SB Nation User Blog: John Bena (aka CavsBlogger)

Game #26 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76'ers Game Night Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:13:14 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
6-18		18-7
December 16, 2009
Wachovia Center
7:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Jrue Holiday	PG	Mo Williams
Allen Iverson	SG	Anthony Parker
Andre Iguodala	SF	LeBron James
Thaddeus Young	PF	J.J. Hickson
Samuel Dalembert	C	Shaquille O'Neal

Cavaliers vs 76ers coverage; Cavaliers vs 76ers preview; Liberty Ballers

Game #25 - New Jersey Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers Game Night Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:36:54 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
2-22		17-7
December 15, 2009
Quicken Loans Arena
7:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Devin Harris	PG	Mo Williams
Courtney Lee	SG	Anthony Parker
Trenton Hassell	SF	LeBron James
Josh Boone	PF	J.J. Hickson
Brooke Lopez	C	Shaquille O'Neal

Nets vs Cavaliers coverage; Nets vs Cavaliers preview

You've got to feed the King, on and off the court!

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:59:51 -0000

You've got to feed the King, on and off the court!

Game #24 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Oklahoma City Thunder

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:58:00 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
12-9		16-7
December 13, 2009
Ford Center
7:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Russell Westbrook	PG	Mo Williams
Thabo Sefolosha	SG	Anthony Parker
Kevin Durant	SF	LeBron James
Jeff Green	PF	J.J. Hickson
Nenad Krstic	C	Shaquille O'Neal

The up and down season of the Cavaliers is back on the up-swing after the Wine and Gold came from behind to beat the Portland Trailblazers at The Q on Friday night. Now the Cavaliers travel to one of the tougher places to play - Oklahoma City - where the Thunder are off to a hot 12-9 start. The reason? Kevin Durant is quickly becoming a dominant force. Should be an interesting challenge for LeBron and Co.

Injury news - Shaq will play, Daniel Gibson will not.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Cavaliers vs Thunder coverage; Cavaliers vs Thunder preview; Welcome to Loud City

Some more Game Notes after the Jump -- >

Cleveland has gone 13-4 (.765) in their last 17 games and has won seven consecutive games at The Q, improving their record to 9-2,.818, which is tied for 4th best in the NBA. In those seven games, the team has averaged 105.9 ppg on .527 shooting whileopponents have only scored 96.1 ppg on .452 shooting. With the 104-99 victory on Friday, the Cavaliers have defeated the TrailBlazers in five straight contests and the last seven in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers are 6-2 (.750) against the Western Conference this season and will look to improve on that in Oklahoma City onSunday. Since the beginning of last season, no team has been better against the opposite conference than the Cavaliers, whohave gone 32-6 (.842). (Elias) The team swept the series with the Thunder last season, outscoring them 109.5-86 with a .580-.398 shooting advantage. Tonight's game will feature two of the Top 5 scoring duos in the NBA with LeBron James (28.2) and Mo Williams (16.7) ranking 3rd at 44.9 ppg versus Kevin Durant (28.3) and Russell Westrbook (16.4) ranking 4th at 44.7 ppg.
