Cavaliers @ Rockets (ESPN) <div align="center"> <font color="DarkRed">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> (23-34) @ <font color="red">Houston Rockets</font> (32-24)</div> Wednesday, Feb. 25, 9:00 pm Eastern Toyota Center, Houston TV: ESPN Vegas Line: Check back gameday Previous Game Hornets 100 @ Cavaliers 104 Rockets 77 @ Spurs 86 Head Coaches Paul Silas/Jeff Van Gundy Probable Starters Jeff McInnis/Steve Francis LeBron James/Cuttino Mobley Ira Newble/Jim Jackson Carlos Boozer/Kelvin Cato Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Yao Ming 6th Men Jason Kapono/Eric Piatkowski Injury Update Cavaliers Ruben Boumtje Boumtje J.R. Bremer DeSagana Diop - out (ankle) Rockets Mike Wilks <div align="center">Players To Watch LeBron James/Yao Ming James: 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.46 steals Ming: 16.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.78 blocks</div> Keys To The Game <u>Cavaliers</u> Zone, keep Ming out of the paint Double team Ming Stop Francis' transition game Box out run fast breaks as much as possible Attack the basket, make freethrows, run the floor and don't turn the ball over <u>Rockets</u> Box out on Z and Boozer Run the break with Francis Double Ilgauskas Play that shadow defense on LeBron, get him out of the ball game Zone, the Cavs killer Infante's Take 1st home game for the Rockets in a couple weeks. They just came out of a loss against the Spurs and will look to redeem themselves tonight. Look for a great Yao vs Z matchup tonight. The outcome of how the two play will determne the game. Lots of question's will be asked here. Can the Cav's continue a winning streak? Can the Cavs beat playoff teams on the road? Was Kapono's 19 pt 5/5 game just a fluke? We will see 9 o'clock on ESPN. My take is the Cavs of course by 4 in free throw mahem. <font size="1">Please visit NBA.com</font>
Great preview bro! Rockets never blow anoyone out with their streaky shooting and slopply ball handling. The Cavs must continue to take care of the basketball and attack the basket. I'll call a tossup right now, not too sold we can make this a 4 game winning streak. PS: JJ will be on LeBron I bet. After taking melo all out of his game earlier in the season I am sure he would look to take LeBron out of his.
I say cavs by 6, Houstin must be fatigued with that triple out game and a game vs the spurs the day before they vs the cavs. I hope Jeff can play the way he has been playin for the last 3 games. I look for lebron to have a huge game. Jim Cant guard him.
Nice preview Infante. I think the Cavs have a good shot in this one. Houston plays a similar style to San Antonio, and the Cavs matched up well with the Spurs last week. Z should be able to control Yao to some degree since Yao isn't very fleet of foot. I think if Z gets physical with Yao he can throw him off his game. The key for the Cavs, as always, will be to guard the 3 point line. We have to keep guys like Mobley and Piatkowski from getting hot and opening up the inside for Yao and Cato. Cato vs. Boozer scares me since Cato has a nice size adavantage and Boozer tends to get thrown off his game when opposing PF's body him up. If Lebron keeps being aggressive and Z does the same, I think the Cavs have a great shot at pulling this one out. Cavs by 4.
Cavs by 5, since they are on a streak and I think they got a good feeling now so they could win this one.
We're catching them at an oportune time. They lost to the Mavs and the Spurs. It took them 3 OT's to beat Atlanta. This will be their 4th game in 5 days and their butts are sure to be dragging a little.
You guys are making me a believer Z must attack Yao, but problem is, usually Z likes to body other players, he can't really do that to Yao. Hope he can feel that jump shot again.
Wow! Looky here. Another National TV game. Cavs in a blow out. 108-90. I'm going out on a limb here. Kapono is no fluke. He'll drop a few more 3 bombs. They're on a roll.
I think Cleveland can win this game. I would let Francis get his and concentrate on Ming. On that note, Mobley is more likely to be a disrupting factor than Francis because when Mobley is on, he does it on both ends of the floor (unlike Stevie). Cavs by 5.
Big game from Boozer tonight. Kapono will throw out a 15 point night as well. Lebron will do his usual, nothing special. Cavs by 3 if they play normal. Cavs by 12 if they play like they did in the last three games(especially now that we know Kapono can play D too!) Burn
The Cav's need all the wins they can get. That makes every game for them very important. I think the Cav's will be able to step there game up and win this one. Cav's by 7.
Nice preview Mr. Infante! I think with Houston's size, Desagana Diop is gonna play some big minutes. If he can give us even just a little offense to go with his shot blocking and rebounding ability, we will come out on top. It always seems like one of our bench players has a good game to put us over the top, so I'm pickin Diop. He likes to shoot the jumper as well, and that will bring Yao out of the paint and open it up for the guards. We also need someone to hit some outside jumpers! Can Kapono get some minutes??
Playoffs We need this game against the Rockets. Whats more, the next three games are extreemly crucial. We've gotta find a way to come up winners against the Heat, Bulls and the Hawks. We are the 9th seed in the East right now 1 1/2 gms behind Miami, and they've got a relatively easy schedule next month. After those three games, 10 of our next 13 games are against teams already in the playoffs or fighting to get in. Repeat after me..............We're gonna beat Huston tonight and the next three games are "Must Wins"!!.... Just how I see it...............Tank
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Kapono becomes the 6th man already?</div> He is going to be closely looked at by many of us tonight.
good interesting post fellas, I am really impressed. I believe that this is a winnable game for us for a couple of reasons...for one houston is probably tired. the other night they goto 3 ots w/ atl and then they played up state in san antonio. We should be able to play them pretty tough, but we have to remember to PLAY D. That will be the key to this game. To beat the zone u have to have an outside threat, and although I felt that juanny could've been that man, I see that kapono is the real deal. On the Silas show he said that he would get kapono more involved and so far we see he is well capable of playing. What impressed me the most was not his shooting because when he came here we knew he could shoot, but it was his defense that was the most impressive. He hung with his man, got steals and was aggressive on the boards!! Thats what earned him the start in the second half. If mcginnis can contain franchise tonight we will be fine. With Z's confidence soaring I think he should be able to do a good job on Yao....CAVALIERS BY 8!! Believe fellas, Believe, the Cavs do....what about you? p.s i would love a avatar mr infante can u let me know how I can be down?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting thajuiceman:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice preview Mr. Infante! I think with Houston's size, Desagana Diop is gonna play some big minutes. If he can give us even just a little offense to go with his shot blocking and rebounding ability, we will come out on top. It always seems like one of our bench players has a good game to put us over the top, so I'm pickin Diop. He likes to shoot the jumper as well, and that will bring Yao out of the paint and open it up for the guards. We also need someone to hit some outside jumpers! Can Kapono get some minutes??</div> Just quietly I dont see Diop being a factor tonight!!! Boozer I think prefers playing the more physical guys like Cato. He has the footspeed on them, and through this get good position! Francis will shoot the ball. What we need to do is make the shots low percentage! Mobley is the key to me. Cannot stand off him. Make him score off the dribble. Z must attack Ming. For being 7'5, he's not a good shot blocker! Jackson to me is the x-factor. if we can limit his scoring, it puts more pressure on Francis to force shots.
I think Z is better than Yao, he just has to play like it. McInnis has to play tough on Francis, and we can't let Jackson shoot open jumpers. On the other side, JJ will most likely guard James. I think LeBron still has a chance for a good game, just not a great one with Jackson guarding him. We'll get to see what Kapono does after that great game against the Hornets. Let's keep it going Jason.
