Cavs vs. Knicks Preview! New York Knicks (2-4) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (1-5) Monday, Nov. 10, 7:00 EST Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH TV: Local Previous Game Knicks 87 @ Bucks 90 Wizards 98 @ Cavs 111 Head Coaches Paul Silas/Don Chaney Probable Starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Dikembe Mutombo Carlos Boozer/Kurt Thomas Darius Miles/Keith Van Horn Ricky Davis/Allan Houston LeBron James/Charlie Ward Injury Lists Cleveland Cavaliers Dajuan Wagner Bruno Sundov New York Knicks Antonio McDyess Maciej Lampe Slavko Vranes Keys To The Game Cleveland - The Cavs finally put it all together against the Wizards, they attacked the rim, played great aggressive defense, and put the game away in the 4th quarter. The key here is simple, stop Allan Houston, who loves to use screens to free himself for open shots, so a team effort is needed to fight through them to keep a hand in his face at all times. Miles must keep up this aggressive play, it would tire Keith Van Horn, the Knicks 2nd leading scorer, and force the rest if the team to pick up the slack..which can be ugly. If I'm the Cavs I might flirt with a small lineup during the game when Mutombo is in by putting Boozer at center, see if they can run the Knicks out of the Gund. New York - I try to get Allan off in this one, the Cavs have lots of size and athleticism across the roster, so solid screen and rolls will need to be executed. Both Houston and Van Horn need to make shots and stay warm, while the rest of the team scraps for loose balls and boxes out. I would use a zone defense and force the Cavs to see if they are still warm from outside. The King's Take I was the only one here to predict the win against the Wizards, and I will call another win for the Cavs here. The Knicks as a team don't shoot the ball well, and the Cavs are a solid rebounding team. The Cavs have looked so good their last 2 games, are hot, and getting more cocky & confident. I just think that with playing at the Gund will be too much for the Knicks to overcome. Cavs win!
I agree, the key to the game is stopping Houston, cos when he gets hot the Knicks generally win, and he is super-dangerous. Bron's gonna cause some match-up problems here though - Ward and Williams are too small and Houston and Van Horn are both poor defenders. Spree was easily their best perimeter defender and he's gone now, I can't see them shutting down the Cav's backcourt
Guarding Houston is the real key here as mentioned...Houston played an amazing game against the Kings on friday night.If you give him open looks he will knock the shots down with ease.Not letting Van Horn get going early is a must for the Cavs also As when those two are on form the Knicks are a tough team to beat.
You know, with that kind of lineup, I think you should be a contender in the East. How did you only win one game so far? Anyway, that brings me to my next point, the Knicks don't have enough defense to contain this exciting team, Cavs should take it. Miles should have a huge game. Predicted Score: Cavs - 91 Knicks - 87
King, once again you've shown what JBB is all about. Good job with the preview. I too think that the Cavs are going to take this one and I think that twolvefan11 is right in saying that the Cavs have a good line-up. I think that they're going to start cligking more and more and we'll be seeing more "W"s in the near future. James is going to be a nightmare for many point guards in the league and this is just the start.
Loads of talent on the Cav's. Next year and the years after should be just plain scary to the rest of the East. A reshifting of power perhaps eventually? Silas sure got himself a nice job didn't he.
Nice preview King .. gotta go with Cavs in this one ! <div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">New York Knicks (2-4) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (1-5) Monday, Nov. 10, 7:00 EST Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH <u>TV: Local</u> !</div> I'll be watching the game on Sportsnet Ontario .. so I don't think it's just local
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">James perimeter shots beat Knicks LeBron James took his game outside, and he wasn't cold at all. James scored 17 points -- all on jumpers beyond 16 feet -- and Chris Mihm had 19, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 94-80 win Monday night over the listless New York Knicks. The one rap on James was that the rookie couldn't shoot from the perimeter, but the 6-foot-8 point guard showed nice range in draining seven outside shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts. "Every day in practice I go into the gym and I hear those voices that say I can't shoot," said James, who came in just 2-for-12 on 3-pointers. "I just keep working at it. I know they're going to fall for me, and tonight they did." James didn't attempt his first shot that wasn't a jumper until he missed a finger roll from 4 feet with 3:09 remaining. Since training camp opened, James has spent extra time working on a flawed outside shot that looks better with nearly every attempt. He's no longer fading backward, a bad habit he developed in high school, and his shot has gotten softer. "This didn't happen by chance," Cavs coach Paul Silas said. "We've worked on it, and he's willing to put the time in. " James swished his first four jumpers -- two 3-pointers -- as the Cavaliers bolted to a 13-0 lead before building a 22-point lead in the first half. Ricky Davis added 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in just three quarters for the Cavaliers, who have won two straight following an 0-5 start. Carlos Boozer had 15 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 13 for Cleveland, which only won two straight once all last season when it went an NBA-worst 17-65. "Everybody is so focused right now, it's like I'm back in high school," James said. "Everybody is getting the shots they want and they're falling for us." Allan Houston scored 22 points on 9-of-25 shooting and Kurt Thomas had 14 points for the Knicks, who have dropped five in a row to Cleveland and nine of their last 10 at Gund Arena. Knicks coach Don Chaney was upset with his team's defensive effort. "We played scared," he said. "We respected their speed too much and we didn't get into guarding guys. We played afraid and I don't know why." Houston, averaging 31 points in his last four games, scored the Knicks' final seven points as New York closed the third quarter with a 17-7 run to pull to 74-65. But after missing nine straight shots, the Cavaliers finally found their stroke as James hit three more jumpers, the final one a 3-pointer from the right wing to cap an 11-2 run that put the Knicks away. "This was just horrible, one of the worst," Houston said. "You should never come out and go through the motions, and that's what we did." From the moment James hit his first jumper -- a 17-footer -- it was the Cavaliers' night. Cleveland scored 13 straight to open the game as the Knicks missed their first six shots from the floor. After a monstrous slam dunk by Davis made it 11-0, the Knicks called a timeout and James walked to the middle of the floor flexing his muscles and screaming, "Let's go!" to the crowd. On the Knicks' bench, Chaney was yelling at his players, who didn't get out quickly enough to contest wide-open looks for James. "I think LeBron will be a great shooter, but I think I could make a couple of shots if nobody is in my face," Chaney said. "To me, that's what happened tonight, we had nobody in anybody's face." The Cavaliers shot 68 percent in the opening period to take a 32-20 lead. Silas rested his starters for much of the second quarter, but the Cavs, who have four games this week, were still able to push their lead to 22 before the Knicks cut it to 17 at halftime.</div> Full Story Box Score
THe cavs have won another game, but this time it's back to back game. Lebron dropping 17 points from jumpers is just bananas. Everyone played a wonderful game that night. Keep up and lets get another w for your fans out there.
Ok this kid is going to be scary if he can address all of his weaknesses this quickly. That is the mark of a champion. I'm impressed with his commitment to improve his shot even more than I am with the win.
