Cleveland Cavaliers: What to Watch for Against the Sacramento Kings
The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled mightily as of late, but they hopefully can figure it all around in this game against the Sacramento Kings.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost two straight games on their six-game road trip. They narrowly defeated the Phoenix Suns before dropping ones to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz. And tonight, they hopefully can bounce back against the Sacramento Kings.
The Cavaliers have been playing poorly to say the least. Only four players have averaged double figures in the last two games- actually only those four players (James, Irving, Thompson, and Love) have averaged over 5 points per game. Talk about pitiful.
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Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, and other bench players have got to step up for the Cavs to get back on track. While the Big 3 and Thompson are the cornerstones of this team, they will not win (let only on the road) without their role players.
And with Golden State quickly approaching, the Cavaliers need to find their grove, and it starts in Sacramento. Without further ado, here is what you can watch for on Friday night.
Shutting Boogie Down
The Sacramento Kings, a dysfunctional organization, are led by superstar DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins. It will most likely fall on Tristan Thompson to shut this nightly 20-20 threat down.
While not top MVP candidate, Boogie does average 28.0 points per game and makes 1.8 threes per game. His influence in the offense and ability for Tristan Thompson to shut him down will be huge in this game.
DeMarcus Cousins will be a factor in this game. He has the ability to draw fouls, get to the free throw line, and cause havoc for every opponent. But if the Cavaliers can get out to a strong start, which they have done as of late, they might be able to aggravate the easily agitated Cousins. This will be a key for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers won by a +29 in their combined meeting last season, and they allowed Boogie only 14 points in one of those games. This is what they must do in order to secure an easy victory.
Prediction: If the Cavaliers can find a way to shut him down (under 20 points), then the Cavaliers will win by 15+.
Can Kyrie Return to His Usual Self?
Kyrie Irving has averaged 23.8 points per game and has been one of the renown leaders of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he has been off lately. In his last game in Portland, he scored only 14 points which was the second lowest for him this season.
His 15.5 points per game in their last two losses has been atrocious. Couple that with his 26.5% from the field, and it is clear that something has been wrong.
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Cleveland.com writer Chris Fedor seems to think that Kyrie’s injury could play part:
“Only Irving knows how much this is playing a part, but his shooting struggles coincide with a return from a hamstring tweak. He hasn’t regained his rhythm and isn’t finishing at the rim with the same effectiveness. He’s also not setting teammates up the way he did at the end of December.”
With or without his injury causing him to slow down, Kyrie Irving has got to regain his momentum and quickly. His overall influence on the Cavaliers team is too great for them to consistently win without Irving.
Prediction: If Kyrie Irving scores over 25 points, the Cavaliers will win.
Mar 6, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) runs into Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver (26) during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Watch #3: Can the Subs Perform?
While the entire team has seemed to play subpar, the Cavaliers bench has reached a new level of horrible. With not even one bench player scoring over five points per game in the last two games, this has to change and quickly.
The Cavs bench has been a problem for a while, but after the acquisition of Kyle Korver everything was thought to be ok. Now after two games with Korver averaging 2 points in 21.5 minutes, the team is starting to see struggle.
Allen Crabbe in the game against Portland put up 24 points on the Cavaliers and almost beat the Cavs bench himself. Luckily, in that game Crabbe was the only real contributor off of the Portland bench. In the Utah game both teams second unit struggled. The Cavs scored just 13 bench points compared to the Jazz 18.
While this has become a major concern, the hopefully regeneration of Shumpert should kickstart the second unit. Korver should quickly come around too.
Prediction: If the Cavaliers bench scores 30+, the Cavaliers will win by 15+.
This Cavaliers team is nicely built, and they should quickly see relief from this slacking. Containing Boogie along with kickstarting Kyrie and their bench will all be major factors as they try to avoid a three-game losing streak.
