WaitingForNextYear

Cleveland Cavaliers (61-15, 1st in Eastern Conference)    San Antonio Spurs (49-26, 3rd in Western)                          Sunday, April 4, 2009 – 3:00 PM                                                Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH                                     ABC/WTAM

As Joe Mantegna Verbal Kint said in The Usual Suspects, “And like that – poof.  He’s gone”.  That’s what can be said about the Cavs’ three game lead over the Lakers for the best record in the league.  With losses to the Wizards and the Magic in the past three days the Cavs have given up ground to not only the Lakers (who are now one game back) but also to the Celtics and Magic, who are now 3.5 and 4.5 games behind in the Eastern Conference standings, respectively.Today’s matchup is against the San Antonio Spurs, they of boring efficient basketball fame.  The Spurs currently sit at third in the Western Conference, behind LA and Denver.  The big news for the Spurs as of late is the return of Manu Ginobili.  Manu Manu returned early this week after a lengthy stay on the DL.  Though his minutes may be limited to save his body for the playoffs, it’s undeniable that the Spurs are happy to have him back.

Projected Starting Lineups

Cleveland Cavaliers:

-G Mo Williams (17.9 ppg, 4.0 apg, 0.9 spg)
-G Delonte West (11.5 ppg, 3.6 apg, .389 3P%)
-F LeBron James (28.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 7.3 apg)
-F Anderson Varejao (8.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
-C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (13.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg)

Key Reserves: Daniel Gibson, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, Sasha Pavlovic

The Cavs met the Spurs once already this season, though the team that played is not one that will resemble the Spurs team you will see today.  The Spurs were riddled with injuries the last time around, playing without Ginobili and Time Duncan.  This team will have its full roster available.  The Spurs have been a shell of their former selves this year, but still are dangerous.

The big question in this game is how the Cavs will come back from the worst two-game stretch we’ve seen since the Browns were playing last fall.  After two games where there was no sense of urgency, can the Cavs flip the switch and regain their swagger?  I’m sure they’ll still be loose and do some sort of fake filming of a sporting event before the game, but the real question is whether or not the Cavs will be focused on the task at hand.

The Cavs need to reestablish the suffocating defense that they’ve become known for this year.  As much as some of us have been hitting the panic button after the last two games, the Cavs can make big strides towards reestablishing themselves as the team to beat by handling a very good but aging Spurs team.  After a rough road trip, returning home to the Q should hopefully serve as a shot to the arm for the Cavs and kick-start the Cavaliers as they get closer and closer to the playoffs.

Vegas Line

San Antonio +6
Over/Under 180.5

From The Outside Looking In

Pounding the Rock

Next Game For The Cavaliers

Wednesday, April 8, 2009
7:00 PM EST
Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers
FSNOH/WTAM