Lakers @ Cavs (ESPN Tonight) <div align="center"> <font color="Purple">Los Angeles Lakers</font> (28-17) @ <font color="DarkRed">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> (19-29)</div> Wednesday, Feb. 4, 8:00 pm Eastern Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH TV: ESPN, FSOhio Vegas Line: Lakers -3 Season Series: Cavaliers 0, Lakers 1 01.12.03 Cavaliers 79 @ Lakers 89 Previous Game Cavaliers 85 @ Pistons 82 Lakers 72 @ Pacers 85 Last 10 Games Cleveland: 7-3 (Won 2) Los Angeles: 4-6 (Lost 1) Head Coaches Paul Silas/Phil Jackson Probable Starters Jeff McInnis/Gary Payton LeBron James/Derek Fisher Eric Williams/Rick Fox Carlos Boozer/Stanislav Medvedenko Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Shaquille O'Neal 6th Men Dajuan Wagner/Devean George Injury Update Cavaliers Tony Battie Ruben Boumtje Boumtje Lakers Kobe Bryant - Out Brian Cook - Out Karl Malone - Out Kareem Rush - Questionable Jannero Pargo - Undisclosed Jamal Sampson - Out Indefinitely <div align="center">Players To Watch LeBron James/Shaquille O'Neal James: 20.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.45 steals O'neal: 20.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.30 blocks</div> Fast Facts Cavs let a banged up Shaq/Kobeless Lakers beat them in LA in January in an embarrassing loss. Keys To The Game <u>Cavaliers</u> Double Shaq often Get Ilgauskas involved to try and draw fouls Keep Payton out of the lane Don't allow the Lakers deep threats to get open looks Attack the basket, make freethrows, run the floor don't turn the ball over <u>Lakers</u> Make free throws Get Shaq off early and often Limit second chance opportunities on the boards Keep turnovers under 12 for the game Payton's and Fisher's perimeter shooting needs to show up Crank up the defense to close out quarters The King's Take I would say I love the Cavs chances because they are back home, but I am always scared of the Big Fella, and he is just coming off of a suspension and could be very hungry. I'll favor the Lakers by 5 as I expect a huge game from O'Neal. If the Cavs want to win however, it would be nice to have solid games from Wagner and Williams, who the last couple games have not been coming through for us. Ilgauskas must stay aggressive with Shaq on the offensive and and not get himself in foul trouble. James must prepair himself for a beating and take it to the basket every time he has the basketball, same for McInnis. Maybe Jason Kapono can find his way into this game and hit some deep 3's. Shapecity's Take Shaq will be fired up for this game after the suspension and will be taking his frustration out on Big Z. It will be interesting to see how the refs react to Shaq's comments, and what they allow the Cavs to get away with on defense. If Shaq is getting calls he needs to make the most of it by making his free throws. The Lakers need easy points, but they have been killing themselves at the line this season. The Lakers also need to step up the defense. The trademark of the Lakers a few years ago was their ability to close out quarters by completely shutting down their opponent. This year they have been terrible at closing out teams and defending the perimeter. The Cavs do lack an outside game, but the Lakers need to contend each shot and communicate on the pick and roll. The Cavs are coming off a big game against the Pistons, but I expect an emotional let down in this game. They will be fatigued and having to deal with Shaq isn't going to make things any easier on them. I'm going to take the Lakers by 9 in this game. <font size="1">Please visit NBA.com</font>
If they can double team and rotate on defense on time, then we have a great shot. Fisher is basically LA's most consistant shooter out there. Keep a hand in his face and protect the ball from Gary at all plays. Boozer and James need to attack the hoop. If Cavs can play "well" for 48 minutes then they will win by 6.
As long as Boozer can help out on Shaq and maybe get some weakside blocks, the Cavs should be able to stay in this game. If Shaq goes at the Cavs with a vengeance, he alone could be too much for them to handle. Lebron needs to be a huge weapon tonight for the Cavs to give the Lakers a game.
