Keepin' The Streak Alive

Yes, Jeff, LeBron is #1.
Yes, Jeff, LeBron is #1.

Welcome home ya’ll. 

Before we begin, I’d like to get one thing off my chest real quick.  I thoroughly enjoyed that Christmas Day wallop of the defending champs.  But I strongly dislike watching any games  that Jeff Van Gundy is calling.  It seemed like every time he spoke the other night, he was praising Kobe Bryant for something.  Yes, Kobe is a great basketball player (though still the second best in the league).  But c’mon, Jeff.  The man almost had more shot attempts than Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher combined.  And he whined about every single nonfoul call.  On the other hand, LeBron gave another outstanding effort but struggled to impress Van Gundy at all.  And most importantly, TheBron’s unimpressive effort led to a W for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland has won three straight and have beaten some of the best teams in the league.  After dropping a game to the Dirk-less Mavericks, our Wine and Gold ball team put a fourth quarter beat down on the Phoenix Suns.  They headed west to nip Sacramento in overtime.  And then, best of all, they had LA looking so dazed and confused that Lakers fans went nuts.  Ahhh… ‘tis the season.

Next up for our beloved hoopsters is the Houston Rockets. 

And here’s how it breaks down:

Houston had their way with our Cavaliers back on December 9th.  Without Yao Ming in the lineup, Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza lead the way for the 14-11 Rockets.  Brooks comes into Sunday night’s contest averaging a team-high 17.1 points and 5.3 assists per game.  Ariza’s 1.93 steals per game is a team-best and his 16.6 points a night is second on the team.

In their first meeting with Cleveland this year, Aaron Brooks went for 27 points and 6 assists while Ariza canned 26.  Houston picked apart Cleveland’s attack on the defensive end and held the Cavs to 85 points while allowing only 7 from Mo Williams.

Prediction:

Cleveland has yet to lose a game this season when Mo Williams pours in 20 or more points to help LeBron.

On Sunday night, Mo Gotti does more than his share of work.  After nailing two threes in the opening period, Mo nets another pair in the second period.  He leads all scorers with 16 going into the break and Cleveland takes a 56-48 advantage.

By the third quarter Mo has really found his stroke.  His signature Mo-Flo in the lane two minutes into the second half gives him 20 points and, therefore, ensures another Cavaliers victory.  Why stop there?  Williams matches his first half scoring total with 16 in the third period and the Cavs enter the fourth quarter with a comfortable 18 point lead.

Shane Battier nets a tre and Trevor Ariza draws a LeBron-like and-one to start the period.  Jamario Moon throws down a vicious alley-oop slam out of the Mike Brown timeout to stop the brief Rocket run.  After a theft on one end, Mo Williams pulls up for the knockout three to put Cleveland up 18 with Bron coming back into the game.  The Rockets can’t close the gap and Brown hands the game over to the bench with Cleveland up 19 with a minute to go.  Cavs take their fourth straight against Western Conference teams and pick up their 24th win of the season.  Cleveland wins, 98-85.

Take that Mr. Van Gundy!

CAVS WIN +13