GT: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic Dec 16

bbwchingy0007 · Dec 16, 2006

This game sees the 14-8 Cleveland Cavaliers take on the 15-10 Orlando Magic at the TD Waterhouse Centre.

<div align="center">Cleveland Cavaliers

C Zydrunas Ilgauskas PF Drew Gooden SF LeBron James SG Larry Hughes PG Eric Snow

@

 C Dwight Howard PF Darko Milicic SF Trevor Ariza SG Keyon Dooling PG Carlos Arroyo

Orlando Magic</div>

Key Matchup ? C ? Zydrunas Ilgauskas v Dwight Howard

v
This matchup sees a veteran in Ilgauskas take on an up and coming superstar in Dwight Howard. Howard is so far averaging 17.2 points and 12.6 rebounds per contest, a record which won him the November Player of the Month award for the East, whilst Ilgauskas is averaging 10.2 points and 8 rebounds after a slow start to the season. The main goal for Ilgauskas will be to try to stop Howard from powering his way through the defense, whereas Howard?s goal will be to do just that: power through the Cleveland defense.

Prediction
Since 2003, the Cavaliers and the Magic have met 11 times, with the Cavaliers winning 8 times. The Cavs average 102.5ppg whilst the Magic average 99.2ppg. Last season, however, the Cavaliers suffered an almighty 29 point loss, as the Magic scored 102 points and contained the Cavaliers to 73. This, however, does not look like it should repeat itself. LeBron James averages 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists against the Magic. The Cavaliers, as a team, are on a 19 game winning streak when they score 100 or more points, so, if they can score over 100, the Magic are in serious trouble. My prediction is that the power of Howard will shine through, and the Magic will take the game.

92-98