Shaq is going to do his thing, and we're not going to be able to stop him. No Battie means that if Z or Diop get in foul trouble, we're in a big jam. They key is to not let a secondary option catch fire. I'm worried about Kareem Rush. He has a very nice jump shot and will knock down threes if we don't stick to him. We are very poor at stopping 3 point shooters and with Shaq commanding so much attention down low, I can see the inside out game killing us. We did a nice job on Payton last game, so hopefully we can hound him and not let him get out on the break and do damage. Medvendenko has also been playing well lately, but Boozer will cancel him out since I don't think Medvendenko can bang with Boozer on the boards and keep him from getting to the rack. Lebron and Z need to be agressive and go to the hole. If we can get Shaq in foul trouble, then we will be in great shape. I'd go at Shaq early and try to frustrate him and get some fouls on him. This team is a lot better than the team that lost to the Lakers a few weeks ago. If we can somewhat contain Shaq, I think we can take advantage of their being short handed and take this one at home. I'm going to say Cavs by 8 behind some wild fan support from a big crowd. Lebron has been fantastic in the 2nd game of back to back situations, so I expect him to rebound from a sub par game by his standards against the Pistons. Should be fun, with a nice playoff atmosphere. Its definitely nice to go into games with warranted confindence that we can win any given night. ==================================== Thanks for the great avatar King!
Shaq will have a big game, end of story. But the question is, will that be enough for the Lakers to win against a hot Cavs team? I don't think so, the key to this game is getting contributions from our role players like Slava, Rush, and we also need some offensive production from Payton, who is coming off one of his worst games of the season. If the Big Fella can get the help he needs on offense, Lakers crash the boards, and buckle down on defense to get defensive stops, then I see the Lakers winning by 3. However, if they play anything like they did last game, this one could get ugly. I'm feeling the Lakers right now, but the Cavs are at home and have been playing good ball lately. I honestly feel this one can go either way if the Lakers don't do the things they need to do.
Devean George was the guy who killed us last time, he had 12, 12, 1, 3 steals and 2 blocks. We let Brian Cook got for 13 and 6 off the bench, and Rush did score 10 on us. It was a combined effort, but now you know Shaq will see a lot of touches, no question about it.
Hey KJ, Pargo got waived last month... With so many Lakers out, I think this will be an interesting game...My gut tells me that the Cavs will take this game...Lakers looked really out of sync the last couple of games on this road trip...
It will be hard test for Cavs. But only Shaq and Gary will played in All-Stars Lakers Team. If we double Shaq and keep Payton out of line it can be tight game. But their propably double James and we should find Iluglauskas or Boozer in the paint for easy points. Quick will be most important thing tonight. LETS GO CAVS !! WIN BY 1 after OT.
Cavs are looking good with 7-3 in the last ten games. The lakers without Kobe and Karl, hopefully the Cavs can come out victorious.
Just want a entertaining game. But I always liked the Lakers. If Lebron gets is all alone, do a 360 player. Please, that's side 1 hand tomahawk is good, but Bron does it alot. Or a windmill, even the inbetween the leg. I wanna be like oh sh!t, while i'm watching ya dig.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Just want a entertaining game. But I always liked the Lakers. If Lebron gets is all alone, do a 360 player. Please, that's side 1 hand tomahawk is good, but Bron does it alot. Or a windmill, even the inbetween the leg. I wanna be like oh sh!t, while i'm watching ya dig.</div> LeBron isn't really a showboat. Sure the tommahawk is old. But it's damn entertaining everytime i see this kid punch the rim with it. Just that clank sound is good enough for me. We don't need windmills or 360's, LeBron just gets the job done. But I do remember his reverse dunk he did on a fast break and the Gund went nuts. I almost shed a tear that night. lol
This is going to be a good , fairly close game for both of the teams. If the Cavs can stop Shawq they will be alright IMO. I want to see everyone krunk in this game. Cavs by 2 IMO.
I really want to go with the Cavs on this one, even more so because they are at the Gund, but at the end of the day, it is the Lakers they are facing, and thats never an easy task for any team. Maybe if they can slow down Shaq, and keep it close, they may be able to hurt them towards the end.
I don't about you guys, but I heard Kareem was going to be out tonight, as a matter of fact for the at least the next five games. He injured his hand in the game against Indiana.
^One less shooter we don't have to worry about. What a blow for the Lakes. Nothing seems to be going right for them.
Yeah, Kareem Rush is out for this game, so Fox will likely start. I thought he hurt his ankle and not his hand though in the Indiana game? Despite another injury, I'm not changing my prediction.
I am feeling a cavs win tonight, I think that Boozer will have a normal game *aka a double double* and James will be a lot better tonight then last night. I am going out on a limb and saying Cavs win this one convincingly by about 10 :bigthumbu
I'll change my opinion as well, Cavs by 2 in a close one. This game is on ESPN, national TV for James who has the chance of a lifetime to show the world why he deserves to be in the all star game. It's put up or shut up for James in this one, I believe he knows that. Not having Rush is huge, because the Cavs love to clogg up the paint to get rebounds and don't mind giving up open looks from deep.