LeBron James has been very good against Western Conference teams over the last three seasons. Since the 2007-08 season, Jamesleads the league with the highest scoring average at 28.3 ppg in 67 games (K. Bryant is 2nd at 28.2 ppg). Versus Portland, LeBron James scored a game-high 33 points on 14-24 (.583) shooting from the field and added seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks andone steal in 38 minutes. This game was the fourth time this season that James has reached those levels in all three categoriesand no other player in the league has done that even once this season. The Cavs are now 8-3 (.727) when James scores at least30 points this season and over his last three games, he is averaging 34.3 points. (STATS, Inc./Elias)
Anderson Varejao notched his fourth double-double on the season with a season-high 22 points on 10-17 (.588) shooting, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block in 36 minutes. His 22 points are the most points scored by a Cavaliers reserve this season.The bench provided 35 points on 16-29 (.552) shooting and grabbed 17 rebounds. Over the last seven games, the bench is averaging38.6 points on 109-210 (.519) shooting and 19.6 rebounds.
Shaquille O'Neal recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a season-best 11 rebounds in 23 minutes. Hemade 5-11 (.455) shots from the field and all four of his free throw attempts. It was the first time since Jan. 18, 2009 at Torontothat he made all of his free throws while attempting at least four free throw attempts.
Mo Williams recorded his first double-double this season with 14 points on 5-11 (.455) shooting, a season-high 10 assists, threerebounds and one steal in 35 minutes. The Cavaliers had three players with double-doubles for the first time since Feb. 24, 2008 when LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and then-Cavalier Ben Wallace all recorded double-doubles against Memphis.
The Cavaliers defensive triangle combines to be one of the best in the league. While Cleveland is allowing only 33.9 points in thepaint on the season, the NBA's lowest, the team also ranks 4th in defensive points allowed at 94.6 ppg, ranks 2nd in overall defensive field goal percentage at .436 and ranks 8th in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .334.
A key to the Cavaliers success has been strong starts in the first quarter. At 29.2 ppg in the opening period are the league's highestscoring team in the first quarter while shooting .559 from the field, which also ranks 1st. The team has won 15 out of the last 18and 18 out of 23 overall first quarters by an average margin of +4.5, which is another league best. The Cavaliers have topped the 30-point first quarter plateau in 12 games this season and scored more than 60 points in the five first halves this season.Cleveland is 14-2 (.875) when tied or leading at halftime this season.

