<div align="center"> @ <font color="Navy">New Jersey Nets</font>(5-12) @ <font color="DarkRed">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> (11-6) Time: Dec. 7, 2004;7:00pm Arena: <font color="DarkRed">Gund Arena</font> TV: Yes Network, NBATV</div> Preview: The 11-6 Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the Eastern Conference's suprise teams this year. The Cavs have won 7 of their last 10, including two in a row against Denver and Toronto. Everyone expected Lebron James to improve on what was an extremely impressive rookie season. But the suprise of the Cavs has been the play of their supporting cast. Getting a career year from point guard Jeff Mcinnis, along with solid output from offseason pickup Drew Gooden.And veteran Center Zydrunas llgauskas, the Cavs are currently sitting amougst the top of the weak Eastern Conference(2nd overall in the East). The Cavs look to extend their win streak to 3-games as they visit the Swamps of Jersey. The Nets are on the other end of the spectrum compared to the Cavs, currently sitting toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the Nets are just trying to fight their way out of an early hole they dug themselves. And get back into the hunt in the East. The return of Jason Kidd ,last night, will certainly aid them in their quest back to the top of the Atlantic. Along with the retun of Kidd the won their 2nd straight game, 88-86 over the Raptors. And look to slow down the upstart Cavs. And win three in a row for the 1st time this season. <u>Projected Starting 5 </u> <font color="Navy">Nets:</font> PG: Jason Kidd SG: Richard Jefferson SF: Eric Williams PF: Jason Collins C: Alonzo Mourning <font color="DarkRed">Cavs</font> PG: Jeff McInnis SG: Ira Newble SF: Lebron James PF: Drew Gooden C: Zydrunas llgauskas ---------------------- <div align="center"><u>Players To Watch</u> <font color="Navy">Jason Kidd(Nets)</font> / <font color="DarkRed">Lebron James (Cavs)</font></div> A Couple kidds Shall Lead Them Last night, Jason Kidd looked overall solid in his return. Kidd's ball handling looked a bit rusty but he shot the ball well from the field 4-6. And made a huge jumper in the late seconds of the Nets win over Toronto to tie the game at 84. Kidd's minutes were limited as expected, only playing 20 minutes. But the Nets were just happy to have their floor general back to lead them. Kidd's minutes will once again be limited tonight, probably in the same 20-25 minute mark depending on the flow of the game. Tonight's matchup will be more of a test on Kidd's conditioning, seeing as it is the 2nd game of a back to back. And the Cavaliers are a team that likes to push the ball when given the opportunity. A matchup against Jeff McInnis, who like to get into the lane & mid-range area to pull off his specialty, those running floaters, should be a good test for Kidd in just his 2nd game back. With Kidds return out of the way, another Kid probably will take the headline marquee. Every Time Lebron steps on the court, he is an instant main attraction. And for fans of the 19-year old NBa sophmore, everytime he steps on the court he never seems to dissappoint. James has made statical improvements on points, assist, & rebounds from his rookie of the year output. And has shown more leadership skills, as well. James will be matchup with former teammate Eric Williams for most of the night. But expect to see James & Nets' Richard Jefferson square off from time to time. A matchup that is exciting to any NBA fan. ---------------- <div align="center"><u>Game Side Notes </u> </div> Reunion Party: This is the 1st appearance against Jersey for former Net, Shooting Guard Lucious Harris. Harris spent 7 season with the Nets. And was a key bench player for the Nets last 3 playoff teams. Harris has had his struggles in a Cavs uniform this season, averaging just a shade over 4ppg, his lowest output since 97. Nets' Small Forward Eric Williams will also be facing his former team. Williams doesnt have the history with the Cavaliers that Harris has with the Nets. But Williams, who played less then a full season with the Cavs, was looked at as a mentor for alot of their younger guys. ------------ <div align="center"><font color="DarkRed"><u>Keys To the Game Cavs</u></font></div> <font color="DarkRed">Cleveland needs to Establish their frontcourt guys.