Bobcats-Cavaliers Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 05 2013 4:01PM

With a refocused Kyrie Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to add to their recent success. A visit from the Charlotte Bobcats could also help in that attempt.

The Cavaliers will try to earn their sixth win in nine games and fifth in their last six at home Wednesday night against the struggling Bobcats.

After averaging 35.7 points and shooting 61.2 percent over a three-game stretch late last month, Irving was held to 14 points in back-to-back games. The All-Star guard admitted after the latter of those contests, a 117-99 loss at Detroit on Friday, that he "got disinterested" and let the game get away from him. He then promised to change that quickly.

Irving lived up to that vow Saturday against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City. He scored 13 of his 35 points in the final 2:52 and made his final five shots in a 115-110 win.

"It's my responsibility as a leader of this team to do this every single night," Irving said. "It has to come from within."

Marreese Speights contributed 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 10 rebounds in his fifth game with Cleveland (14-34). The reserve has scored in double digits in each contest since being acquired from Memphis on Jan. 22

"I love what I see," coach Byron Scott said. "He's a great kid around these guys, and he's very vocal, which is what we need."

Cavaliers fans have probably loved what they've seen from their team in recent matchups with the Bobcats (11-36).

Cleveland has won five straight overall over Charlotte and 13 of 14 all-time home matchups. The Cavaliers have claimed the last three of those games at Quicken Loans Arena by an average of 12.4 points.

The most recent meeting was a little closer as Cleveland needed Irving's help to escape with a 106-104 win in Charlotte on Jan. 4. The point guard hit a jumper from the foul line with one second left and scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter.

That loss was the only one in a three-game stretch for the Bobcats, but they are 2-12 since and have dropped seven of eight on the road.

Charlotte was competitive against East-leading Miami on Monday but fell 99-94 in the fourth of a season-high five-game road trip.

Ramon Sessions had a team-best 18 points in that defeat and is averaging 19.2 over his past six contests - 4.2 better than his season average. The ex-Cleveland guard had 20 points in last month's loss to his former team.

The Bobcats played Monday without No. 2 overall draft pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who suffered a concussion after colliding with teammate Jeff Taylor in a loss to Houston on Saturday. Kidd-Gilchrist's status is unknown, but Byron Mullens is expected to play his second game since recovering from an ankle injury.

Mullens, who missed 19 games, had 12 points and nine rebounds in his return Monday.

"I'm still kind of concerned jumping off of it and getting hurt again," he said, "but I just have to go out there and play with full confidence and not worry about it."

Ben Gordon had a team-leading 27 points in the most recent matchup with the Cavaliers, but he's averaging just 9.8 in his last five games in Cleveland.

Cavaliers declaw Bobcats 122-95

By TOM WITHERS
Posted Feb 06 2013 11:24PM

CLEVELAND (AP) Kyrie Irving spent the fourth quarter on the bench watching and relaxing with the other starters.

No need for any heroics from the All-Star guard this time.

The Cavaliers finally rolled to an easy win the way they used to on a regular basis when LeBron James was Cleveland's hard-court king.

Irving scored 22 points in just three quarters, rookie Dion Waiters added 19 and the Cavs didn't overlook a team with a worse record than their own by clobbering the Charlotte Bobcats 122-95. It was Cleveland's most lopsided win since May 7, 2010 - James' last victory with the Cavaliers.

"It was the first game that I can remember that I got a chance to sit down in the fourth quarter without it being the other way," Cavs coach Byron Scott said following the unusual blowout, the biggest during his three seasons in Cleveland. "So that was a good feeling."

The Cavs were coming off a stunning upset of Oklahoma City, one of the league's best teams. It would have been easy to take the lowly Bobcats (11-37) for granted, but Cleveland came out energized from the start, built a 33-point lead after three quarters and sent Charlotte to its 11th loss in 13 games.

"This was one of those games where I was really curious to see if we learned from some of our past mistakes and if we've grown as a basketball team, and I can say we definitely have," Scott said. "It's just a matter of now just keeping it going."

Tristan Thompson scored 17 for the young-and-improving Cavs, who are 8-9 since Jan. 1.

"It definitely shows that we're making steps in the right direction," said Irving, who scored 35 - 13 in the final 2:52 - against the Thunder. "We're getting better every single game. To come out here and just play the second half the way we wanted to, and the way we finished the first half and continue to execute offensively and defensively, shows that we're making strides."

Byron Mullens scored 15 to pace Charlotte. Bobcats leading scorer Kemba Walker, averaging 17.8 points per game, had just five on 2-of-11 shooting.

Scott was eager to see how his team would respond after Cleveland's stunning win over the talent-thick Thunder. While trying not to disrespect the Bobcats, Scott said before tipoff that "this is a game we should win ... this is the game you should be the most worried about as a basketball player."

As it turned out, the Cavs had no concerns and coasted to their biggest win since James and the Cavs beat Boston 124-95 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2010.

By halftime, Cleveland was ahead by 28 points, shooting 62 percent from the floor and coasting toward a rare laugher. Irving, Thompson and Waiters went a combined 17 of 23 from the field in the first half as the Bobcats appeared as if they couldn't wait to get on the plane back to North Carolina.

