Cleveland Cavaliers to try improve their winning streak against the Sacramento Kings tonight
For Cleveland Cavaliers fans it is still all about LeBron James. The energy about the player is the same but the passion and emotions have taken a U–turn after the infamous decision by the King to take his talents to Miami. Sacramento
Kings must be happy meeting the Cavaliers at a moment when they are recovering from a loss they did not expect. The teams will face each other at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night.
Cavaliers, now a little undermanned in the roster have got all the luck in the world against the Kings and wish to continue their dominance over them. Kings have lost 8 games in a row along with 9 of their last 10 meetings with
the Cavaliers. Kings are a team in dire need of a boost as they have not won a single game against the Cavaliers since March 1st, 2006.
The start of this season brought a bit of luck for the Kings, as for the first time in 7 years they stood 1-0 in a season opener beating Minnesota Timberwolves 117-116, but it seemed they came back to their devastated form the
very next game when they fell 106-100 to New Jersey Nets on Friday. Tyreke Evans and Francisco Garcia both scored 18 points supported by Carl Landry and Beno Udrih who got 14 points each for Kings. The Kings took 93 shots while the Nets took only 61, yet they
defeated the Kings fair and square.
The Cavaliers shocked the Basketball world as they opened 95-87 against the Boston Celtics. The joy ride was much more enjoyable as the Celtics were the same team that defeated LeBron James’ new commitment Miami Heat in their opener.
The second game was not as enjoyable as the first since they lost to Toronto Raptors with a despicable 101-81 point margin. It was Antawn Jamison who scored 13 points for the Cavaliers playing without Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao. It is still not clear
if any of these two Cavaliers starters will be back in Saturday’s game. Cavaliers were branded with an underdog status right after James’ departure and they entered the season to prove a point. They proved it well enough with the opener that they are still
a team that has a lot of potential and will keep working to rebuild the lost team chemistry.
The chemistry will come in handy in the game against the Kings. During LeBron James’ days they averaged 109 points a game against the Kings who struggled to cut short the eight-game winning streak posed to them. Cleveland needs
to keep the average stable and for that they are dependent upon Anthony Parker who had 10 non-convincing points against the Nets on Friday. Jamison also seems as their best prospect with his 26.3 point average in last six games against the Kings.
Sacramento’s best prospect is current NBA Rookie of the year Tyreke Evans who scored 18 points and seven assists in the 106-100 loss to the Nets. Evans has a good record against the Cavaliers as well since he scored 28 points in
a 117-104 loss to Cavaliers in December. He missed the Kings’ last meeting with Cavaliers in March due to an injury.
Francisco Garcia is the only witness to the Kings’ last win over Cavaliers in 2006, still in the team. He scored 11 points in that game and 18 in this Friday’s game against the Nets.
Kings’ Centre DeMarcus Cousins was not only the fifth overall pick in the draft but also had 12 points Friday. In his first couple of NBA games he scored a total of 26 points and 12 rebounds.
All eyes will be on the Cavaliers tonight as they try to exercise the ghost of LeBron James and finally make some solid contributions to their NBA season. They will need an energetic presence in the court, the kind they displayed
in the game against the Celtics. Kings will have to work hard on their offensive game as they need to score big against the Cavaliers. With all the focus on their defence the Cavaliers are supposed to have a good game owing largely to a home court advantage,
which if utilized to its best could prove effective after all.
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