The San Antonio Spurs (49-11) will be looking to shake off a bad loss to the Memphis Grizzlies last
night as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers (11-48) for the second and final time tonight in Cleveland.
The last time these two teams met resulted in a 116-92 win by the Spurs in San Antonio. Tony Parker led the way with 19 points and nine assists while Tiago Splitter added 18 points off the bench.
Also for the Spurs, they are 7-4 this season on the second game of back-to-back game situations and will continue to play without Parker who will be out for two to four weeks due to injury.
As for the Cavaliers, they recently traded for Baron Davis, Luke Harangody and Semih Erden but Davis and Erden will not be in action tonight.
Also, Cavaliers’ Samardo Samuels will start in the place of injured Antawn Jamison, JJ Hickson will move to the center spot, and former Spur Alonzo Gee will get the start tonight at small forward replacing Christian Eyenga. Anderson Varejao will also be out of action due to a foot injury.
The Spurs should not take this Cavaliers team lightly. Cleveland has defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks recently and have won two straight over the Spurs in Cleveland.
To talk about tonight’s matchup, I turn to friend of Project Spurs Glenn Moore of “The Dugout Sports Show” your one-stop site on the Internet for all things Cavaliers and Cleveland sports!
In this Q&A Glenn talks about LeBron James leaving Cleveland, what the Cavaliers have to do to defeat the Spurs, and much more.
Jeff: First off what’s the status of Antawn Jamison and will he be playing tonight against the Spurs?
Glenn: Jamison won’t be playing tonight against the Spurs. He had successful surgery yesterday on his fractured left little finger. He will be out of action for the next 5-7 weeks. This is a huge blow for the Cavaliers, has he has been a true leader on and off the court. But, this could be looked as an opportunity for young guys to step in and make an impression.
Has the city of Cleveland and Cavilers fans gotten over LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat?
Good question. I don’t think Cleveland will ever get over LeBron until they win a championship in any sport. People still love to talk about LeBron and rip on him any chance they get. If you wear a James jersey around Cleveland, you are sure to get ripped on. The fans on December 2nd were AMAZING. No black eyes to Cleveland and they showed LeBron how they felt. Should be interesting to see how the fans are after this terrible season when LeBron returns at the end of the month.
The Cavaliers are obviously in the rebuilding phase. Do they start to build around a current player or hopefully get a high draft pick and build around him?
They have a few guys you can build around. “The Big 3” would be J.J. Hickson, Ramon Sessions, and Christian Eyenga. They have showed flashes of being really good as a group, but have shown growing pains in other games. Hickson has been too inconsistent for me to be “the guy” for the future. Sessions scored 32 points against the Lakers, but again, has had bad games too. And Eyenga should be a good player if he learns to take the ball to the rim strong on a more regular basis.
The Cavs had two lottery picks in this years draft. It is very important to not miss with those picks.
The last time these two teams squared off the Spurs won 116-92 in San Antonio. However, this Cavs team has beaten the Lakers and Knicks. What should the Cavs do to get another win over an elite team?
It’s very hard to predict which Cavs team will show up tonight. The loss of Jamison will hurt, but this team always plays well against good teams. If I was a Spurs fan, I would be worried about playing the Cavs at Cleveland. It should be a close one.
Which key matchup should Spurs and Cavs fans watch tonight and what’s your prediction?
With Tony Parker out, I want to see Ramon Sessions play well against the Spurs. Also, I want to see Hickson bang around with a guy like Blair. The Cavs have been giving up a lot of offensive rebounds to their opponents. If the Cavs can get fast break points and control the glass, they have a chance. I say the magic continues in Cleveland and they beat the Spurs, 109-105.
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