Cheers Gospelers (and Gospelettes)!

 As if we needed another reason to stumble on down to the Q, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Monday afternoon that they have added a new name to the arena; let us all welcome Tsingtao, China’s most popular beer company, to our home.  And what better way to welcome them to our home than by whoopin’ up on a team from Wisconsin (the state accounting for biggest consumption of alcohol in the United States).  Oh, the irony of it all…

 …and here’s how it breaks down:

Milwaukee will enter Friday night’s matchup coming off of back-to-back overtime contests, the latter of which was a last second dagger by Kobe Bryant’s crew.  Brandon Jennings has continued to outperform all rookies this season and is averaging 20.7 points and an even 6 assists through the first quarter of the season.  Andrew Bogut mans the paint and accounts for 16.9 points and 9.6 boards per contest.  Since the Cavs last matched up with Milwaukee on December 6th, the Bucks have returned veteran guard Michael Redd to the floor.  Through 7 games this season, Redd is producing 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per night.

What to Look For:

After starting the game down 11 – 0, Cleveland harassed Milwaukee on the defensive end in their first match up this season.  The Cavs then went on a 29 – 0 run of their own that lasted 11 minutes, 25 seconds and left the Bucks baffled.  Look for Cleveland to come out with that same intensity on the defensive end and put this game in the books early.

Delonte West put on his best showing of the season in the first game of this series going for 21 points on 6 of 9 from the field.  Look for Delonte to attack the rack again tonight and come up big for the streaking Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers snagged 48 rebounds compared to Milwaukee’s 38 in their first contest.  The combination of Andy, Shaq, and Z have a definite advantage over their opponents interior so look for Cleveland to exploit that weakness again tonight.

Prediction:

Cleveland starts off Friday night’s contest with a noticeable intensity on the defensive side of the ball.  The only problem is, they can’t seem to buy a bucket either.  The league’s best first quarter team is held to 18 points in the first period but lead the way 18 – 17 in the offensive juggernaut.  They find a bit of a groove with the combination of LeBron – Gibson – West – Z- and Andy on the floor and pour in 31 in the second period, 7 of those coming from Delonte West.  The Wine and Gold lead 49 – 42 going into the locker room.

Brandon Jennings strokes two threes right out of the break and puts his team within one with 10 minutes to play in the third.  On the ensuing possession, LeBron dribbles left then dribbles right; he attacks the rack with 4 seconds on the shot clock and gets the hoop and the harm.  As he pulls himself out of the crowd, the King spots a young gentleman sitting courtside and, doing his best Ron Artest impression, takes a swig of Tsingtao.  He knocks down the free throw and screams, “游戏过来” (‘Game over’ in Chinese).

And that it was.  The King pours in 19 points in the final 10 minutes of the period and leads his team to a 82 – 65 lead through three.  West, Mo Williams, and Anderson Varejao hold down the fort to start the fourth and James never returns to the game.  Mike Brown clears his bench in the final two minutes of the game with his team up 97-77 and Danny Green excites Chalupa lovers at the Q with a vicious two handed slam with 40 seconds to play and Cleveland pulls off an impressive 101 – 83 victory.

骑士赢 +18