This game sees the 1-1 Cleveland Cavaliers take on the 2-0 New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena. Cleveland Cavaliers C Zydrunas Ilgauskas PF Ben Wallace SF LeBron James SG Delonte West PG Mo Williams Key Bench Players: Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, Wally Szczerbiak, Sasha Pavlovic @ C Hilton Armstrong PF David West SF Peja Stojakovic SG Mo Peterson PG Chris Paul Key Bench Players: James Posey, Melvyn Ely, Rasual Butler New Orleans Hornets Key Matchup: SF - LeBron James v James Posey Peja Stojakovic is listed as questionnable for tonight's game, but even if he does play I would not be surprised if Posey gets huge minutes at the SF, perhaps sliding to PF as and when LeBron James does. Posey showed in the Playoffs last year that he is capable of defending LeBron James, and if he can really throw a spanner in the works tonight the Hornets might actually win relatively easily. LeBron is arguably due a big game after a couple of slightly sub-par performances (albeit he only played 30 minutes against the Bobcats) and Posey is probably the only player the Hornets have who could contain him for long periods of time. Cavaliers' Keys to Victory Control the tempo - the Cavs should still run on occasion tonight; a quick change of tempo could be devastating, but for the majority of the game they ought to keep the tempo down. If they can make the game a half court one, they stand a good chance of leaving New Orleans with a W. Crash the boards - the Hornets are a very good shooting team; they attempt a lot, but have a really good percentage from all over the court. It is therefore essential that the Cavs grab all the rebounds they can to limit second chance opportunities, else they will be severely punished. Make jumpshots - a lot of focus from the Hornets will be put on LeBron. The Cavs will have to count on probably 30 points from their leader, but they can help him by hitting the open jumpshots that they will get over the course of the game. This is a shout out to Gibson, Williams, Pavlovic, Szczerbiak, West and Ilgauskas who are all in the side to make these shots, but often don't. If as a group they can shoot even above 50%, the Cavs will be in a really good situation. Don't suffer from third-quarter-itis - the Cavs often come out after half time and just collapse in the third, leaving them with a lot to do in the fourth. Against teams like the Bobcats they can get away with this, but if they do it tonight, the Hornets will win comfortably. Hornets' Keys to Victory Contain LeBron - LeBron has the potential to come up big tonight, despite his relatively poor averages against the Hornets. LeBron averages 24.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists against the Hornets - all inside the bottom 10 for him against NBA teams. Now the Hornets have added Posey to their ranks, LeBron could struggle even more. If the Hornets can indeed contain him, I can't see the rest of the team stepping up enough to win a game against opposition as strong as the Hornets. Run - the Cavs have looked good whilst running on offense so far this season, but they are a long way short of being able to match up against the Hornets in a fast-flowing game. If the Hornets control the tempo, they ought to win. Get Chris Paul going - Chris Paul is the type of player who can change a loss into a win by himself, with scoring, assists and good defense. He is one of LeBron's main MVP rivals and will need to go toe-to-toe with the Cavalier every inch of the way tonight if the Hornets are to win. Prediction The Cavs are 8-4 against the Hornets since they selected LeBron at #1 in the 2003 Draft and average 95.3 points per game to the Hornets' 92.5, but they are 1-3 over the past two seasons. As much as I'd love to say that the Cavs will buck this trend tonight, I just can't say that they will. I'll think they'll manage to push the Hornets all the way, but unless LeBron pulls a truly memorable performance from his bag of tricks, I don't think the Cavs can win. 97-99
