Healthy Again
Cleveland, OH – The Cleveland Cavaliers finally marched out their healthy starting five in their latest game, and didn’t have any problems adding another win to the NBA’s best home record.
They might not need to be performing at their peak to get past the Memphis Grizzlies.
With their starters healthy for the first time since late December, the Cavaliers will try to make it 26 wins in 27 tries at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night when they host the Memphis Grizzlies, who have one road win in the last two months.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Cavaliers -14 point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Grizzlies. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 67% of more than 215 bets for this game have been placed on the Cavaliers -14.
All-Stars LeBron James and Mo Williams have been healthy all season, but Cleveland’s other three starters have missed time – two with significant injuries. Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed all but one game in January after fracturing his ankle, and Delonte West fractured his wrist on Jan. 15, forcing him out for the team’s next 16 games.
The Cavaliers (43-11) were 7-2 after Ilgauskas came back heading into Sunday’s game against Detroit, but looked like a far more complete team when West returned to face the Pistons. Cleveland’s shooting guard scored a season-high 25 points – going 5-of-5 from 3-point range – in a 99-78 rout.
"Was Delonte injured?" said James, who had 20 points in 31 minutes after scoring 55 Friday night against Milwaukee. "Wow. He played like he was never out. It was great to have him back out there."
West is the Cavaliers’ best perimeter defender, but he’s also turned into perhaps their best outside shooter. With his perfect performance from beyond the arc Sunday, West is now hitting 53.3 percent of his 3s (24-for-45) over his past 10 games.
"I just happened to be the open man," West said. "… I think that one thing about me is that I play off the ball well. With Mo’s penetration and how much attention LeBron draws, I know how to find the open spot on the floor."
Ilgauskas and starter Ben Wallace were out when Cleveland visited Memphis (15-40) last month, but West and James made sure that wouldn’t be a hindrance. West had 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting – hitting all three 3s he attempted – and James had a triple double – 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists – in the Cavaliers’ 102-87 win – their sixth straight over Memphis.
The Grizzlies were in the midst of a 12-game losing streak when Cleveland visited, and they’ve lost four straight heading into this matchup. Memphis fell 115-106 to league-worst Sacramento on Friday.
"Our energy level was way down," coach Lionel Hollins said. "We picked it up for a little bit, but we didn’t have enough guys to win that way.
"It was a lack of energy and effort. It’s humbling."
Memphis hasn’t shot the ball well at all lately, making 41.5 percent over the past six games, and the West’s lowest-scoring team has been worse in that stretch, averaging 90.8 points.
Rookie O.J. Mayo has been one of the biggest culprits. He’s scoring 19.2 points per game in that span, just about his average, but is making only 36.6 percent of his shots while averaging 4.3 turnovers.
Facing the Cavaliers probably won’t make Mayo feel any better. Cleveland held Mayo to a season-low six points last month.
Leading scorer Rudy Gay also fell victim to the Cavaliers’ league-best defense, which allows 90.8 points per game. Gay had 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting in that meeting.
Gay, who’s been battling a hip flexor, had 23 points and 10 rebounds against Sacramento on Friday, but shot 7-of-24.
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Posted: 2/24/09 1:30AM ET