<table class="gamePreview" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="center" colspan="2"> <p align="center"><font face="Verdana">January 11 @ 7:30pm EST Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH FSN Ohio, News 14 Carolina</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="Home"> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Cleveland Cavaliers (18-18)</font></p> </p> </td> <td class="Road"> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font color="#F15A30" face="Verdana">Charlotte Bobcats (13-21)</font></p> </p> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4 align="center"><font face="Verdana">Projected Starters</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="roster"> <td> <p align="center"><font face="Verdana"> <font face="Verdana" color="#b90456" size="2">PG Larry Hughes SG Aleksandar Pavlovic SF LeBron James PF Drew Gooden C Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> </p> </td> <td> <p align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#F15A30">PG Raymond Felton SG Jeff McInnis SF Jason Richardson PF Gerald Wallace C Emeka Okafor</font> </p> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">Season Stats</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="seasonStats"> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Points</td> <td>95.1 ppg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">FG%</td> <td>42.9%</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">3pt%</td> <td>34.8%</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Rebounds</td> <td>43.9 rpg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Assists</td> <td>19.0 apg</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Points</td> <td>94.3 ppg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">FG%</td> <td>4498%</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">3pt%</td> <td>36.7%</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Rebounds</td> <td>39.9 rpg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Aassists</td> <td>20.6 apg</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">Season Team Leaders</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="seasonStats"> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Points</td> <td>James 29.1 ppg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Rebounds</td> <td>Ilgauskas 9.8 rpg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">Assists</td> <td>James 7.5 apg</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> <td> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Points</td> <td>Wallace 20.3 ppg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Rebounds</td> <td>Okafor 10.2 rpg</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="strong"><font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">Assists</td> <td>Felton 6.8 apg</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">Key Matchup (SF) - <font color="#b90456">LeBron James</font> v <font color="#F15A30">Jason Richardson</font></font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="keyMatchup"> <td colspan="2"> <font face="Verdana"> v On Sunday, LeBron James carried the Cavaliers past the Raptors. On Wednesday, Jason Richardson carried the Bobcats past the Celtics. Both took monumental effort from each players and if either of them can perform similarly tonight, their team will win. If they both do, we will be in for a fantastic spectacle of basketball, and LeBron should come out on top. Richardson has to play intense defense, aided by Wallace especially, to try to put the King off his game.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">Keys to the Game</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="keyStrategy"> <td> <ul> <font face="Verdana" color="#b90456">[*]Put Felton off his game - When opposing teams allow Felton to orchestrate the game on offense, they will invariably suffer. If they can lock down on him, the Bobcats are likely to struggle. [*]Play solid defense - The Bobcats are 6-18 in games where they fail to score 100 points. The Cavs have kept their opponents under 100 in 19 games and have won 12 of them. So, if they keep the Bobcats under 100 points tonight, all signs point to a victory for the Cavs. [*]Take the workload off LeBron - On Wednesday, the assistance to LeBron was awful. Daniel Gibson and Larry Hughes shot 22% from the field, Devin Brown shot 38% (but missed 8 shots), Ilgauskas shot 33% and Pavlovic had 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 4 fouls. If the Cavs want to go far this season, they have to provide better assistance for their leader. That starts with hitting their shots.</font> [/list] </td> <td> <ul> <font face="Verdana" color="#F15A30">[*]Push the tempo - The Cavs find it difficult when their opponents play a high tempo game. The Bobcats are a good team playing at a quick tempo, so it goes without saying that their best chance of winning comes if they push the tempo. [*]Rebound hard - On of the Cavaliers' major strengths is their superior rebounding. If the Bobcats can take away, or at least suppress, this advantage, they stand a good chance of leaving Cleveland at 14-21. [*]Hit three point shots - When things go well for them, the Bobcats can be a very good team at shooting the three. Granted, this will be more difficult given that the Cavs are usually a good defensive team, but if they can hit their shots tonight, they could build up a lead large enough that even the superhuman efforts of LeBron cannot overcome.</font> [/list] </td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">The Cavs v Charlotte</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="since03"> <td colspan="2"><font face="Verdana">Since the inception of the Bobcats into the NBA, the two teams have met 12 times. The Cavs have won 9 of the games, and average 100.8 points per game, whilst the Bobcats have won just 3, and average 94.8 points. LeBron James has missed just one meeting with the Bobcats, but averages 26.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the 11 games in which he has taken part.</font></td> </tr> <tr class="sectHeader"> <td colspan="2"> <h4><font face="Verdana">Prediction</font></h4> </td> </tr> <tr class="prediction"> <td colspan="2"> <font face="Verdana">If the Bobcats can continue their momentum from their incredible victory against the Celtics, they could be a very difficult challenge for the Cavaliers. If, however, the Cavaliers can implement their style of play successfully onto the game, they ought to be able to get the victory come the end of the game.</font></p> <font face="Verdana" size="4"><font color="#b90456">97</font> - <font color="#F15A30">91</font></font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p>