Game #22 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Houston Rockets Game Night Open Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:57:08 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
11-9		15-6
December 9, 2009
Toyota Center
8:30 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Aaron Brooks	PG	Mo Williams
Trevor Ariza	SG	Anthony Parker
Shane Battier	SF	LeBron James
Luis Scola	PF	J.J. Hickson
Chuck Hayes	C	Shaquille O'Neal

Anyone else still sick about last night's 111-109 OT loss to Memphis? Sure, teams lose games during an 82 game season and sometimes those losses are ugly. Last night seems different. The Cavaliers were beaten at their own game in a lot of ways, by a team that looked hungrier.

Luckily the Wine and Gold gets right back on the court tonight, though the Cavaliers have never really played that well in Houston. No McGrady, no Yao Ming, no Ron Artest.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Cavaliers vs Rockets coverage; Cavaliers vs Rockets preview; The Dream Shake

Some more Game Notes after the Jump -- >

Cleveland has won 12 of their last 15 games. In their last five games, the team has scored at least 101 points. With eight of thenext 12 games on the road, Cleveland is now 7-4 (.636) away from The Q. This marks the second straight season the team haswon seven of their first 11 games on the road. Over the next three games, which are all against Western teams, the Cavaliers will tryto build on their 5-1 (.833) record against opponents from the Western Conference.
Against Memphis, LeBron James tallied season-highs of 43 points and 13 rebounds to go along with six assists. It was James' 35thcareer 40-point game and he became the first player since himself last March to record at least 40 points, 12 rebounds and sixassists in a game and just the 12th player since 2000 to do so. The game was also his fifth consecutive double-double and seventhoverall double-double this season. (Elias)
While James ranks 6th in the NBA in assists at 8.2, he has dished out 38.6% of the Cavaliers' assists (173/448) this season, whichranks 2nd to S. Nash's mark of 46.6%. James has either scored or assisted on 152 of the team's 256 first-quarter baskets (59.4%).Overall, no other player in the league has assisted or scored on a higher percentage of his team's overall field goals this seasonthan James (352 combined field goals and assists on 793 team field goals, equaling 48.8%). He has led the Cavaliers in bothpoints and assists in 14 of the team's 21 games (NBA-best) and since the 2007-08 season, has also led the league with 118 games ofleading the team in both categories. From Nov. 28 - Dec. 6, James had four consecutive games of double-digit assists, the second-longest streak of his career and second time he strung together four straight games of 10+ assists.
LeBron James has been very good against Western Conference teams over the last three seasons. Since the 2007-08 season, James istied for the highest scoring average at 28.2 ppg in 65 games with Kobe Bryant. (STATS, Inc.)
Against Memphis, Mo Williams scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out a game-high eight assists and added a season-high five steals. Williams has elevated his defensive play over the last week, notching three games of at least four steals in the team'slast four. He had only two games of that many steals in his previous 132 games. Offensively, he ranks 11th in the NBA in three-point shooting at .473 and 3rd in free throw shooting at 52-57 (.912). Williams has made at least two three-pointers in each of hislast seven games, which is the second-longest active streak in the league only behind Sacramento's K. Martin at 8, and his 49 three-point field goals for the season are the fourth most in the league. (STATS, Inc.)
Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in 30 minutes against the Grizzlies. In the six games sincereturning from injury, Shaquille O'Neal has averaged 11.0 points on .517 shooting and 6.2 rebounds in only 23.2 minutes.
Over his last four games, Daniel Gibson is averaging 11.0 points on 17-27 (.630) shooting and 6-10 (.600) shooting from behind thearc. Gibson's 34 three-point field goals are tied for 3rd most off the bench this season. Since the 2008-09 season, he has 142three-pointers off the bench, which is 3rd best in the Eastern Conference (E. House, D. Cook) during that span.
Cleveland is allowing only 34.3 points in the paint on the season, which is the NBA's lowest. The Rockets ranks 4th best in theleague for offensive points in the paint at 48.2 ppg. The team also ranks 5th in opponent offensive rebounds at only 10.0 per gameand is tied for 8th in total opponent rebounds per game at 39.8.
The Cavaliers defensive triangle combines to be one of the best in the league. The team ranks 4th in defensive points allowed at 94.4ppg, ranks 3rd in overall defensive field goal percentage at .437 and ranks 7th in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .328.

Game #21 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Memphis Grizzlies Game Night Open Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:49:42 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
8-12		15-5
December 8, 2009
FedExForum
8:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Mike Conley	PG	Mo Williams
O.J. Mayo	SG	Anthony Parker
Rudy Gay	SF	LeBron James
Zach Randolph	PF	J.J. Hickson
Marc Gasol	C	Shaquille O'Neal

Keep on keepin' on. That's the name of the game for the Cavaliers as they head to Memphis for the middle game of this 3-game road trip. After dispatching of Milwaukee on Sunday, the Cavaliers sit 10-games over .500 for the first time all season.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Cavaliers vs Grizzlies coverage; Cavaliers vs Grizzlies preview; Straight Outta Vancouver

