bruindre

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Brandname

Well, Artest is the only SF defender in the league that can match Lebron's strength, so he usually gives Lebron fits. Lebron is coming off two really bad games, so he might be looking to have a good game here. Then again, the Cavs just went 4-0 on a 4 games in 5 nights series with large contributions from everyone, so we might try to play that game, too.

Despite our recent success, we're still not that great of a team on the road, particularly offensively. It will be interesting to see if we can stop Kevin Martin. Well no, we won't be able to stop him of course, but hopefully slow him down. Hughes is a quick, crafty defender, so he's our only chance to match Martin's quickness. Still, a tough matchup either way.

I'd be careful of Drew Gooden in this game. He's been on a tear lately, getting 31 pts 16 reb and 21 pts 12 reb in his last two games. With Brad Miller being one of the few centers in the league that can step out and challenge Z's long jumpshot, we might be relying on Gooden for our low post scoring in this game.

Finally, Arco Arena has historically been one of the hardest arenas to play at in the league (the Q is starting to gain that reputation as well), so it's going to be an uphill battle for the Cavs. We don't do well against emotional runs (we gave up a 24-0 run in Chicago earlier this year), so if you can grab an early lead and get the crowd into it, there's a good chance you guys will take this one.

On our side, I think Lebron as a defender matches up well with Artest. Ron can score in bunches if you let him near the basket, whereas if you keep him as an outside shooter, he's more streaky. Lebron tends to hang off his man too much to prevent the drive, but leaves his man more open for a 3. If we can make it a shooting match between Lebron and Artest, I think Lebron will take it.

Good luck tomorrow, and here's to an injury free game.

bruindre

Thanks, Brandname, for the run down! I agree with a lot of your points.

I haven't really followed the Cavs that close this year, but know that Hughes (at least used to be) a defender that can give K-Mart fits.

I'd look for Gooden to do well in this game--as far as I can recall, he's done well when returning to NorCal.

The Artest/LeBron match up will be intriguing as well.

I wonder how the Kings will match up against Z. They tend to switch SAR & Brad Miller at the starting C, seemingly going to SAR when they need more athleticism on the court. I see them going w/ Miller at first to try to draw Z out on the perimeter.

Looking forward to this one.

Weasel

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Larry Hughes for Retirement

Should be a good one, Cavs have played great in the last 8 games. It all depends on Gooden I think tonight, and if we can stop Mike Bibby.

Good Luck

bruindre

Cavs owned the Kings in the 2nd half. That 20-second time out in the 3rd quarter surely did the trick--Cavs seemed to play perfect ball, to about 90-75....then a mini run by the Kings made it respectable.

The OUTLAW

The Cavs played well in the second half outscoring the Kings 70-45 in the 3rd and 4th quarters. They do however seem to have a tough time closing out games. They seem to get rattled at times when teams play physical defense against them and turn the ball over as well as they are not the best free throw shooting team. Both of these things allow teams to come back at the end of games.

The Kings did however have a superb first half. Bibby was hitting everything no matter how far out he was. The early push in the second half is really what decided the game. After that, the pressure shifted from the Cavs trying to catch up to the Kings trying to maintain their lead. At that point, they seemed to get a bit tight which is what allowed the Cavs to push into a 5 point lead to end the quarter.

Good game, we see you in our house next time.

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