U.S. Executes Improbable Comeback to Tie El Salvador
March 29, 2009Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Blues (Game 76)
March 29, 2009Dallas Mavericks (43-29) vs
Cleveland Cavaliers (59-13)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Sunday, March 29, 2009
1:00 PM EST
ABC/WTAM
While the Cavs appear to be a safe bet to lock up the 1 seed in the East, they do not maintain that same cushion when it comes to a precarious 1 game lead over the Lakers for home court throughout the playoffs (with a tie-breaker going to the Lakers). The game today against Dallas could prove to be one of their tougher remaining contests in the quest to achieve home court advantage. The Cavaliers are looking to win a franchise record 12th straight game overall and improve to 35-1 at the Q. Dallas is coming off of a home loss to Denver on Friday night which prompted owner Mark Cuban to use a new approach to an old act – ripping the officials. The Mavs are only 17-20 on the road this season and will have to deal with some adversity before the ball is even tipped as starters Jason Kidd and Josh Howard are nursing injuries. Kidd sat out the loss on Friday and announced that he will play today but Howard is still listed as questionable.
The Mavericks have the ability to get hot and reclaim the look of a team from their glory years of 2005-2006. They are capable of beating anyone in the league when they start rolling like that and have shown the ability to go on the road and play close tough games with elite teams like the Lakers. The Mavs of the past two seasons, however, often appear as a team whose window has closed and who often folds at the first sight of adversity. This was on display earlier this year in a blowout loss on the road to one of the other Eastern Conference elites in Boston as well as earlier this month in a road loss to an OKC Thunder team playing without Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. Owner Mark Cuban threatened a roster overhaul after this particular loss and the Mavericks have gone 7-5 since that threat. They continue to fight for a playoff spot as they currently hold the 8th seed in the West with a 4 game lead over Phoenix in the loss column.
The unpredictable nature of the Mavs could make this a potentially dangerous home game for the Cavs who are bruised after a physical victory over Minnesota on Friday. Mo Williams is expected to play despite a sore right hand after he sprained his pinkie on Friday. Wally Szczerbiak is expected to be on the active list for the second straight game after sitting out 4 games prior to Friday. Wally did not play against Minnesota so it is expected that he will see very limited action if he does see the floor this afternoon. The Cavs beat Dallas on the road way back during the first week of the season. That road win could be considered the jump start to this record season as it began an 8 game winning streak after a 1-2 start. Unless Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry really catch fire, the favored Cavs should sweep the season series and capture a franchise record setting 12th win in a row.
Projected Starting Line-ups–
Dallas MavericksF- Dirk Nowitzki (25.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg, .362 3p%)
F- Josh Howard (18.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .456 fg%) – Questionable
C- Erick Dampier (5.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.23 blk)
G- Jason Kidd (9.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 8.3 apg)
G- Antoine Wright (7.7 PPG, .426 fg %, 44 of 55 gs)
Key Reserves: Jason Terry (19.9 ppg), Jose Juan Barea (7.7 ppg), Brandon Bass (8.6ppg), James Singleton (5.1 ppg), Gerald Green (5.3 ppg), Ryan Hollins (9.7 mpg)
Injuries: Devean George (Out), Josh Howard (Questionable), Jerry Stackhouse (Out) Cleveland Cavaliers
F- LeBron James (28.4 ppg; 7.7 rpg; 7.3 apg) F- Anderson Varejao (8.6 ppg; 7.2 rpg; 1.0 apg) C- Zydrunas Ilgauskas (13.4 ppg; 7.3 rpg; 1.0 apg) G- Delonte West (11.7 ppg; 3.1 rpg; 3.5 apg) G- Mo Williams (18.0 ppg; 3.4 rpg; 4.0 apg) Key Reserves: Joe Smith (6.7 ppg), Daniel Gibson (.376 3p%), Sasha Pavlovic (.421 3p%), Darnell Jackson (7.0 mpg), Wally Szczerbiak (7.1 ppg)
Injuries: Ben Wallace (Out), Mo Williams (Questionable)
Previous Match-up-
Cleveland 100 Dallas 81, (Box) November 3rd @Dallas
Game Notes
This is the first of 3 Sunday Afternoon national TV ABC games to finish the season for the Cavaliers…Cavs are looking to go 35-1 at home where they hold opponents to under 89 ppg…Dallas is averaging 101.5 ppg and giving up 100.0 ppg…The Cavs held Dallas to their second lowest offensive total of the season in their first meeting holding the Mavericks to only 81 points…If Josh Howard is ruled out, it is expected that James Singleton will take his place in the Dallas starting lineup…The Cavs are looking to improve to 25-4 against the Western Conference this year…LeBron James spent his Saturday afternoon in Columbus watching his alma mater St.Vincent-St. Mary capture the Division II State Championship
Vegas Line
Cleveland -9
Over/Under 191
13 Comments
Watching the pregame on ABC. Seriously, that LeBron, Magic Johnson video is over a month old. How can you pass that off as new? The can LeBron average a triple double discussion? Again? Really? Nothing better to talk about?
Attention officials! It’s called a moving screen and it is against the rules. The Cavs would appreciate if you would enforce that infraction today. Thank you.
The Cavs are shooting just under 25% so far. That probably won’t continue…
I meant that it could get worse…. oooooooooofffffffffahhhh
Joe Smith for three to end the first quarter? Cavs can’t shoot? Cats and dogs are getting along now, I hear.
What a comeback. A 48-19 run against a very good team in Dallas is one of the best runs all year against any team.
Hey look – the Cavs are now in control!
I wasn’t sure until JVG let me know.
I can’t remember the last time a team was down by 15, and then came on to blow the other team out in such a fashion.
Now that’s overcoming a sluggish start and really getting determined to play good basketball. Got to hand it to Mike Brown. He made the team come out and put in work.
This was truly a surreal game. Being down by 15 in the first and then outscorong them by something like 83-35 the rest of the way with LeBron yukking it up on the bench the entire 4th quarter.
And… The Hawks did us a huge favor topping the Lakers down in the ATL to give us a much needed 2 game lead in the chase for the best record. Two up with 10 to go!
Correction – 2 ip with 8 to go!
… Or 2 up with NINE to go. (That’s what I get for commenting on my Blackberry.)
mavs imploding a little early this year, i see.