Preview: Brooklyn At Cleveland
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, November 28, 2015
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
The Cleveland Cavaliers seemed to put an end to their road woes and can now set their sights on maintaining their dominance at home. The Cavaliers, one of three NBA teams with no losses at home, begin a two-game homestand Saturday against the woeful Brooklyn Nets.
Behind 25 points and 13 rebounds from LeBron James, Cleveland got past Charlotte 95-90 on Friday to snap a three-game road skid. Six of the Cavaliers’ eight home victories have been decided by double digits and they’ve defeated Brooklyn four straight times at Quicken Loans Arena. The Nets are coming off a 110-99 loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday to fall to 1-9 on the road, but a favorable stretch is on the horizon. Once it departs Cleveland, Brooklyn plays eight of its next nine games at home and the one road game is against cross-town rival New York.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE NETS (3-12): In addition to its recent issues in Cleveland, Brooklyn figures to be overmatched in many departments, especially beyond the arc. The Nets entered Friday ranked second-to-last in 3-point percentage (29.9) and are making a league-low 4.9 a game, compared to the Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference-leading 10.5 (at a 37.2 percent clip). Struggling veteran Joe Johnson missed all five of his long-range tries in the loss to the Thunder, part of his team’s 3-of-13 effort.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (12-4): Coach David Blatt essentially used a seven-man rotation against the Hornets and will be challenged with trying to keep his players fresh in the second half of a back-to-back. James shot 4-of-13 and scored a season-low 12 points in the back end of team’s first back-to-back and committed a season-high seven turnovers in its second set. The superstar was held to 20 points on 44.4 percent shooting in four meetings with the Nets last season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers PF Kevin Love is averaging 24 points and 12.6 rebounds over his last five games.
2. Nets PG Shane Larkin is 13-of-20 from 3-point distance since Nov. 11.
3. Cleveland C Tristan Thompson has at least 11 rebounds in five consecutive contests.
PREDICTION: Cavaliers 96, Nets 88