Houston holds a 69-38 advantage in the all-time series with Cleveland. The Rockets are 42-12 at home against the Cavaliers and 27-25 on the road. Houston is 0-1 all-time in neutral-site games with Cleveland. The two teams split the series in 2005-06. In the first meeting this season, Houston’s defense held the Cavaliers to 22-of-78 (.282) shooting in an 81-63 win vs. Cleveland (12/2/06). Series Notes: Cleveland’s field goals made (22) and field goal percentage (.282) on 12/2/06 rank as the second and third lowest, respectively, in each category by a Houston opponent in a single game … Houston also limited the Cavaliers to 29 first-half points on 10-of-38 (.263) from the field against the Rockets vs. Cleveland (12/2/06) … the Rockets gave up a 13-point lead to the Cavaliers in dropping a 104-102 decision in OT last season vs. Cleveland (3/26/06) … the loss snapped Houston’s five-game winning streak over the Cavaliers, marking Cleveland’s first win over the Rockets since 2002-03 (2/5/03 at Cleveland) … Tracy McGrady has outscored LeBron James in six of their seven meetings with the total points in those games: McGrady 218, James 155 … Yao Ming scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half, helping the Rockets take a 43-29 lead into the break vs. Cleveland (12/2/06) … McGrady suffered a grade-one (minor) concussion in the first half vs. Cleveland (12/2/06) … Shane Battier limited James to 21 points on 7-of-22 from the field vs. Cleveland (12/2/06), as James entered the fourth quarter with only 11 points and was the only Cleveland player to reach double digits in scoring … Juwan Howard (13) and Chuck Hayes (12) each reached double-digit rebounding totals vs. Cleveland (12/2/06), as the Rockets outrebounded the Cavaliers by a 55-41 margin … McGrady (34) outscored James (32) to help the Rockets outlast the Cavaliers for a 90-81 win last year at Cleveland (1/5/06) … Yao was on the inactive list (left big toe/osteomyelitis) last season at Cleveland (1/5/06) … Howard posted a double-double with 12 points and a team-best 12 rebounds last year vs. Cleveland (3/26/06) … the Cavaliers shot a 2005-06 Houston opponent-low .444 (8-18 FT) from the free throw line at Cleveland (1/5/06) … James scored 16 of his 32 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the third quarter last year at Cleveland (1/5/06) … Damon Jones recorded 22 points (5-6 3FG) against Houston last season vs. Cleveland (3/26/06).



​

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Yao may play Monday:

http://www.nba.com/news/377303.html

Mar 4, 2007 10:22am ET
Yao Could Play Monday
Jonathan Feigen of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports, "Rockets team physician Dr. Tom Clanton, who attended Yao's workout Saturday, said he would meet with Rockets athletic trainer Keith Jones, general manager Carrroll Dawson and coach Jeff Van Gundy today to determine whether Yao could be cleared to play Monday."

Yao has come back looking bulkier than ever:

 

[PIP]

Sexy is back..............

 

[PIP]

 

[Karma]

Who takes McGrady?

I'd put Hughes on him personally. Pavlovic would have trouble going with Alston which is a worry though. This will be a difficult defensive matchup. Maybe LeBron tags Alston and Sasha takes Battier. Does LeBron have the balls to defend T-Mac?

 

[B Mac]

 

[blackmagicGTI]

I'm fairly certain that you couldn't get a rack of the synthetic NBA basketballs in exchange for Wesley.

I want to see the Cavs actually bring effort again. They've done it twice in a row now but I'm very skeptical that they'll do it thrice.

 

[Karma]

Rockets center will return to action against the Cavs

Rockets center Yao Ming will play for the first time in 11 weeks Monday against Cleveland.

Injury Update: G Bob Sura (knee/back) and G/F Bonzi Wells (sore foot) are out for the Rockets; G Daniel Gibson (toe) is out and G Damon Jones (back spasms) is questionable for the Cavs.

Cavs Update: The Cavaliers stunningly have a better record against the Western Conference than foes from their own conference. Cleveland is 14-9 against the West, good enough for the best winning percentage among East teams against the West. Daniel Gibson, the former University of Texas star, had moved into the starting lineup. However, he is expected to miss two weeks with a toe injury.

