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February 20, 2013Cleveland Sports Life Boat – Indians Closers
February 20, 2013Though the ESPN trucks are rolling into Cleveland for the team’s first nationally televised game of the season, the New Orleans Hornets will be without star shooting guard Eric Gordon who continues to have issues with his troublesome knee.
“It might be painful for awhile,” Gordon said on Tuesday. “If there’s no fracture then I feel like I need to play.”
Being the second night of a back-to-back stint for the Hornets, Gordon — coming off of a 20-point outing — will be in street clothes as his teammates attempt to rain on the Kyrie Irving parade. Rookie guard Austin Rivers (6.0 points, 2.1 assists per game) will likely get the start.
FOX Sports’ Ohio’s Sam Amico adds that the Hornets continue to be in trade talks with the Golden State Warriors who wish to acquire the 24-year-old Gordon’s services.
Wednesday night’s contest is slated for an 8pm tip-off. Pre-game will feature Mike Wilbon, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons broadcasting from Los Angeles while Mark Jones and Jon Barry will handle play-by-play and color commentary.
[Related: Kyrie Irving makes shots and a few more fans during All-Star weekend]
31 Comments
I don’t think Eric Gordon is worth the risk even at a low asking price. His knee problems are making Brandon Roy feel pretty good about himself right now.
Cavs get a national game for the first time since James pulled his stunt on ESPN and you’re worrying about the other team? Let’s celebrate this occasion by having a sellout and many viewers tuning in to see the Q rocking and Kyrie Irving do what Kyrie does.
Love Gordon I hope Golden State gets him although they’ll really have a gluttony of guards then…maybe Jack would be available I’d love him as Irving’s backup.
Sadly one of the worst commentators Jon “No I’m not as good as my dad or brother” Barry will be doing the game. It’s going to be tough for me to watch so I’ll probably just check in for short stints throughout the night.
Not even close to the first time on national TV since the Decision, but I do agree on the sellout.
Me too actually, when Gordon is healthy I think he’s fantastic. I am just using a pessimistic prediction that he is going to have a really short career due to injuries.
It’s only “not even close” if you count NBATV. I am assuming that Kildawg is not counting that, which is fair… there are plenty of people who get ESPN but don’t get NBATV.
wasn’t the first post-decision Cavs/Heat game on TNT?
I think so… should have put ESPN/TNT.
love healthy Gordon but I am forgetting what that is at this point. lucky for him that NO (and PHX) were willing to gamble on his health last summer.
speaking of which: the injury gambles lately don’t seem to be paying off in the NBA (unlike some other sports). Roy, Oden, Gordon, Bynum, Dwight, and Rose. All seem to be taking longer to get back and less than full strength whereas guys like Adrian Peterson comes back with full force in less than expected time.
maybe the NBA is cleaner than other sports?
I liked him as a FA signing guess it was a good thing I wasn’t the GM at the time huh?
MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYBE I just think based on what you wrote Rose is being extra extra cautious and who could blame him. Oden and Bynum are two big men who seem to have bodies who have failed them. Dwight Howard is a wuss I refuse to put him with Oden and Bynum largely because he’s still playing but mostly because I can’t stand him. As much as LeBron James has been vilified in Cleveland look what Howard did to Orlando? Look what he’s still doing.
but the Magic got Christian Eyenga for him!!!
(yes, for Rose, I think he is terrified of becoming the next Gordon or Roy. I think it is a completely valid concern and I think he is going to be villified for it and pressured to come back this season even though it makes the most sense to wait until next year)
man, couldn’t we get on TNT instead? ESPN’s halftime crew has no chemistry at all and all of their conversations eventually get into “OMG LEBRON JAMEZ”. Can’t wait to hear them all speculate on Lebron coming back to Cleveland…
LoL how’s Christian doing these days? As far as Rose goes if he is vilified then shame on Bulls fans or whoever does it. Rose needs to be 150% in order for Chicago to try and beat Miami and even then I don’t think it’d be enough. Makes zero sense for him to come back otherwise IMO. That being said I think he’ll play this season perhaps just before the playoffs.
Eyenga’s NBA career is over, but the Browns need an athletic, young, tall TE.
Did his career ever really start?
I thought Howard screwed over Orlando in a big way when the trade first went down… now I am not so sure. Howard seems way more interested in being a personality than being a good player and the guys that Orlando got for Howard actually might pan out better than I expected. Vucevic looks like a future all-star to me.
To Orlando’s credit Howard did them a favor but I was speaking to all of the drama he created. As much as LBJ took hits for wanting to be in the media Howard has taken it to an entirely new level. To make matters worse I question his intestinal fortitude. But back to the Magic they were criticized for the trade but you are right Vucevic looks to be promising. I’m pissed he somehow eluded me on my fantasy basketball teams!
I hear that. As far as your fantasy basketball team, don’t worry you would have had to have been an amazing evaluator of talent to see that coming (or at least someone who watches a lot of the 76ers). Vucevic’s numbers in his rookie season were pathetic.
Oh I’d have never drafted him in a million years but he was available in free agency. Somehow all of his double doubles eluded me. I gambled on waiting on Tristan Thompson as well and got burned but ya win some and ya lose some.
I was big on the Vucevic train that draft (he was an absolute monster at USC) and was so disappointed when the 76ers drafted him and he got stuck behind….wait for it….Speights.
the 76ers though were confident about trading Speights to Memphis because they had him and his rookie year wasn’t all that bad. 12pts/11rbs per36min though inefficiently.
really, all he has done this year is a slight improvement across the board.
That’s fair, I missed on getting Vucevic as a free agent as well. Luckily I drafted TT as the last pick of my draft, just as a sentimental favorite/longshot. He’s been a solid starter!
This is true, the only big jump came in his shooting efficiency.
You can still watch the game on FSO. They’re still broadcasting the game as normal. 🙂
I might do that then because I loathe Jon Barry. The only guys worse them him IMO are Bill Walton and Jeff Van Gundy.
Awwww, I love Van Gundy! I feel like you get real opinions from him. He also has a tendency to ask questions of the play-by-play guy, which I love. With lots of broadcast teams, you get one-directional questions going from the play-by-play guy to the color commentator because hey the cc guy is usually a former player or coach and is seen as an expert. I get that. But I love that JVG will ask questions and get opinions back from Breen because guys like Breen and Harland and Tirico are heavily plugged into the league as well and can usually speak intelligently on the questions that they would typically only ask the cc guy.
I don’t count NBATV for Cavs games same as not counting MLBTV for Indians games. MLB.TV is great for those of us outside NE Ohio.
If it’s a big game and I don’t have a choice I’m fine with SVG but not Barry but then again Barry doesn’t do “big games” so I’m safe. Hubie Brown is this cats meow. Love me some Hubes!
My favorite thing about Hubie Brown (as the Sports Guy often points out) is how he is one of the few people who speaks regularly in the second person. “Hey Hubie, what do you think of Dwight Howard’s antics?” “You’re disappointed in him because you want him to be serious and to take the business seriously. You want him to put up better numbers sure, but you need more fight from him.”
Very true quirky to some but I find it endearing.