Game 49: Cavs vs. Lakers - Sun, Feb 8, 3:30pm

[Rise Against]

................................................... vs.
...........................................................................................................................................(39-9).......................................................................................................................................................(40-9)


• Sunday, February 8th, 2009
• 3:30 PM - ET
• Quicken Loans Arena
• Cleveland, OH
• ABC, WTAM1000



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...................................................................................................PF: C: SF:
.......................................................................................................................................... PG: SG:


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..........................................................................................................................................PG: SG:
...................................................................................................PF: C: SF:



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........................................................................................................................................................................Key Matchup




Neither James nor Bryant had stellar performances in their meeting at Staples Center three weeks ago. James had 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists, while Bryant finished with 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting, 12 assists and five turnovers. Bryant, an 11-time All-Star averaging 27.5 points, suffered a dislocated right ring finger, but stayed in the game.



........................................................................................................................................................................Injury Report

........................................................................................

• Delonte West - Out With Broken Wrist
• Andrew Bynum - Out With Torn MCL
• Wally Szczerbiak - Day To Day With Broken Nose - *Still Playable
• Sasha Vujacic - Day To Day With Left Ankle Sprain - *Still Playable



........................................................................................................................................................................Game Notes


• To cap off this extraordinary week, the league's two most dynamic players get the opportunity to square off Sunday when James' Cavaliers (39-9) and Bryant's Lakers (40-9) meet at Quicken Loans Arena in a matchup featuring the best team from each conference.

• Cleveland, which has won eight of its last nine games, boasts the top record in the East and can take over the league's best record by defeating Western Conference-leading Los Angeles.

• The Lakers, who have won nine of 10, already defeated the Cavs 105-88 on Jan. 19, and would own the tiebreaker for home-court advantage in the finals -- if they both make it -- with a victory Sunday.

• The Cavs have won all 23 games at Quicken Loans Arena this season. They've also won four straight home games over the Lakers since a 111-106 overtime loss on Feb. 4, 2004.

• The Lakers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Cavs with the win three weeks ago, and have not swept a season series from them since 2003-04 -- James' rookie season.



........................................................................................................................................................................Let's go Cavs!

[DEEP3CL]

Radmanovic isn't starting.................Luke Walton is the starting 3. Bynum doesn't have a torn ACL he has a sprained MCL, out 8-12 weeks.

Nice thread Ex ! just change the info on LA.

[Rise Against]

^^Haha. Woops, I got mixed up between ACL and MCL.. And I fixed the starting lineup for the Lakers. Thanks for the clarification. Haven't been following very many Laker games.

Oh and thanks for the compliment. Good luck with the game.

[Tommy Trojan]

Nice game thread. It should be fun

[Benedict_Boozer]

This is a pretty big game. The Lakers already have the tie-breaker against the Celtics, we can't let them have it against us also cause that effectively gives them a 1 game cushion against us in the standings.

Z back should help us match up better with Gasol, and hopefully Pavs is back to help defend Kobe.

Will be interesting to see if Lebron can get more lanes to the bucket now that the Lakers can't pack it in on us like they did with Varejao/Ben starting.

Big game.

[CzBoobie]

No Bynum + Z's back + the Q + pissed LeBron = nice W

[JimMurray]

Kobe's been pretty pissed too since Bynum went down. The second after he threw that towel in anger after Bynum was helped off the court, he flipped the assassin switch. Cavs should win, but the Kobe / Lebron matchup will be fun to watch. I was at the LA game, and seeing them live going at it, where I was able to just focus on them two fighting off the ball....they literally canceled each other out.

We got you guys without Z, now you get to see us without B. Honestly, this is the finals preview right here, you guys got Boston.

It would have been really nice to have seen both teams at full strength.

[prekazi]

We're going to beat them! Not having Bynum will collapse their defensive strategy against LeBron. Just like the game against the Celtics; I've zero concerns about this game. Our guys and especially Bron will bring his A game.

It'll be fun, we'll win.

[semi-sentient]

Nice game thread.

Too bad these two teams have yet to face each other healthy. That'll make it very interesting if we meet in the Finals because neither side will know what to really expect with a full roster.

Good luck!

[B Mac]

At least this time we arent down 2 starters, just 1.

[INKtastic]

Radmanovic isn't starting.................Luke Walton is the starting 3. Bynum doesn't have a torn ACL he has a sprained MCL, out 8-12 weeks.

Nice thread Ex ! just change the info on LA.

I though it was a partial tear.

And Radmanovic was just traded to the bobcats.

[RevMan26]

I don't know if this will be an easy win like most of you say. Laker's played stellar against the Celtics without Bynum, so they will probably play well against us too.

[Lebron45]

We blow them out like we did vs the celtics @ home

[DEEP3CL]

The Cavs have been a terror at the Q, but I like our chances Kobe and LeBron should dual again so the key will be the benches and the so called second star of the team. For us Pau has been great as of late.

Who ever controls the boards and gets bench production win the game it's that simple.

[witnessmoboobie]

Like Rev said, I don't think this one is a gimme by any means. This will be a very tough game with or without Bynum. They are tough and deep. Odom may be a moron but he is no slouch. Plus they have Kobe. I expect this to be a really good game.
My prediction
Cavs jump out to early 10-12 point lead but finishes quarter up 6.
Cavs up 1 at half
Down 3 after 3
Pull out win by 5 in 4th.

99-94 Cavs victory

[LoveThemCavs]

I'm glad the guys had 3 days off to get some rest for guys that needed it(like Ben and Pavlovic). We'll need those two guys for sure in this game especially Sasha's defense. Also it's good to get some practice reps with Z. It seemed his timing was a little off after coming back. Always enjoy watching Kobe and LeBron going at it on the court. Time for a little payback, the Lakers took it to us in taht second half in the Staples Center. I expect a playoff type atmosphere at the Q for this one. Should be a great game.

[Lebron45]

76% Cavs will win AccuScore Projections espn

[realfung]

Morrison playing?

[demcanes26]

Nope

[Lebron45]

good the spurs are winning