This game sees the 5-11 New York Knicks take on the 9-5 Cleveland Cavaliers at The Quicken Loans Arena. <div align="center"><font color="#E86E32"> <u>Knicks</u> C Eddy Curry PF David Lee SF Renaldo Balkman SG Steve Francis PG Stephon Marbury</font> @ <font color="#B94056">C Zydrunas Ilgauskas PF Drew Gooden SF LeBron James SG David Wesley PG Eric Snow <u>Cleveland Cavaliers</u> </font></div> <u>Key Matcup</u> ? C ? Eddy Curry v Zydrunas Ilgauskas v This matchup sees a bright young Center in Eddy Curry, take on a veteran Center, struggling to find form. Curry is so far averaging 14-6 this season, whilst Ilgauskas is averaging a mere 9 and 8, but scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers in the last game. I see it being a tight, pivotal matchup, but Ilgauskas will probably reign supreme, just as the Cavs should. [div=50%] <font color="#B94056"><u>Cavaliers? Keys to Victory</u> <ul> [*]Don?t let the likes of Marbury, Crawford and Francis get into a scoring rhythm. If they do, it could be curtains for the Cavs. [*]Get LeBron James going. If he has a solid performance, the Cavs are very difficult to beat. He should be able to have a more than solid performance against the Knicks. [*]Play through Zydrunas Ilgauskas. When in form, he is a fantastic talent, capable of winning a game for the team. Whilst he is in a slight slump, the only way to get out of it is to fight through it, which means putting the ball in his hands fairly often. [/list] </font> [/div] <font color="#E86E32"><u>Knicks? Keys to Victory</u> <ul> [*]Contain LeBron James. As per usual, the opposing team has to try to stop LeBron, for he can, and usually does, win the game for the Cavaliers. [*]Send the Cavaliers to the free throw line. Their shooting is improving, but it is still sub-par, and this could be the key for any team to be victorious over the Cavs. [*]Force the Cavaliers to shoot from the outside. They can be awful when shooting the three and, with a bit of luck, this could spell trouble for the Cleveland-based team. [/list] </font> <u>Prediction</u> In the 12 times the two teams have met since LeBron?s induction to the League in 2003, the Cavaliers have won 7 times whilst the Knicks have won 5 times. The average score of these games is 95-91 to the Cavaliers. The phenom LeBron averages 23-6-6 against the Knicks, yet has missed two of the twelve meetings. I predict a strong Cavaliers win, as they should be far too hot for the Knicks to handle. <font color="#E86E32">87</font>- <font color="#B94056">99</font>
Nice preview, Chingy. I think the Knicks will take this one. They haven't played too bad on the road this year and should be irked about losing to the Bulls after some dumb 4th quarter mistakes.
That showboat AND1 style dunk Nate Robinson tried to make was the highlight of this game. His missed too. Isiah should bench him till all-star break for his antics. IT would have been a easy two points. I would have laughed if the Cavs won this game by 2. The Knicks were fortunate to come out on top on this one.
