Oh boy, it's that time again: time for the Cavaliers to play my favorite team, the Nets. I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with Nets fans in the past, and I expect tonight to be no different. The Nets were certainly active at the trade deadline and, as expected, added an all-star big man to their lineup. The Cavs are currently on a three-game losing streak and will look to get back on track with a win in New Jersey.
Song Of The Day: Brooklyn - Fabolous
The Nets are eventually moving to Brooklyn. That's cool. Lots of people make songs about Brooklyn.
Tonight's Overview:
Cleveland Cavaliers (16-26) at New Jersey Nets (15-31)
The biggest question going into this game, obviously, is how the Cavaliers will be able to defend Dwight Howard. Just as everyone expected, the Nets acquired the superstar for a package centered around the totally not still injured Brook Lopez and definitely didn't trade away a lottery pick for Gerald Wallace.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist)
But seriously, who do we go to? Will Tristan Thompson cover Dwight? Or will that be the duty of Ryan Hollins?
Okay, okay. I'm done.
Let's talk about the game on hand, shall we? The Cavs are slipping towards the bottom of the standings (to get a better draft pick, woohoo!) but probably could use a win sometime soon to get their confidence going again. The team needs to adjust to the absence of Ramon Sessions and move towards using Kyrie Irving as the full time floor general.The Cavs tried using Daniel Gibson as the backup point guard in their last game, against Atlanta. It didn't work. Boobie really has very few point guard skills and I'd like to see Byron Scott give Donald Sloan 10-15 minutes as the backup PG while Kyrie rests.
Anthony Parker needs to gooooo. He's bad. He's bad. He's really really bad (as Michael Jackson would say). Give Manny Harris some burn, because there's no way that Old Man Parker can stay with MarShon Brooks.
After a rough night shooting against Atlanta, Antawn Jamison will try to bounceback and probably shoot at least 25 times. If he makes 45%-ish of them, the Cavs have a decent chance of winning. If he shoots under that percentage, the Cavs will probably not win. Analysis!
Deron Williams is the best player on the Nets - and it's not close. He's put up some monster stats this year and got back on track after a rough start to the season. He's much much better than Kyrie Irving and I would never think to compare the two. (Please don't freak out at me, Nets fans. I'm just having some fun)
Key Matchup:
Kris Humphries vs. Tristan Thompson
In what will be Tristan's second career start at center, look for him to have a better go of it than he did against Atlanta. He struggled versus the Hawks and will have another challenge ahead of him tonight. Humphries is a very good rebounder and Tristan needs to be strong to hold his position under the boards tonight in order to be successful.
Fear The Sword's Fearless Prediction:
The Cavaliers will be overwhelmed by the vastly superior Nets team. Nets win by a final score of 146-37 in a total blowout.