<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> March 1, 2007 - 8:00 pm ET<span style="color:#FF0000">Game on TNT</span></div><span style="color:#990000">Cleveland Cavaliers</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">(33-24)</span><span style="color:#CC9933">PG</span> <span style="color:#990000">Daniel Gibson</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">SG</span> <span style="color:#990000">Larry Hughes</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">SF</span> <span style="color:#990000">LeBron James</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">PF</span> <span style="color:#990000">Drew Gooden</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">C</span> <span style="color:#990000">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#990000">Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, Sasha Pavlovic, Damon Jones, Scott Pollard</span><span style="color:#000099">Dallas Mavericks</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">(48-9)</span><span style="color:#3333FF">PG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jason Terry</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">SG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Devin Harris</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">SF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">PF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Dirk Nowitzki</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">C</span> <span style="color:#000099">Erick Dampier</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Austin Croshere, Maurice Ager</span> Injury Report<span style="color:#3333FF">DAL:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Devean George will not play (sprained MCL)</span><span style="color:#3333FF">DAL:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Greg Buckner will not play (bruised left knee)</span><span style="color:#3333FF">DAL:</span> <span style="color:#000099">DJ Mbenga is out for season (torn ACL)</span> Who To Watch Out For<span style="color:#990000">LeBron James</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats: 26.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 5.8 apg, 1.6 spg</span><span style="color:#990000">Larry Hughes</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats: 14.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.2 apg</span><span style="color:#990000">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats: 11.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg</span><span style="color:#000099">Dirk Nowitzki</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 25.4 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.4 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 19.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.9 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Jason Terry</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 15.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.3 apg</span> Rookie Watch <span style="color:#CC9933">CLE:</span> <span style="color:#990000">Daniel Gibson</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 42</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#990000">5.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.2 apg</span><span style="color:#CC9933">As A Starter:</span> <span style="color:#990000">8.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.4 apg</span> <span style="color:#CC9933">CLE:</span> <span style="color:#990000">Shannon Brown</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 25</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#990000">2.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg</span> <span style="color:#3333FF">DAL:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Pops Mensah-Bonsu</span><span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: Undrafted</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000099">2.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg</span><span style="color:#990000">Cleveland's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#990000">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</span><span style="color:#CC9933">Season Stats: 11.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg</span><span style="color:#990000">Big Z needs to use his size to his advantage and keep those loose balls away from Dampier. Damp will snatch up every rebound that comes around him if you aren't careful. Z needs to make sure that doesn't happen.</span><span style="color:#000099">Dallas's X-Factor</span><span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Season Stats: 19.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.9 apg</span><span style="color:#000099">Josh has to play excellent defense tonight, especially without George and Buck being able to help him on the assignment: LeBron James.</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#990000">LeBron James</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#000099">Josh Howard</span></div><span style="color:#000000">Two All-Stars going at the 3. Both are very athletic. LeBron is obviously the better player, but Josh Howard has had an outstanding season as well and he makes a giant impact on the game. He needs to bring his A-Game defensively tonight.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes- Dallas is on an 13 game winning streak and they have the best record in the league. CelticBalla's PredictionI'm going with Dallas tonight. They are the better team, they are at home, and they are rolling right now. Cleveland isn't playing as well as they should be as of late. I think if LeBron explodes, it's anybody's ballgame, but unless he kills it out there I think Dallas runs away with it.
Nice Thread, w00t.Hopefully Cleveland can play some good ball, James and Hughes are on the same page, call me crazy, but no one can beat them. Cleveland can't settle for jumpers, we gotta drive to the rim, and play strong. Gonna be very hard to stop these guys, but we can do it. but I honestly feel The Cavs are gonna get out coached big time. Johnson is just gonna pick Mike apart... :no3: BTW-Z's pic is not in the lineup.
Yeah dude, that was freaking crazy. I dont know how he got that off. He brought it so far to the side and low. It was sick!
Lebron's teammates suck balls. I just saw David Wesly blow an open layup of the bottom of the backboard! The Cavs are getting spanked.
Great Game!Cleveland just played well threw the final Q, and we fought. We didn't win, but we hung in there. Missed FT, Missed Lay ups, is it OK if I laughed my ass off on the floor for 10 minutes after Wesley missed a lay up like that? Haha. Yeah well, No Hughes tonight, so that hurt too.
It was a disappointing win by Dallas. They don't have the discipline to play 48 minutes but do enough to get wins. I think Cleveland played smart though by keeping it a half court game and not letting Dallas run that much.
I only watched the first half of this game, to be honest with you. I watched the UNC/Georgia Tech game after that. From what I saw in the first half, LeBron was beasting. He was hitting jumpers, taking it to the rack strong, and he made a couple nice plays in transition. That Dominique-esque slam was unreal! CRAAAZY.But I expected Dallas to win in the end.