Projected Starting Lineup:

ROCKETS

Pos Player .......PPG RPG
G Rafer Alston 13.7 3.3
G Tracy McGrady 24.5 5.3
F Shane Battier 10.6 4.2
F Chuck Hayes 4.7 6.1
C Yao Ming 25.9 9.4

CAVALIERS

Pos Player.........PPG:RPG
G Larry Hughes 14.9 3.6
G Sasha Pavlovic 6.9 2.0
F LeBron James 26.9 6.7
F Drew Gooden 11.2 8.5
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas 11.4 8.1

HOUSTON -- Yao Ming has been working up a sweat and rehabbing his injured right leg for over two months behind closed doors.

On Monday night, he'll finally be performing live again.

Yao will return to the starting lineup Monday night when the Rockets visit LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Rockets' All-Star center was cleared to play Sunday afternoon after missing 31 games with a fractured right tibia. He'll be seeing his first action since an akward collision with the Los Angeles Clippers' Tim Thomas and teammate Chuck Hayes in a Dec. 23 setback.

Since being cleared for practice on Thursday, Yao hasn't had any setbacks with his right leg. He's expected to be wearing a brace over his right knee.

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said Saturday that he wouldn't hesistate using his big man for extended minutes as soon as he is available.

"When he's cleared, I'm playing him," Van Gundy said.

Yao's return is just what the doctor ordered for the Rockets.

The Rockets are a surprising 21-10 without the star center, but have recently hit a tough stretch.

Over the past two weeks, Houston has lost five of its past eight games and has dropped three consecutive games at Toyota Center. The Rockets' latest setback, a 97-74 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs, was the team's worst of the season.

Yao should at the very least help a team that has been outrebounded in seven of the past eight games.

Not to mention, he should give his team a much-needed scoring option alongside Tracy McGrady.

Yao was off to the best start of his five-year career before the injury, averaging 25.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 rebounds.

Along with being selected to his fifth All-Star team, the Rockets center was named the Western Conference's Player of the Month in November.

Yao said Thursday that he wasn't sure how long it would take him to regain his MVP-form from earlier in the season.

"I don't know," Yao said. "The knee is very important for a basketball player and I don't know if it's going to bother me in a live game. Practice and a game are still different."

With Yao' impending return, the Rockets are planning to juggle the lineup.

The star center will replace Dikembe Mutombo as a starter and Hayes, who was starting alongside Yao earlier in the season, will replace Juwan Howard in the lineup.

The Rockets once again won't have Bonzi Wells, who will miss his third straight game to remain in Houston to rehab his sore right foot.

NBA.com

 

[imahustla]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't the Rockets been better WITHOUT Yao than WITH him?

This should be an interesting game. Both teams have a couple of stars here and there and a roster full of crap. Although I'd love to see how LeBron does against Battier.

I'd put Varejao on Yao.

 

[Kypus]

I heard Yao did some upper-body work while he was out. His arms look thicker in that picture ^^

 

[CBBI]

I'd stick Hughes on Alston and Pavlovic on McGrady but that's just me. Sasha is long enough and athletic enough to force McGrady to take jumpers as long as he doesn't do stupid things like reach or not slide his feet.

I have a feeling we will see a lot of Snow on McGrady tonight, a la like when we play LA and Kobe.

 

[chiefwahoo]

I'd stick Hughes on Alston and Pavlovic on McGrady but that's just me. Sasha is long enough and athletic enough to force McGrady to take jumpers as long as he doesn't do stupid things like reach or not slide his feet.

The problem with that is you know Sasha would be in foul trouble right away. T-Mac would get every little touch foul and Sasha would be riding the bench halfway through the 1st quarter.

I don't like the overall matchup with Houston. They play ugly basketball and want to grind it out in the halfcourt. I hate watching them play and I don't think we match up well at all. I expect a game in the mid-80's... bleh

 

[TheISHT]

Tonight, if Brown gets the oppurtunity he is going to make his first poster.......on Yao, with that Statue of Liberty Dunk on him. Brown doesn't seem to scared to go up with the tall trees when he's finishing.

 

[PIP]

Yao is going to get sick and tired of all these posters...He's gonna snap one day and just kill someone on the floor....

 

[crazedcav333]

I want LBJ to posterize Dikembe.