Benedict_Boozer

Cleveland Cavaliers
vs
Seattle Supersonics

Quick Loans Arena
Cleveland, OH
Tuesday, January 8th, 2007
7:00 pm EST


Projected Starting 5
Cavaliers:

PG - Larry Hughes SG – Sasha Pavlovic
C – Zydrunas Ilgauskas
SF – Lebron James PF – Drew Gooden

Sonics:

PG – Earl Watson SG – Kevin Durant
C – Kurt Thomas
SF – Damien Wilkins PF – Chris Wilcox

NOTES:

Quote:

LeBron James has helped the Cleveland Cavaliers climb back to .500 for the first time in more than a month. It will likely be a long time before Kevin Durant can do the same for the Seattle SuperSonics. In a matchup between two of the most highly touted draft picks of the last five years, James looks to continue his hot streak as the Cavaliers go for their sixth win in seven games on Tuesday when they host Durant and the struggling SuperSonics. James, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft, has averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.2 assists in his last six games to help Cleveland (17-17) go 5-1 in that stretch. He led the Cavaliers to a 93-90 victory in Toronto on Sunday, helping the team get back to .500 for the first time since it was 9-9 on Dec. 2. "It's huge," Cavs forward Drew Gooden said. "It's kind of like a breath of fresh air when it happens." The defending Eastern Conference champions would have languished with a losing record even longer had it not been for James' spectacular finish on Sunday. James was 8-for-10 from the field and had 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers overcame a 13-point deficit. "I just felt like I was out there by myself," said James, who has scored at least 30 points in the second half of two of his last three games. "Everything was going right for me and I just felt like I was out there in practice. The hoop felt like the ocean." James will try to continue to carry the Cavaliers when they meet the SuperSonics (9-24) for the first time since Seattle selected Durant with the second overall pick in last June's draft. Durant leads all rookies with 19.9 points per game, but he's shooting just 40.7 percent from the field while receiving most of opponents' defensive attention. Durant had 19 points and six rebounds on Sunday, but missed 14 of his 21 field-goal attempts in Seattle's 108-86 loss at Washington. Durant, a Washington native, wasn't pleased with his first NBA homecoming. "I don't want to say I was pressing," he said. "I think I was taking quality shots -- shots I normally take throughout the game. Wide-open shots from the corner, I was missing, and going to the rim and missing layups." Seattle was outscored 30-17 in the fourth quarter to lose for the fifth time in six games -- a finish that doesn't bode well for a team visiting James' Cavaliers. "One of the things I feel we have done consistently all year is compete. We just didn't compete in the fourth quarter," said Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, whose team is shooting 39.8 percent during its three-game losing streak. "We have to be ready to play right away. We can't come in casually, get warmed up and then turn it up." Seattle and Cleveland split their season series in 2006-07, with the home team winning each game. The Sonics have lost three of their last four in Cleveland after winning eight straight there from 1995-2002. James has averaged 30.1 points in seven career games against Seattle.

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Futuristxen:

"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."

Benedict_Boozer

Did anyone just see Larry ballhog twice in a row on the fastbreak?

How in the hell do you look off Lebron James on a 2 on 1 fastbreak??? Unbelievable

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Futuristxen:

"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."

SamTheMan67

lol larry hughes off to a 0-4 start

futuristxen

Fans already booing Hughes. To be fair he is sucking. Why does he pull up for jumpers on the fast break? He never hits them.

__________________
My web comic: http://ophelia.comicdish.com/--Issue SEVEN!!! Out NOW!!
Click here to go directly to issue EIGHT!

SamTheMan67

sasha with an offensive foul and hughes shoooting bad WHATS NEW CAVS FANS?

Benedict_Boozer

Sasha predetermines what he's gonna do on his drives - he needs to react to the defense more

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Futuristxen:

"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."

Benedict_Boozer

I don't know where he learned that the pull up 15 footer is the best shot on a 2 on 1 fastbreak

This dude has the worst offensive bball IQ I've ever seen! At the same time his defensive IQ is excellent.

Bizarre

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Futuristxen:

"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."

SamTheMan67

if pav could only do that 40% of the time

futuristxen

Good defense tonight though.

__________________
My web comic: http://ophelia.comicdish.com/--Issue SEVEN!!! Out NOW!!
Click here to go directly to issue EIGHT!

futuristxen

Then the next time down he did take it to the basket, but cut off Lebron's lane to do it, when he could have spaced the floor and hit Lebron with an easy assist for the dunk. But instead he forced a rough layup and of course missed. Fortunately Lebron followed him in.

I just hate that Hughes thinks he's good enough to do these things. If he played within himself he'd at least not be a detriment to the team.

__________________
My web comic: http://ophelia.comicdish.com/--Issue SEVEN!!! Out NOW!!
Click here to go directly to issue EIGHT!

Benedict_Boozer

Sasha stepping into his shot with confidence - he's missing but I like the confidence he's showing

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Futuristxen:

"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."

futuristxen

Bron should shoot for a quad-double tonight. He's gonna get a lot of steals it looks like.

__________________
My web comic: http://ophelia.comicdish.com/--Issue SEVEN!!! Out NOW!!
Click here to go directly to issue EIGHT!

SamTheMan67

seriously we need to sign dgib to a 7 year contract extension

Benedict_Boozer