Is it just me or do the Cavaliers play the Bucks every night? Oddly enough, this is just the third meeting between these two teams which means that they'll play another time before the season is over. Regardless of what these silly "facts" say, it feels like the Cavs and Bucks play every night. Will the Cavs snap their 5-game losing streak? Will the Bucks continue their push for the postseason? Tune in at 7:30 to find out!
Song Of The Day: All For You - Sister Hazel
Tonight's Overview:
Milwaukee Bucks (23-27) at Cleveland Cavaliers (17-31)
The Cavs and Bucks played the day after the Bucks swung a big trade for Monta Ellis. Unfortunately, the moving parts of that trade were still being worked out when the two teams played and therefore, Ellis did not compete in that game. Tonight, the newest members of the Bucks, Ellis and Ekpe Udoh, will play for the Bucks. Ellis is a dynamic scorer, just like he was with the Warriors and Udoh is an impressive defensive presence. This is probably a must-win game for the Bucks since they are fighting for their playoff lives and have fallen several games back of the Knicks and Celtics now.
On the other hand, the Cavaliers are losers of five straight and are pretty good candidates to make it six in a row tonight. As usual, the focus will be on the starting point guards. Kyrie Irving and Brandon Jennings are two young, dynamic point guards with bright futures and will be going at it once again tonight. Irving outscored Jennings 28-17 in their last matchup, but Kyrie also committed 8 turnovers. That's an unacceptably high number. If the Cavs want to win tonight, he simply cannot turn the ball over 8 times.
Furthermore, if the Cavs want to win tonight, they cannot allow Drew Gooden to have a triple-double. I mean, really? Drew Gooden? In the last meeting, pretty much every member of the Bucks went off as the Cavs played no defense and allowed 115 points in regulation. Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points on just 12 shots. Mike Dunleavy had 21 points on just 11 shots. Milwaukee as a team shot 53.5% from the field. You've got to play some semblance of defense if you want to win games.
If you can remember the last game against the Bucks, the Cavs lost 105-115, but the reason that they were even remotely close was because of Daniel Gibson. Boobie scored 18 points and was 5 of 8 from behind the arc. As you know, Boobie Gibson is now likely done for the season with a torn tendon in his left foot. If you take away the quick scoring from Boobie, that last game is even uglier.
Key Matchup:
Anthony Parker vs. Monta Ellis
Oh my goodness, there's so much blood. This matchup could be absolutely brutal for Cleveland. I'm assuming Byron Scott sticks with the veteran shooting guard once again and sees how he can defend the lightning quick Ellis. It's not going to go well. I'm not saying that Manny Harris could probably do a significantly better job on Monta -- wait, that's exactly what I'm saying.
Fear The Sword's Fearless Prediction:
The losses just keep on coming (which isn't a bad thing). The new-look Bucks overwhelm the Cavaliers in the paint and send Cleveland to their sixth straight loss. Final score of 98-90.