Cavs @ Pacers Preview! Cleveland (0-4) @ Indiana (4-1) Friday, Nov. 7, 7:30 EST Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN TV: Local Previous Game Nuggets 93 @ Cavs 89 Pacers 87 @ Nets 81 Head Coaches Paul Silas/Rick Carlisle Probable Starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Jeff Foster Carlos Boozer/Jermaine O'Neal Darius Miles/Ron Artest Ricky Davis/Reggie Miller LeBron James/Kenny Anderson Injury Lists Cleveland Cavaliers Dajuan Wagner Ira Newble Bruno Sundov Indiana Pacers James Jones Jamison Brewer Jonathan Bender Keys To The Game Cleveland - What else is new? TO's, not driving to the basket, and not getting LeBron touches spells doom for the Cavaliers. The Cavs must double team Jermaine O'Neal on every possession and not allow him to bust out. O'Neal is just coming off of a monster game where he feels that he still is not getting the ball where he wants. Get LeBron and Big Z more touches, bottom line, end of story. Indiana - LeBron James is the key to Cleveland's success, win or lose. So what do I do about that if I am Indiana? Ron Artest. I would play Ron on LeBron right from the start and not allow him to get comfortable. I force Miles and Davis to have to take care of the majority of the ball handling, thus taking advantage of their sloppy play that is bound to take place. Jermaine O'Neal is hitting his groove so I give him the ball and get the hell out of the way. The King's Take Pacers are taking this one unless NJ does a number on them and they happen to overlook the Cavs a bit..hard to imagine with the winless LeBron James show in town. Ron Artest has the chance to shut down Melo and Bron the same week, I bet he is looking forward to it. Pacers by double figures.
Can't see the Cavs getting their first win here. Bron's coming off two bad shooting games and the last thing he'll want now is to face Artest. JO's hot and I think he'll be much too agile for Boozer and Z on the low block. Pacers by 13
Pacers took out the Nets, and are playing outsanding basketball. I give all the credit to Larry Bird.
Cavs had a few chances to win this one, but the refs did not give the young Cavs respect in the final moments of this game. Artest drew a foul for a 3 point play on one end, then James drives the lane on the other end, O'Neal clobbers him and there is no call. Cavs did get the ball back however, Diop was short on a hookshot that would have gave the Cavs the win. The Cavs have not played bad this season, they are shooting about 45% as a team, and right there in the 4th quarter of these games, they just can't get it done. The cavs made it closer in this game because they cut back on their turnovers, where coming into the game they were putting up 18 turnovers a game. DeSagana Diop played a great game for the Cavs off the bench, scoring 8 points and blocking 5 shots. LeBron James had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a 3. Carlos Boozer continued his amazing play by putting up 20 and 9, on 10-16 shooting. Cavs: 0-5 Pacers: 5-1
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Ron Artest wasn't about to let a rookie steal a win over his Indiana Pacers -- even if it was LeBron James. Artest's three-point play with 11 seconds left lifted the Indiana Pacers to a 91-90 victory over James and the winless Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. "That's the main thing, to hit the ones that count," Artest said. Artest's play brought the sellout crowd to its feet and spoiled a strong performance by James, who missed a driving layup with five seconds to go and then a putback as time expired. That allowed the lethargic Pacers to escape with a win, one night after grinding out an emotional victory in New Jersey. "I thought our team was emotionally and physically tired and just found a way to hang in there," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. James finished with 23 points -- two short of his career high -- and had five rebounds, but turned the ball over seven times in the loss. Despite missing two shots to win the game, the rookie's athletic ability left a big impression on the Pacers. "He's a tremendous young player," Carlisle said. "Some of the things he's doing are breathtaking."</div> Full Story Box Score
Thats too bad...0-5 start. I'm pulling for these guys to get a win...I wonder how long this winless streak will last.
Not long, its not like they are the Tigers, Clippers, or have even played like Orlando that has a win. Overall I am impressed with how they have played only looking bad once.
