| 2009/2010 NBA Regular Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 | VS |  |
| 7-9 | 13-5 | |
| December 4, 2009 | ||
| Quicken Loans Arena | ||
| 8:00 PM et | ||
| Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD/ ESPN | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Derrick Rose | PG | Mo Williams |
| John Salmons | SG | Anthony Parker |
| Luol Deng | SF | LeBron James |
| Taj Gibson | PF | J.J. Hickson |
| Joakim Noah | C | Shaquille O'Neal |
Since the Cavaliers and Bulls met about 3 weeks ago, things have changed drastically for both teams. That night, an 86-85 win by the Bulls, the Cavaliers have inserted J.J. Hickson into the starting lineup while limiting the time Z and Shaq see on the floor together(read: no time). Jamario Moon has also seen his playing time increase and the Cavs are rolling. The Bulls, on the other hand, have gone south. Tonight the Cavaliers make up for their worst home loss in 2 years in their rematch with the Bulls.
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Some more Game Notes after the Jump -- >
- After becoming the franchise leader last season in rebounds and blocks, two-time NBA All-Star Zydrunas Ilgauskas is now theteam's all-time leader in games played with 724 games, surpassing Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry (723 games).Versus the Suns, Ilgauskas scored a team-high 14 points on 6-10 (.600) shooting to go along with six rebounds and one steal in 20minutes off the bench. His basket at the 8:28 mark of the fourth quarter moved him past Austin Carr (10,265 points) for thirdall-time in franchise scoring with 10,269 points for his career. (FOX Sports Ohio)
- Cleveland has won 10 of their last 12 games and five consecutive home games. In those five games, the team has averaged 107.2ppg on .526 shooting while opponents have only scored 97.4 ppg on .455 shooting. (STATS, Inc.)
- With the win versus Phoenix, the team is now 5-0 against opponents from the Western Conference and remain the only EasternConference to not have a loss against a Western team. Dating back to last season, the Cavaliers have a 13-game winning streakagainst the Western Conference, the longest active streak against the opposing conference in the NBA. (STATS, Inc.)
- Of the eight teams remaining in the NBA that have five or fewer losses (ATL, BOS, CLE, DAL, DEN, LAL, ORL, PHX), theCavaliers are tied with the Magic for the most wins (three) and best record (3-1, .750) between these teams. Each of theCavaliers three victories against Orlando (+9), Dallas (+16) and Phoenix (+17) have been by an average margin of 14 points.
- Cleveland caused a sunset by Phoenix in generating opponent lows in scoring for the first quarter (14), second quarter (15)and first half (29). Cleveland held Phoenix to just 12-41 (.293) shooting in the first half, while converting 11 Suns turnoversinto 13 points. The 29 points allowed in the first half is a season-low for the Cavs. The last time Cleveland held an opponentto 29 points or less in any half was on Mar. 31, 2009 versus Detroit (29) and the last time the Cavs held an opponent under 30in the first half was Apr. 14, 2007 when they held Atlanta to 28 points in the first half of a Cavs' 110-76 victory. It was the firsttime Phoenix, the third highest scoring team in the NBA, was kept from reaching 30 points in a half for the first time since Feb. 6,2002 when the Suns scored 27 in the second half against Seattle. The last time Phoenix was held to less than 30 points in the first halfwas when they scored 27 in the first half against New York on Nov. 17, 2000. (Elias)
- Against Phoenix, LeBron James had a near triple-double with 12 points, a game-high 10 assists, eight rebounds, one steal and a blockin 35 minutes. It marked his fourth double-double this season. On the season, James is averaging 28.2 points (3rd in NBA) on .518shooting from the field, .783 shooting from the stripe, 6.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists (6th). He also ranks 1st in the NBA in firstquarter shooting (min. of 4 field goal attempts per game in 1st qtr) at 67-108 (.620).
- Versus Phoenix, the bench scored a season-high 49 points, which led to seven players scoring in double figures for the firsttime since Jan. 2, 2009 versus Chicago. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the team with 14 points and Anderson Varejao had a strong all-around game with nine points, eight rebounds, three steals, a season-high three blocks and two assists. Over the last two games,Varejao is averaging 12.0 points on 11-19 (.579) shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks.
- Delonte West added eight points on 4-8 (.500) shooting, six assists, two steals and one block in 24 minutes. West is averaging 9.0points on 8-15 (.533) shooting, 8.0 assists, 1.0 steal and zero turnovers in his last two games.
- Jamario Moon scored eight points on 3-6 (.500) shooting versus Phoenix to go along with a season-high three blocks. In his last fourgames Moon has averaged 10.0 points on 15-26 (.577) shooting, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 24.5 minutes off the bench.