Cavs Host Bucks
Cleveland, OH – LeBron James has followed up his first NBA scoring title by grabbing the league lead in scoring again through the season’s first two weeks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, though, feel they’re much more than a one-man show.
One of the big reasons for the Cavaliers’ early offensive improvement – and current four-game winning streak – has been guard Mo Williams, who on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena will face the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time since being traded to Cleveland in the offseason.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Bucks -12 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 187 (View Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 53% of bets for this game have been placed on Cavaliers +12 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
James scored 30.0 points per game last season, but despite having the league’s top scorer the Cavaliers couldn’t make a return trip to the NBA finals. Instead, they wasted a 45-point effort from James in losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
With an offense that lacked a consistent perimeter threat, Cleveland (5-2) acquired Williams from the Bucks in an effort to bolster its backcourt. Williams had turned into a star in Milwaukee over the past two seasons, averaging 17.2 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 46.2 percent – a better percentage than any Cavs guard last season.
Cleveland also got a chance to see Williams at his best up close. He averaged 26.0 points and 9.0 assists in leading the Bucks to three wins in four games over the Cavaliers in 2007-08.
"I think we’re acquiring a talented player who’s about to hit his prime," general manager Danny Ferry said in August after the trade was made. "I think he can be a traditional point guard for us, as well as bring the added dimension of scoring."
With more talent around him, Williams is only averaging 14.1 points thus far, but he’s helped improve the Cavaliers’ offense. Cleveland is averaging 99.6 points on 46.7 percent shooting after scoring 96.4 ppg on just 43.9 percent from the field last season.
It doesn’t hurt, of course, to have James, who on Monday was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. James is averaging 34.5 points and 9.8 rebounds during Cleveland’s winning streak, which included a pair of 41-point efforts in wins over Chicago.
He scored 16 of his 41 in the fourth on Saturday against the Bulls, turning a three-point deficit into a 106-97 Cavaliers win.
"The fourth quarter is where I make my name,” said James, who’s averaging 28.1 ppg. "That’s the quarter where it’s time to close the game out. I know I’m not going to do that every night, I’m not going to be perfect every night."
The Bucks (3-4) don’t have Williams, but do have a former All-Star guard on their roster. But Michael Redd, who’s leading the teams with 21.3 ppg, has missed Milwaukee’s last three games with a sprained right ankle, and he won’t play Tuesday either.
The Bucks could have used Redd in a back-to-back losses against two NBA heavyweights over the weekend. Milwaukee shot a combined 41.5 percent in losing to Boston and Phoenix, and after falling 104-96 to the Suns on Saturday, coach Scott Skiles felt his team was lacking cohesion.
"We played in spurts tonight and just weren’t good enough,” Skiles said. "Defensively, we weren’t very sharp and offensively, we did a lot of one-on-one tonight.”
One of the reasons the Bucks felt Williams was expendable was the late-season performance of rookie Ramon Sessions, and Sessions has impressed with Redd sidelined. He’s averaging 18.7 points over his last three games.
The Cavaliers have won nine of their last 10 at home against Milwaukee, with James averaging 29.9 points and 8.1 assists.
Bet NBA Basketball
Did you like this article? Subscribe to our Basketball news feed for the fastest updates delivered right to you – Click here to Subscribe
Posted: 11/11/08 12:46 AM