Place: New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, LA.
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: WUAB Ch. 43/WTAM 1100 AM
Projected Cavaliers Starters:
PG: Jeff McInnis
SG: LeBron James
SF: Eric Williams
PF: Carlos Boozer
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cavaliers Injury Report: C Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (ankle sprain) and SG
Kedrick Brown (tendinitis) are on the injured list.
Projected Hornets Starters:
PG: Baron Davis
SG: David Wesley
SF: Jamal Mashburn
PF: P.J. Brown
C: Jamaal Magliore
Hornets Injury Report: PF/C Robert Traylor (death in the family) is not
with the team. SG Courtney Alexander (torn Achilles tendon) is on the
injured list.
Key Matchups:
Baron Davis vs. Jeff McInnis - Just about everything with the
Hornets starts with Baron Davis. Against the Cavaliers this year Davis is
averaging 29ppg, 5.7apg, 5rpg and 2.3spg. What has made Davis such a
handful for Cleveland and everyone else is his unpredictability. He has an
Iverson-esque green light that he takes full advantage of. Davis shoots
more three pointers than any player in the NBA and he takes them at any time.
He will just pull off the dribble early in the shot clock and without running a
play. Davis is able to get away doing that because he is so dangerous
penetrating to the basket. An explosive combination of size, quickness and
strength he is very good with the pick and roll and breaking down his man off
the dribble where he finishes well along with being able to slip passes to big
men for dunks and find shooters spotting up outside. The way Davis plays
he can shoot the Hornets in and out of games and has done so against the
Cavaliers. He may be the most dangerous at the end of games where he will
hit big three after big three. Defensively, McInnis cannot go under the
screens with Davis since he will almost always step back and shoot the three
pointer if he decides to keep the ball to shoot it. At the very least
McInnis must pick his spots depending on time and score situations in the game.
You don't want to go under the screen when Davis has a chance to tie the game or
take the lead with a three pointer. Offensively, McInnis has to continue
to be strong against the ball pressure Davis and the Hornets will put on.
Davis gambles for a lot of steals and they turn into run-outs.
Lebron James vs. David Wesley - The last time the Cavaliers faced
the Hornets Wesley was injured and instead starting Darrell Armstrong they had
been they started Stacey Augmon to matchup with James. New Orleans isn't
to make such a change now that incumbent starter SG David Wesley is back even
though James has 7 inches and 40lbs on Wesley. James must come with the
same energy and aggressiveness he showed against Atlanta and make the Hornets
pay for their small starting backcourt. That means not settling for
jumpshots or fadeaways off post ups. Everything James does against Wesley
should be going to the basket. James taking advantage of Wesley will force
the Hornets to bring help which should allow James to find the open man.
Defensively, James must do a good job of chasing Wesley, mainly a jumpshooter,
through screens and using his athleticism and length to challenge his shots.
Wesley is very experienced and skilled at getting free using picks. He has
a good release and isn't always affected by bigger players. Also, James
must get back in transition and find his man as he has a tendency of not
identifying his man coming down the floor and with the way New Orleans shoots
three pointers Wesley will run to open spots and Davis or Armstrong will find
him.
When Cleveland has the ball: This is a game where James must take the
lead early more than usual since he has a big physical advantage over any
Hornets starter. New Orleans is having trouble defensively not getting
back in transition, handling backdoor cuts and the pick and roll. It could
be effective for the Cavaliers if they can defensive rebound to be aggressive by
pushing the ball up the floor against New Orleans and try to get easy baskets
and points in the secondary break. Despite having a backcourt rotation
that accounts for over five and a half steals a game the Hornets are not the
same defensive team they have been in the past giving up 44% shooting from the
field. If the Cavaliers take care of the ball and attack New Orleans who
aren't a good shotblocking team they can be effective against the Hornets.
The Hornets have played zone at different points in every game against Cleveland
so far and as usual they cannot settle for jumpshots and must attack the zone
inside first. The frontcourt matchup will also be very important.
Ilgauskas and Boozer have turned into the most productive PF/C duo in the
Eastern Conference and the Hornets duo and Brown and Magliore have been on a
similar tear the past 5 games.
When New Orleans has the ball: The Hornets are not a complex team to
figure out. They are mainly a volume shooting, low efficiency, three point
bombing perimeter team. They are finally back to full strength with the
return of David Wesley and will play their projected starting lineup for only
the second time this season. Mashburn, Davis and Wesley pretty much have
free reign and absent the occasional post up to Magliore the offense will run
through them. New Orleans will run isolations and let Mashburn post up,
will run Wesley through a series of screens and run a lot of pick and roll with
Baron Davis and let him do his thing one on one. When New Orleans are
burying outside shots and three pointers they are terribly hard to beat
especially when their big men are playing their roles and doing the dirty work.
When they aren't shooting well their defense will suffer as well even though
they possess some good individual defenders in Brown, Stacey Augmon and George
Lynch. The ultimate key is limiting Davis' penetration if you can and contesting
their outside shots. Mashburn and Davis, in particular, will hit some
incredibly difficult shots over defenders but they aren't high percentage
shooters. Their big men aren't great post up threats so if you can slow
down what New Orleans wants to do outside it lessens the effectiveness of their
big even when they are productive.
Game outlook: The Cavaliers 25 point comeback win against the Hornets is
still in the mind of the mind of that team. New Orleans coach Tim Floyd
has blamed the game on the recent swoon the team has experienced. New
Orleans is a very good home team and is looking forward to tonight's game in an
effort to start a second half surge with their starting lineup finally intact.
Cleveland is the same position they were going into Chicago game being a half
game out of a playoff spot. They laid an egg against the Bulls and will
have to amp up the intensity as if they are playing an elite Western Conference
team in they hope to beat a good home team and playoff team in New Orleans.
New Orleans are two pretty dissimilar teams in terms of style and they make some
interesting matchup. It is surprising that the Cavaliers have already won
2 of the 3 games so far. With the Bucks looming at home and the playoff
race tightening up the Cavaliers must come out like they really want this game
against the Hornets.