Some more Game Notes after the Jump -- >

With the 101-86 win over Milwaukee, Cleveland has won 12 of their last 14 games, including four straight. In each of those four games, the team has scored at least 101 points and held their opponents to 90 or fewer points in the last three games. The Cavshave now defeated the Bucks five consecutive times, including three straight in Milwaukee, and in 13 of the last 16 meetings. With eight of the next 11 games on the road, Cleveland is now 7-3 (.700) away from The Q, which is third best in the NBA. This marks the second straight season the team has won seven of their first 10 games on the road.
As the team takes on Memphis tonight, the Cavaliers have won seven straight against the Grizzlies including three straight at FedExForum. In those three games, Cleveland has outscored Memphis 117.3-102.3 and outrebounded them 43.7-36.8.
Over the next four games, which are all against Western teams, the Cavaliers will try to building on their 5-0 record against opponents from the Western Conference. The team is the only Eastern Conference to not have a loss against a Western team.Dating back to last season, the Cavaliers have a 13-game winning streak against the Western Conference, the longest active streak against the opposing conference in the NBA. (STATS, Inc.)
After holding the Bucks to 86 points on a Cavs season-low .376 shooting and .200 shooting from behind the arc, the Cavaliers defensive triangle combines to be one of the best in the league. The team ranks 4th in defensive points allowed at 93.6 ppg, ranks 3rdin overall defensive field goal percentage at .436 while ranking 5th in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .324.
Cleveland is allowing only 33.5 points in the paint on the season, which is the NBA's lowest. The team also ranks 2nd in opponent offensive rebounds at only 9.6 per game and is tied for 7th in total opponent rebounds per game at 39.6.
In Sunday's game the Cavaliers reserves scored 45 points, which is the second-highest total this season. It was the team's fourthconsecutive game that the bench has scored at least 40 points (43.5 avg.). They also added 27 rebounds and had eight assists. The last time the Cavs bench scored 40+ points in four consecutive games was in December 1992 (four in a row from Dec. 15-19).
LeBron James continues to make marks against Milwaukee. After scoring a season-high 55 points last year, including a career-high eight three-pointers made last season, James scored 14 points while distributing 10 assists on Sunday. It was the first time in his career that he's strung together four consecutive contests with at least 10 helpers. It was also his fourth straight points-assists double-double and sixth double-double overall this season, which is tied for second most in his career (Feb. 19 - 24, 2008) behindonly a streak of five last season from Mar. 22 - 31. (Elias)
Against Milwaukee, Delonte West scored a team-high 21 points on 6-9 (.667) shooting, including 9-9 from the charity stripe. West tallied 14 of those points in the second quarter during a 29-0 run that lasted more than 11 minutes and registered as the largest streak one team has held another scoreless in the NBA this season. (STATS, Inc.)
Against his former team, Mo Williams added 13 points while connecting on 3-4 (.750) shooting from behind the arc. On the season,Williams is averaging 17.1 points on .452 shooting, 3.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He ranks 6th in the NBA in three-point shooting at .476 and 5th in free throw shooting at 47-52 (.904).
The Cavaliers have won six consecutive games at The Q, improving their record to 8-2, .800, which is tied for 4th best. In those sixgames, the team has averaged 106.2 ppg on .524 shooting while opponents have only scored 95.7 ppg on .450 shooting.

The Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks game on Friday, December 18th in Cleveland has now been...

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:06:47 -0000

The Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks game on Friday, December 18th in Cleveland has now been moved from a 7:30 p.m. start time to an 8:00 p.m. start time and will now be televised nationally on ESPN. The game will still be broadcast on FOX Sports Ohio.

Change to next Friday's Cavaliers game against Milwaukee at The Q

Game #20 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks Game Day Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:49:13 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
9-9		14-5
December 6, 2009
Bradley Center
3:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Brandon Jennings	PG	Mo Williams
Charlie Bell	SG	Anthony Parker
Carlos Delfino	SF	LeBron James
Ersan Ilyasova	PF	J.J. Hickson
Andrew Bogut	C	Shaquille O'Neal

The Cavaliers start a three-game road trip with a matinée in Milwaukee. The Buck have been a surprise so far this season, lead by the play of wonder-rookie Brandon Jennings. Jennings spent a year over-seas instead of going to college, and the year of pro experience seems to have done wonders for his game.

LeBron James, fresh off his Player of the Month award is playing at a MVP level once again, and the Cavs continue to play better defensively.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Bulls vs Cavaliers coverage; Bulls vs Cavaliers preview; Blog a Bull

