GAME#42 LAKERS@CAVALIERS 1/21/10 5PM TNT & KCAL

[DEEP3CL]

32-9 1ST IN NBA
VS
31-11 2ND IN NBA

ARENA : QUICKEN LOANS ARENA CLEVELAND,OH.
TIME : 5:00PM PST/ 8:00PM EST
TV : TNT/ KCAL




GASOL | BYNUM | ARTEST | BRYANT | FISHER = 77.5 PTS PER GM 3rd in NBA





WILLIAMS | PARKER | O'NEAL | HICKSON | JAMES = 71.5 PTS PER GM 11th in NBA


SEASON & SERIES FACTS
The Lakers trail their current season series with Cleveland 0-1, this is the second and final regular season meeting between the 2 best teams in the NBA. Since the 1999-2000 season the Lakers have only won in Cleveland 5 times in 10 games. This will be the 97th meeting between the two teams with the Lakers holding a 57-39 series advantage.In his last nine games against the Cavaliers, Kobe has averaged 29.2 points per game (263 pts). In 13 career games against the Lakers, LeBron is averaging 27.2 points per game (353 pts).


STAR MATCH UP


GAME BREAKDOWN & KEYS TO WINNING
The last time the Lakers faced the Cavs the game was won by the Cavs on two aspects, a front line that was able to defend Gasol and Bynum and the inability to defend Mo Williams. O'Neal and Ilgauskas were able to neutralize Gasol and Bynum by being physical and keeping them from deep scoring positions. The Lakers as a team shot 31-85 .365, while the Cavs shot 38-70 .543 with Williams in particular shooting exceptionally well.

The Lakers will have to disrupt Williams by contesting his shots and forcing him into help. Many of his shots in the first game were uncontested and as a result he got into a good flow. Also the Lakers will have to do a better job on the boards, this will get the game at the Lakers tempo to where they can operate out of the Triangle. Bynum and Gasol need to attack O'Neal and Ilgauskas with a much quicker pace, both aren't mobile enough to guard once they put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Kobe hasn't shot well lately so he will have to pick his spots to attack. LO must show up period, when he has the Lakers are almost unbeatable.

These 3 things must be done to get the W :

Rebounding on the defensive end.

Ball movement, stalling only plays into their front line hands.

Bench production......it's not necessarily about points but rather effectiveness.

[chefy]

feed gasol and bynum. and I think we should make artest more involve on offense too. make lebron work on defense.

[SashAlex]

Revenge !

[Dr Aki]

time to swagger jack them back

[Anklebreaker702]

Great GT DEEP! This is get back time. Being down 0-2 in the season series wouldn't be good coming down the stretch more than likely. I don't think either team will just pull away.

[DEEP3CL]

Great GT DEEP! This is get back time. Being down 0-2 in the season series wouldn't be good coming down the stretch more than likely. I don't think either team will just pull away.

Well we were 0-2 to the Magic last year too. How did that turn out ?

[Anklebreaker702]

Great GT DEEP! This is get back time. Being down 0-2 in the season series wouldn't be good coming down the stretch more than likely. I don't think either team will just pull away.

Well we were 0-2 to the Magic last year too. How did that turn out ?

I was speaking of HCA

[Benedict_Boozer]

Good luck LA fans. Should be a good game.

Counts double really in the standings for the top seed.

[iamworthy]

Good luck LA fans. Should be a good game.

Counts double really in the standings for the top seed.

Good luck bro!

[DEEP3CL]

Good luck LA fans. Should be a good game.

Counts double really in the standings for the top seed.

Same to you to man, that's why the split is important for us....bottom line is we need this game no matter what.

[laduane1]

I want all the wins we can get. But this one only counts as 1 win and we would only see them in the finals if we or they got there. LBJ is so out of this world. It will take a lot to beat them. Bench and starters need to step it up and help Kobe.

[Frantik]

Payback!!!!!!!!

I personally i don't think for a sec that LBJ and the Cavs could win the eastern conference but still... This is a must-win game!

Revenge!!!!

[Hilltop]

I am for the Lakers in this one

[DowJones]

On games like this, do you guys who have a typical 9-5 (or 9-6) miss the first quarter or so? I always wondered what it would be like to live out West. That would throw my entire sports-viewing schedule off.

[DEEP3CL]

On games like this, do you guys who have a typical 9-5 (or 9-6) miss the first quarter or so? I always wondered what it would be like to live out West. That would throw my entire sports-viewing schedule off.

Most of us can catch it live, some will DVR the game and some will miss it......just the way it goes.

[kevin_405]

Big game for us.. we have lost a lot of the critical match ups this year, unlike last year where all our losses were to teams that did not matter..

Win against Orlando was a good confidence booster for the team.. now we got to take it to the road.

[semi-sentient]

This would be a great win for us to build some confidence for the rest of the road trip. Right now the team is kind of shaky with multiple guys playing through injury and not having the best of chemistry. Maybe a long road trip will be just what the doctor ordered to get everyone on the same page.

Kobe needs to have an efficient game and not try to outdo LeBron. If he's still hurting, then I'd rather see him setting guys up and getting everyone involved. Let Bynum take it to Shaq early and get him into foul trouble. He was going right at Dwight early on the other night and was taken out with foul trouble, so he needs to avoid that same scenario.

Stay at home on the shooters. That's their strength. If LeBron wants to drive then let him. We'll have two 7-footers waiting in the paint. They key to winning this game is containing Mo Williams IMO. He went off on us last time and hit some big shots that kind of broke our backs.

Play hard. We have the ability to shut any team down when we put our minds to it and play like we care.

[Slava]

Pau and Drew need to grow some balls and face up to Shaq. Other than that if Mo Williams has a good game the Cavs win or else we win. Simple as that. Bron is going to do his thing but what their shooters and especially Mo Willaims gets is key to the game.

[The Skyhook]

Bynum needs to take it hard at Shaq all game. He can't let Shaq get any easy dunks either. Gotta make the old fella work for everything.

Kobe has got to go into facilitator mode. I haven't seen that in a while from Kobe and I miss seeing it. He can be a good facilitator when he wants to.

The guy who I see having a big game is Lamar. I feel like he will go off for a double double with a ton of rebounds. Last time he really got into it with the Cavs and I believe he got T'd up. He's got to control all that frustration that Anderson Vareflop causes and just have a great game. I think LO will be the X Factor this game.

[magic1fan]

i think we get payback in this game. christmas we looked like we were coasting through. i think our focus will be there tomorrow.