| 2009/2010 NBA Regular Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 | VS |  |
| 13-14 | 21-8 | |
| December 23, 2009 | ||
| ARCO Arena | ||
| 10:00 PM et | ||
| Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Tyreke Evans | PG | Mo Williams |
| Omri Casspi | SG | Anthony Parker |
| Andres Nocioni | SF | LeBron James |
| Jason Thompson | PF | J.J. Hickson |
| Spencer Hawes | C | Shaquille O'Neal |
A bad loss followed by an impressive win - that has been the Cavaliers road trip to date. Tonight, in prep for a Christmas Dinner showdown with the Lakers in LA, the Cavaliers spend the night in Sacramento facing my surprise team of 2009 so far, the 13-14 Kings, led by early Rookie of the Year front-runner Tyreke Evans. The Kings are fresh off a 35-point comeback win over the Bulls in Chicago. They are young, and playing with a lot of confidence. Never easy playing in the home of Cow Bells.
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Cavaliers vs Kings coverage; Sactown Royalty
GAME NOTES -->
- Cleveland is 10-3 (.769) in their last 13 games and with their 109-91 victory over the Suns are now, 12-3 (.800) against teams thathad at least a .500-record the day of the game. With three straight games against Western teams, Cleveland is 8-3 (.727) against the Western Conference and no team has been better against the opposite conference since the beginning of last season than the Cavaliers, who have gone 34-7 (.829). (Elias)
- The Cavaliers have defeated the Kings six consecutive times, including four straight at Arco Arena. In last season's matchup inSacramento, the Cavaliers won 126-123 in overtime with LeBron James tallied 51 points (his eighth career 50+ point game), nine assists to go along with three blocks and two steals. This win clinched the Cavaliers' first Central Division crown since 1975-76.
- The win over Phoenix snapped the Suns' 19-game home winning streak dating back to 2008-09, and handed Phoenix its first home loss since March 12, 2009, a span of 285 days. The Cavaliers also halted the Suns' 36-game home streak of scoring 100 ormore points as Phoenix was held under 100 points for the first time since Dec. 25, 2008, a span of 361 days. Defensively, the Cavaliers held Phoenix to just 38 second-half points, held the league's best three-point shooting team to 4-19 (.211) shooting from behind the arc and scored 30 points off 19 Suns' turnovers while holding the Suns to just four fast-break points. In another fourth quarter clamp down, Phoenix was held without a field goal for more than six minutes in the fourth quarter.
- Against Phoenix, LeBron James tallied 29 points on 11-21 (.523) shooting, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Over his last nine games, James is averaging 31.8 points on .483 shooting, 7.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks. At home, LeBron James averages 25.4 ppg (7th best), but on the road he averages a league-best 31.3 ppg. The +5.9 differential is also a league-bestin 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 (1,994 points in 70 games). (Elias)
- On Monday, Mo Williams scored 24 points on 7-14 (.500) shooting, including 3-5 (.600) from the three-point line, six rebounds, fiveassists and three steals. Williams ranks 13th in three-point accuracy at .439 and 3rd in three-point field goals with 65.
- Against Phoenix, Delonte West continued his strong play with 12 points, three rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block. Overthe last three games, West is averaging 14.0 points on 16-27 (.593) shooting, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 28.0 minutes.
- In a battle of the NBA's Top 2 teams in first quarter scoring, the Cavaliers scored 29 points against Phoenix. The Cavaliers lead the league in first quarter scoring at 28.9 ppg. The Cavaliers shoot .558 from the field in first quarters, which also ranks 1st. The team haswon a league-high 21 out of 29 overall first quarters by a league-best average margin of +3.9. 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 Clevelandbeing 17-2 (.895) when tied or leading at halftime. (STATS, Inc.)
- Two Cavaliers are the top NBA marksmen from behind the arc as Anthony Parker ranks 1st at 46-92 (.500) and Daniel Gibson ranks 2nd at 38-77 (.494). 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 team is allowing an NBA-low of only 34.3points in the paint on the season and hasn't allowed an opponent to shoot at or above .500 percent from the field 19 games, the NBA's longest active streak. Cleveland ranks 4th in defensive points allowed at 94.1 ppg, ranks 2nd in overall defensive field goalpercentage at .435 and ranks 4th in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .322. The Cavs join the Lakers and Celtics asteams that rank in the Top 5 in each of three defensive categories. (STATS, Inc.)
- While being one of the NBA's best defensive teams, Cleveland ranks 4th in the NBA in offensive field goal percentage at .479 andranks 2nd in three-point field goal percentage at .421 (Phoenix - .425). The Cavaliers are 19-2 (.905) when they shoot at least .450from the field, 13-0 when shooting at least .420 from the behind the arc and 16-1 (.941) when hitting the century mark.