Game #29 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns Game Night Open Thread

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
18-9		20-8
December 21, 2009
US Airways Center
9:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Steve Nash	PG	Mo Williams
Jason Richardson	SG	Anthony Parker
Grant Hill	SF	LeBron James
Amare Stoudemire	PF	J.J. Hickson
Channing Frye	C	Shaquille O'Neal

The Cavaliers stagger into Phoenix one night after a flat, lackluster performance in Dallas led to a 102-95 loss.  As was the case with the Mavericks, the Suns are looking to avenge a double-digit loss to the Cavaliers at The Q.  In consecutive home games, the Cavaliers beat the Mavericks(111-95) and Suns(107-90).  Having already lost to the Mavs, the Cavaliers look to right the ship with 3 more games remaining in the West Coast trip.

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GAME NOTES -->

• Cleveland is 9-3 (.750) in their last 12 games and will face two +.500 opponents in the next three games. The Cavaliers are 11-3(.786) against teams that had at least a .500-record the day of the game. With four straight games against Western teams,Cleveland is 7-3 (.700) against the Western Conference and no team has been better against the opposite conference since thebeginning of last season than the Cavaliers, who have gone 33-7 (.825). (Elias)
• Tonight's game versus Phoenix will have the Cavaliers trying to be the first team to defeat the Suns at home this season (9-0)and in the last 19 games. The game will also feature the NBA's Top 2 teams in three-point shooting (PHX - .432, CLE - .421)and first quarter scoring with the Cavaliers first at 28.9 ppg and the Suns second at 27.9 ppg. The Cavaliers shoot .558 from the field in first quarters, which also ranks 1st. The team has won a league-high 21 out of 28 overall first quarters by a league-bestaverage margin of +4.1. The Cavaliers have topped the 30-point first quarter plateau in 14 games this season and scored at least 60 points in six first halves this season, which has led to Cleveland being 16-2 (.889) when tied or leading at halftime. (STATS, Inc.)
• Last season against the Suns at United Airways Arena, LeBron James tallied a triple-double of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists,his third consecutive one at the time, which was also the first time he'd ever accomplished that feat in his career. In this game, Mo Williams also scored 30 points while shooting 6-10 (.600) from behind the arc. (Elias)
• At home, LeBron James averages 25.4 ppg (7th best), but on the road he averages a league-best 31.5 ppg. The +6.1 differential is also a league-best in the NBA. James has also been very good against Western Conference teams over the last three seasons. Since the 2007-08 season, James leads the league with the highest scoring average at 28.5 ppg (1965 points in 69 games). Over hislast eight games, James is averaging 32.1 points on .478 shooting, 7.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks. (Elias)
• Against the Mavericks on Sunday, LeBron James played in his 500th career game and tallied 25 points, six rebounds and three assists, two steals and two blocks. In 500 career games, James tallied 13,795 points (27.6 ppg), 3,498 rebounds and 3,380 assists and became only the second player in NBA history, joining Oscar Robertson, to have 13,750 points, 3,250 rebounds and 3,250 assists through their first 500 games. (Elias)
• Against Dallas on Sunday, Delonte West scored 18 points to lead the Cavaliers bench and added seven rebounds and four assists.On Friday against Milwaukee, he had 12 points on 5-9 (.556) shooting, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block off thebench Over the last two games, West is averaging 15.0 points on 11-20 (.550) shooting, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
• Against the Mavericks on Sunday, Anthony Parker (2-3) and Daniel Gibson (1-1) combined to go 3-4, .750 from behind the arc.Parker and Gibson are the top NBA marksmen from behind the arc as Parker ranks 1st at 45-89 (.506) and Daniel Gibson ranks 2nd at 38-76 (.500). While no teammates have ever finished the season ranked #1 - #2 in three-point percentage, they could bethe first pair of teammates to lead the league in three-point shooting through games of Dec. 31 (minimum 25 3PM) since Utah's Bryon Russell (.500) and John Stockton (.490), who were ranked #1 - #2 during the 2000-01 season. (STATS, Inc.)
• The Cavaliers "Defensive Triangle" combines to be one of the best in the league. The Cavaliers haven't allowed their oppositionto shoot at or above .500 percent from the field in over a month (18 games), which is the NBA's longest active streak. The Suns are second with an active streak of 17 games. (STATS, Inc.)
• Cleveland ranks 4th in defensive points allowed at 94.3 ppg, ranks 2nd in overall defensive field goal percentage at .433 and ranks 7th in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .326.
• While being one of the NBA's best defensive teams, Cleveland ranks 4th in the NBA in offensive field goal percentage at .478 and ranks 2nd in three-point field goal percentage at .421 (Phoenix - .432). The Cavaliers are 18-2 (.900) when they shoot at least .450 from the field, 12-0 when shooting at least .420 from the behind the arc and 15-1 (.938) when hitting the century mark.