GOTN - Cavs vs. Magic 11.11

Hoops Vine Game of the Night for Wednesday, November 11, 2009 pits the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Orlando Magic. Of course you know that the Dwight Howard led Magic ousted the Cavs in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals ruining the Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James angle Nike was hinging their bets on – but since then, some of the key players have changed for both teams.

Team Concerns /Status

Orlando comes into the contest with injury woes. Vince Carter has been hobbled early on with a troublesome ankle which will definitely limit what he can contribute. The Magic will also likely be without the services of Ryan Anderson who’s battling his own ankle problems. Anderson considered just a throw-in piece in the Carter trade was averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds before going down.

Cleveland’s championship caliber has been questioned early after a very sluggish start. The Shaquille O’Neal acquisition hasn’t paid the immediate dividends that Danny Ferry was hoping for and as a result Zydrunas Ilguaskas has quickly become an afterthought in the Cavs’ offense. Big Z is scoring only 7 points per game, but up until now has never averaged less than double-digits points in his twelve-year career. We’ve even witnessed the unthinkable early on … Shaq and Big Z teamed together in the frontcourt … that should never happen and screams early panic.

X-Men

Cleveland needs a solid effort from Delonte West. It’s obvious that his game isn’t anywhere close to his 2009 output and you can easily link that to his troubled personal life off the court. The Cavs definitely need more than the 5.5 points they’ve received since he’s returned to action. West is an upgrade over Daniel Gibson and can play both guard positions. That type of versatility is exactly what the Cavs need to beat the Magic

As for the Magic, I’m looking for two guys to step up … they need J.J. Redick to continue shooting lights out from 3-point range (43 percent). His ability to bang the tri-fecta is critical to allow the team to stretch the floor for Dwight Howard on the block. Mickael Pietrus edged out Dahntay Jones in last season’s playoffs for getting torched for 40 and still getting respect for defensive effort. Pietrus defensive assignment will feature a heavy dose of LeBron – he must avoid early fouls and contest every shot to disrupt the King’s rhythm.

Prediction

I think Orlando has the stronger team, but with the injuries to Carter and Anderson I have to go with LeBron and his crew. This is a statement game for Cleveland and trust me winning this game in a convincing fashion will silence some of the doubters. In the end I just believe that it’ll be too much LeBron and if the game is close down the stretch you’ll notice how much the Magic miss Vin-Sanity’s ability to create shots off the dribble.

Lang
Lang.Greene@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/hoopsvine



Check out our news section for more coverage