</font> Drew Gooden & Big Z can have alot of success against this Nets frontline if established into the game early. Collins has an extremely hard time keeping up with athleitc 4's like Drew Gooden. And Alonzo Mourning has had a hard time staying out of foul trouble when opponents establish their Centers pressence down low. This is the type of game Gooden and Z can get the Nets starting frontline into alot of foul trouble. And once you get Zo out the game the Nets dont have much in the interior offensively or defensively. <font color="DarkRed">Transition Defense</font> With Kidd back into the saddle the Nets will once again look to establish their open court style of play. That means that the Cavs ablity to get back on defense should be tested tonight. The Cavs cant fall asleep thinking this is the same slow it down walk it up team that they have watched highlights of so far this season. <font color="DarkRed">Make Open Shots</font> There is no doubt the Nets defense will be key in on Lebron James, that means guys like Eric Snow Lucious Harris, even Jeff MciNnis will have good looks from the outside alot tonight. Eric Williams will guard James straight from time to time but the Nets will use the double when they see fit. Also last season, the Nets were very effective using their Zone against the Cavs, so they will probably use that as an option as well. It will put more imphasis on the Cavs to make the perimeter shot. <div align="center"><u><font color="Navy">Keys To the Game Nets</font></u></div> <font color="Navy">Balance will be Key</font>. As usual we should be able to expect a strong output from Richard Jefferson, even with a solid defender like Ira Newble covering him. But a Nets victory will come down to what they get from the other guys. The Nets bench had back to back solid performances against the Hawks (45 bench points in the game for Jersey) & Toronto (24pts..). Now its all about establishing some consistency from that bench, guys like Best, Buford & Scalabrine, as well as Krstic. <font color="Navy">The Return Of The Transition Game</font> Last Night the Transition game was a bit sloppy, the Turnovers were high. But the effort to push the ball was there with the return of Kidd, something we really didnt see with Best & Planinic at the point. The Nets need to & should continue to be aggressive at pushing the ball in the open court when given the opportunity. The Nets got to force a little tempo in their favor, the slow walk it style they have been playing for the most part is in-effective because they dont have that many half-court options. <font color="Navy">2nd chance points</font> is still the major key for this Nets team. The Nets had 19 offensive rebounds, which led to 15 2nd chance points last night vs Toronto, none bigger then the offensive Board by Zo with 8 seconds left that led to the game winner by Jefferson. So the Nets definately need Collins & Mourning along with Scalabrine & Krstic off the bench, working hard to keep possesions alive for the Nets on the back boards. -------- <u>Closing Statements</u> This is a difficult game for the Nets, but hopefully we can ride the momentum of last night & carry it over to tonights matchup. Defensively I would say, make James a scorer instead of a playmaker. If James gets his 20plus we can live with that as long as we make him take difficult shots and a bulk of shots. The thing we have to do is take away his ablity to make the rest of those guys better. We cant let James get off & then let McInnis, Gooden & Z get 15 to 20pts a pieace as well. If we get this one I think it will be the biggest victory we had so far this season, giving the circumstances. Our 1st three game win-streak and the Hornets coming up on the schedule. This would be our 1st real chance to establish something this season.
Tonight is Lucious Harris's revenge time, his last 3-pointer let Cav lead Nets 103:97, and steal Jefferson's pass. Nets couldn't strike back. Kidd's three-pointer is more better, made 3 of 5.
This was a difficult lose for the Nets because they played well for the most part. They got solid production from Collins at the 4 and Mourning played well early as well. But he struggled in the 2nd half to get his shot off against the size of Zydrunas. But Gooden & Z really played well for the Cavs. They did exactly what Collins & Mourning did for the Nets last night against the Raptors. Z & Gooden created alot of 2nd chance points for the Cavs with their offensive board work. The Jefferson & James matchup was a good one to watch. They really went back & forth for most of the night. But James got the best of the battle toward the end. He made alot of key 4th quarter plays to propell the Cavs to the win. Jefferson try to hang in their but struggled a bit down the stretch. Maybe because of the back to back situation. A key play in the game was the turnover in the 4th where, Jeff try to make the difficult cross court pass to kidd. He probably should have settled for the simple 5 foot pass to Collins, especially since Collins man was the one dropping down to Double. But Richard probably just didnt trust Collins in that spot. Anyway, we have some very winnable games coming up with the Hornets & Hawks, so hopefully, we can whip this lose off. And bounce back friday. It will be interesting to see how much loong Kidd's minutes are limited in this 20 minute range, Because despite shooting the ball well from the field. Kidd was never able to really put his foot print in the game because he was in & out so much.
I hope to see the old Kidd back soon. It's really nice to see him on court this couple of games and it's time for him to play bigger part and hope the teams can work well and shoot well against Hornets and Hawks. I can see 2 wins coming for the Nets Go Jason Kidd!