Some more Game Notes after the Jump -- >

Cleveland has won 11 of their last 13 games and six consecutive games at The Q, improving their record to 8-2, .800. In those sixgames, the team has averaged 106.2 ppg on .524 shooting while opponents have only scored 95.7 ppg on .450 shooting.
The Cavaliers have defeated the Bucks four consecutive times, including two straight at the Bradley Center. In the series sweep lastseason, Cleveland won by a margin on 99.5-88.5 and shot .454 compared to the Bucks shooting .408 from the field.
The last time the Cavaliers faced the Bucks in Milwaukee, LeBron James finished with a season-high 55 points, five reboundsand nine assists, his 8th game with 50 or more points in his career (all are road games in which the Cavs are 5-2). The 55 pointswere the second-most James has scored in a game (56 - at Toronto on March 20, 2005) and included him scoring 24 points in thethird quarter, tying his own franchise record for points in a quarter, which he's now done three times. It also was his second50+ point game versus Milwaukee (52 points on 12/10/05 at Milwaukee). James made a career-high eight three-pointers, tying him with Danny Ferry (2/13/96 vs. Charlotte) and Wesley Person (2/17/98 at Philadelphia) for the most in franchise history.
Versus Chicago, the Eastern Conference's Player of the Month for November, LeBron James recorded his third straight points-assist double-double (fifth overall double-double this season) with a game-high 23 points on 8-17 (.471) shooting, a game-high 11assists and six rebounds in 34 minutes. James has now had three games in a row with at least 10 assists for the third time in hiscareer. With four assists in the opening period tonight, James is averaging 6.3 assists in the first quarter over the last threegames. He has also totaled 33 assists with just five turnovers in the last three games. On the season, James is averaging 27.9 points(4th in NBA) on .515 shooting from the field, .773 shooting from the stripe, 6.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists (6th). He also ranks 1st inthe NBA in first quarter shooting (min. of 4 field goal attempts per game in 1st qtr) at 71-114 (.623).
Against the Bulls on Dec. 4, Cleveland had no turnovers in the third quarter and went on to have zero turnovers in the secondhalf. The last time the Cavs had zero turnovers in a quarter was on March 22, 2009 when the Cavs had zero turnovers in the firstquarter at New Jersey. The last time the Cavs had zero turnovers in a half was on March 19, 2009 in the first half versus Portland.The team is averaging 29.7 assists to just 12.0 turnovers over the last three games.
On Friday, Mo Williams finished the game with a season-high four steals for the second consecutive game. Williams also added15 points, including shooting 3-7 (.429) on three pointers, and a season-high seven assists. On the season, he is averaging 17.3points on .452 shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He ranks 3rd in free throw shooting at 45-49 (.918).
On Friday, the bench scored 40 points. Anderson Varejao scored 10 points on 4-9 (.444) shooting to go along with five rebounds anda season-high tying three blocks in 29 minutes versus Chicago. Over the last three games, he is averaging 11.3 points on 15-28 (.536)shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
Daniel Gibson tallied a season-best 15 points on 7-9 (.778) shooting, three rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes. Over the last twogames, Gibson is averaging 12.5 points on 10-15 (.667) shooting in 21.0 minutes per game.
Of the four best teams in each conference (ATL, BOS, CLE, DAL, DEN, LAL, ORL, PHX), the Cavaliers are tied with the Magic for the most wins (three) and best record (3-1, .750) between these teams. Each of the Cavaliers three victories against Orlando (+9), Dallas (+16) and Phoenix (+17) have been by an average margin of 14 points.

Game #19 - Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers Game Night Thread

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:21:56 -0000

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.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Bulls vs Cavaliers coverage; Bulls vs Cavaliers preview; Blog a Bull

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.

Game #18 - Phoenix Suns at Cleveland Cavaliers Game NIght Discussion

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:40:41 -0000

2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
	VS
14-4		12-5
December 2, 2009
Quicken Loans Arena
7:00 PM et
Radio - WTAM 1100 / TV - FSOhio HD
Probable starters:
Steve Nash	PG	Mo Williams
Jason Richardson	SG	Anthony Parker
Grant Hill	SF	LeBron James
Amare Stoudemire	PF	J.J. Hickson
Channing Frye	C	Shaquille O'Neal

One of Shaq's former teams makes a visit to the Q on Retro Night. Is anyone else irked that ESPN still plays the 'Shaqtus' commercial? I know, probably a problem I have. Anyway, the Suns are playing great basketball and tonight's should be entertaining.

