Cavaliers @ Hornets Preview <div align="center"> <font color="DarkRed">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> (25-36) @ <font color="MediumTurquoise">New Orleans Hornets</font> (33-28)</div> Friday, Mar. 5, 8:00 pm Eastern New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA TV: WUAB, NBALP Vegas Line: Check back gameday Season Series: Cavaliers 2, Hornets 1 11.26.03 Cavaliers 72 @ Hornets 82 12.23.03 Hornets 86 @ Cavaliers 97 02.23.04 Hornets 100 @ Cavaliers 104 Previous Game Hawks 80 @ Cavaliers 112 Bulls 97 @ Hornets 100 Last 10 Games Cleveland: 6-4 (Won 1) New Orleans: 6-4 (Won 1) Head Coaches Paul Silas/Tim Floyd Probable Starters Jeff McInnis/Baron Davis LeBron James/David Wesley Eric Williams/Jamal Mashburn Carlos Boozer/P.J. Brown Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Jamaal Magloire 6th Men Tony Battie/Stacey Augmon Injury Update Cavaliers Ruben Boumtje Boumtje Kedrick Brown Hornets Courtney Alexander Bryce Drew <div align="center">Players To Watch LeBron James/Jamal Mashburn James: 20.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.53 steals Mashburn: 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists</div> Keys To The Game <u>Cavaliers</u> Defend perimeter Contain B-Diddy, keep him out of the lane/hand in face Feed Ilgauskas & s p r e a d the floor LeBron, drive, all night Attack the basket, make freethrows, run the floor and don't turn the ball over <u>Hornets</u> Isolate B-Diddy/Mashburn Must box out on both ends Double Ilgauskas, make him find the open guy Play that shadow defense on LeBron, get him out of the ball game Spread the floor, attack the basket, you know the drill The King's Take What an amazing game we had last time these 2 teams faced off. The star was Jason Kapono as he had a career night in sparking the Cavs who came back from 25 points down to win. The Hornets then were without Cavalier killer David Wesley, who will only be a thorn in our side because of our lack of perimeter defense. When healthy this Hornet team is very good and should beat us, the key to winning however is to take it to them, limit our turnovers, and just make every deep shot thay take one with a hand in their face. I would love to show the faith here fellas, but I must go with the Hornets in this one, by 7. <font size="1">Please visit NBA.com</font>
Cavs by 10+, we're realizing we've gotta bring it every night. This Nailon character just might make an impact, even though he won't be here come playoff time. The Ho-nets are gonna be mad about the last meeting we had, but to no avail. Cavaliers 101 Hornets 89
Well, we are not biased here Bucks-Pacers One thing you can count on with the Hornets, they keep everything close, with the Cavs on the other hand, it's not rare to expect a bad 2nd half. Despite that we have played them well, though they have not been at full strength either.
Cavs are hot now I think, just check out the Hawks game result Cavs by 9, in overtime with Booz and LBJ as clutch players.
If the Ca's can keep their intensity going into this game they should be able to win. If they don't though it will be very close. The Cav's need to have a couple hot players so they can't double team James, Booz, or Z. If Z and Boozer can control the boards, which I don't see them having a problem with, the Cav's should win. Cav's by 7
I give you guys some credit for being confident, though it is a game that we by no means "should" win. Big thing I will be watching is the 3 ball and our turnovers.
Haven't said that this one is a game Cavs should win, but I think they will sureprise and win. Yeah, they almost lost to Bulls last night, but Monster-Mash took two threepointers on the last 30 seconds and got the buzzer-beater and everything. The rest of the game, Bulls was good and hold the lead long, but at the ending they got beaten, but Cavs won't.
I say Hornets by 6! For us to win, we need to dominate inside as we did against the Hawks. They will kill us from the outside, so we need to be good in other area like rebounding and ball control. In we hustle in defense we can get some cheap ball. Players like Z and James need to be better then their opponent for us to be any hope! We do have an oppotunity, but my head say Hornets!
We can beat them inside that's for sure. I think it comes down to how well we defend Mashburn and Davis. I would actually like for Bron to D up mashburn. I really think he can shut off the passing lanes to Mashburn so atleast he doesn't get the ball as much. Let magloire take some longer shots along with some of the other guys, until they can prove to knock them down.
Z really shut down Magloire last game! He and Boozer need to keep Magloire, Brown, West and Traylor off the offensive boards! Nailon would know these players games well and could be quite valuable tomorrow! They have a small backcourt which means no mismatch problems for Wags. LeBron will have a tough night finding Wesley. He moves so well of the ball for open jumpers!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting insshc:</div><div class="quote_post">will we see kapono? =]</div> I dont think we'll see much of Kapono this time! Unless of course we are being blown out by 20 after the first! The signing of Nailon really eats into those bench minutes. Kapono will only see spot minutes from now on! I just hope Williams/Nailon can contain Mash!
Cavs are feeling good about themselves right now. It's going to be a good one. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I would actually like for Bron to D up mashburn.</div> Naw I would keep Bron on D. Wes for the fact that the height differential should be a factor. As long as LeBron contests Wesley's jumpshots, then he wont get hot. E-Dub will do just fine defending Mash.
The Cavaliers may be feeling good, but remember they are on a roller coaster ride! Who knows when they are going to go down again??? I'm over predicting how this team will perform.
I'm not very confident about this one. Davis and Mashburn killed us in the first half of the last game, and now that Wesley is back, they have yet another legit outside threat that we have to worry about. PJ Brown presents a difficult matchup for Boozer because he can step outside and knock shots down. No doubt the Hornets will be fired up after their debacle in Cleveland two weeks back, so the Cavs need to come out strong early and take advantage of Z in the low post and get Lebron into the game early offensively. McInnis, Williams, Kapono, or Lebron have to hit outside shots to keep the Hornets out of a zone. The Cavs have been up and down as of late, and we seem to play the Hornets very well. However, I have a bad feeling about this one. Hornets by 5.
We can only hope Wesley still has plenty of rust in the system and has an off night! Mash to me is the key! Some games he'll struggle to 10-15 points, while others he'll explode with 30! If we can keep him to the former, and force some turnovers out of Davis we can snatch one. But there are alot of if's for a Cavalier victory! <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Cavs haven't won a road game against the Hornets since an 87-77 victory on Feb. 10, 1999, when the Hornets played in Charlotte.</div> OUCH! <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">New Orleans coach Tim Floyd used a starting lineup of Gs Baron Davis and David Wesley, Fs Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown and C Jamaal Magloire for the first time this season. They combined for all but six of their points. </div> Shows that we are in for a tough night!
Nice preview as always, I think Lebron and Baron will go head to head, but Baron will get the better, Hornets win by 7+
Baron will get his!!! We need to force turnovers from him and get a low fg% Stop Mash, Wesley from being +20 point scorers! Get Brown and Magloire off the boards! Brown with his 15-17 footers do hurt us!