Oh yea, and something tells me Mike Brown WON'T make the same mistake twice regarding Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Congrats to Z who should get the record, and the recognition, he deserves.

If you haven't already, FOLLOW ME on Twitter and become a fan of FTS on FACEBOOK!

Suns vs Cavaliers coverage; Suns vs Cavaliers preview; Bright Side Of The Sun

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 can surpassCavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry (723 games) tonight as the team's all-time leader in games played. In his career,Ilgauskas has averaged 14.2 points on .475 shooting, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 28.9 minutes and ranks 5th for active playerswith most games with current team and only team of their careers behind only K. Bryant - 965, T. Duncan - 912, D. Nowitzki -857 and P. Pierce - 831). (Elias)
Cleveland has won nine of their last 11 games and four consecutive home games. The team will also look to build on being 4-0against teams from the Western Conference and remain the only Eastern Conference to not have a loss against a Westernteam. Dating back to last season, the Cavaliers have a 12-game winning streak against the Western Conference, the longestactive streak against the opposing conference in the NBA. (STATS, Inc.)
The Cavaliers swept the season series with the Suns last season led by the combination of LeBron James and Mo Williams. In twogames last season, Mo Williams averaged 37.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals while James averaged 30.0 points, 8.0rebounds and 9.5 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals. For his career, James has averaged 31.3 points per game versus Phoenix, hishighest average against any opponent. In the Feb. 11th game versus Phoenix in Cleveland last season, Williams had a career-high 44 points on 18-26 (.692) shooting including a career-high 18 field goals made, seven assists and three steals. (STATS, Inc.)
This season, James (29.2 ppg) and Williams (17.8 ppg) have combined to form the 3rd highest scoring duos this season at 47.0ppg, behind only Denver's C. Anthony and C. Billups at 47.6 ppg and the Lakers' K. Bryant and A. Bynum at 47.3 ppg.
Tonight's game will feature the top two teams in the NBA in three-point accuracy. The Cavaliers rank 1st at .438 while theSuns rank 2nd at .436. Cleveland also ranks 5th lowest in defending the arc as their opponents have only shot .316.
Versus the Mavericks, Mo Williams scored 25 points on 9-12 (.750) shooting, including a perfect 7-7 (1.000) from behind the three-point line in 35 minutes. The seven three-pointers tied his career high and he became the first Cavalier to ever shoot 100percent on three-pointers with at least seven three-point attempts. Previously, three Cavs were 6-6 on three-point attempts in agame (Mark Price - 1988, Wesley Person - 1999 and Trajan Langdon - 2000. The last NBA player to shoot 7-7 on three-pointers wasNew Orleans' Bobby Jackson on Jan. 11, 2008 against Miami. On the season, Williams is averaging 17.8 points on .462 shooting,3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He ranks 8th at .488 in three-point shooting and 3rd in free throw shooting at 42-46 (.913). (Elias)
Against Dallas, LeBron James tallied 25 points on 10-20 (.500) shooting, a season-high tying 12 assists and five rebounds in 36minutes. James had eight assists in the first period, becoming the first Cavalier to have eight assists in a quarter since EricSnow did it on Jan. 8, 2005 in the second quarter against New York. On the season, James is averaging 29.2 points (2nd inNBA) on .523 shooting from the field, .783 shooting from the stripe, 6.7 rebounds and 8.0 (6th) assists.
On Saturday, Delonte West recorded his first double-double of the season (ninth in career) with 10 points on 4-7 (.571) shootingand a season-high 10 assists and zero turnovers in a season-high 29 minutes. West is one of only six players to have at least 10assists and zero turnovers in a game (second time in West's career) this season. The last Cavs player with at least 10 assists offthe bench was Eric Snow when he had 13 assists on April 19, 2005 versus Boston. The last Cavalier to achieve a points-assistsdouble-double as a reserve was Brevin Knight (10 points, 12 assists) in a game at New Jersey on April 19, 2000.