The Cavs kept it up in the third quarter, pushing their lead to 33 entering the fourth. Cleveland came in averaging 96 points per game and had 100 by the end of the three, allowing Scott to rest Irving and the rest of his starters for the final 12 minutes.

At the break, Scott recalled how the great Los Angeles Lakers teams he played on with Magic Johnson would put away weaker teams at will.

"We talked about it before games. `This is a team we should beat by 30, and in the fourth quarter I don't want to be playing,"' Scott said "That was one of Magic's statements: I don't want to play in the fourth quarter. That means we've got to come out and bury these guys. I told our guys: You've got to think that same way. Don't think about we're up 24 at halftime, think about being down 24.

"We've got to come out with that same aggressiveness to try to put this team away. I thought our guys did that pretty much."

The Bobcats went 0-5 on a brutal five-game, 10-day trip in which they also lost rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to a concussion.

Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap wasn't pleased with his team's finish to the trip.

"There are three or four of those that happen to you," Dunlap said. "They're not pretty. Obviously the physical effort is unacceptable. We don't like that."

Thompson, a natural left-hander who has shown a deft touch with his right, scored on consecutive short right-handed jumpers in the lane and dropped three free throws - with his left - as the Cavs reeled off 14 straight points to open 21-point lead in the second.

Notes: Irving made all five of his 3-pointers. ... Cleveland had a season-high 33 assists and a season-low six turnovers. ... Scott said he'll have no problem with the decision if Miami coach Erik Spoelstra chooses to start Chris Bosh in the All-Star game rather than Irving. "He's the coach," Scott said. "He's earned that right to pick who he wants." ... Kidd-Gilchrist sustained his concussion Saturday in Houston. Before he can play again, he must pass neurological tests under the league's concussion protocol. The earliest he can return is Friday at home against the Lakers. Dunlap said the rookie "feels substantially better. His head is clearer." ... The Bobcats fell to 1-14 all-time in Cleveland.

Notebook: Cavaliers 122, Bobcats 95

Brian Dulik, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:29 PM - Updated Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:29 PM

THE FACTS: All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 22 points and center Marreese Speights added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 122-95 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Shooting guard Dion Waiters chipped in 19 points for the Cavaliers, who built a 33-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Power forward Byron Mullins led the Bobcats with 15 points, while point guard Ramon Sessions had 14 points. Charlotte fell to 1-14 all time in Cleveland, which is the worst record by a visiting team at Quicken Loans Arena.

QUOTABLE: "We saw when [the Bobcats] were warming up and during the starting lineup introductions that they were kind of moping around, so we emphasized getting off to a quick start and jumping on them early."
-- Cavaliers' Wayne Ellington

THE STAT: The Cavaliers' 122 points were their most since Feb. 11, 2011, when they snapped an NBA-record 26-game losing streak with a 126-119 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Cleveland's 27-point victory margin was its largest in the regular season since it beat the New York Knicks 124-93 on March 1, 2010. "Obviously, our physical effort was unacceptable tonight -- and we don't like that," Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap said. "We expected to play full-out -- and we didn't."

TURNING POINT: On Jan. 22, Cleveland acquired Speights, Ellington, point guard Josh Selby and a first-round draft pick from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for power forward Jon Leuer. The Cavaliers are 5-2 since making the deal, largely because Speights and Ellington are averaging 22.9 points off the bench. "We try to bring a lot of energy and emphasize what we can do on the defensive end of the floor," Ellington said. "It's the small things that make a difference in the NBA."

QUOTABLE II: "We wanted to show growth tonight because Coach [Byron] Scott challenged us. He told us simply that if we didn't win, we could scratch that win we had against Oklahoma City. We wanted to really lay the hammer down."
-- Cavaliers' Tristan Thompson

HOT: Irving shot a career-best 5-for-5 on 3-pointers and is eighth in the NBA with a .429 percentage beyond the arc. ... Speights is averaging 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds with the Cavaliers, while Ellington is averaging 8.2 points while shooting .385 on 3-pointers. ... Thompson was 7-for-8 from the field and scored 17 points in just 24 minutes. ... Cleveland power forward Luke Walton collected six points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals without a turnover off the bench. ... The Cavaliers' 33 assists were a season high, while their six turnovers were a season low. ... Bobcats small forward Hakim Warrick scored six points in six minutes.

NOT: The Bobcats completed their five-game, 10-day road trip without a victory. ... Charlotte power forward Jeff Adrien started and played eight minutes in the first half, but didn't step onto the court the rest of the game. He had two points and no rebounds. ... Warrick has logged nine minutes over the last six contests and was the final player off the Bobcats' bench. ... Sessions made a game-high five turnovers. ... Charlotte center DeSagana Diop was the only player on either squad to be in uniform, but not play. ... Cavaliers small forward Omri Casspi missed both of his field goal attempts and has one basket and two points in six games since Jan. 16.

QUOTABLE III: "The NBA is the NBA for a reason, so you can't blame the way we played on us being on a long road trip. We just had to come out and play better, and we didn't do it tonight."
-- Bobcats' Ramon Sessions

GOOD MOVE: Dunlap kept his postgame message brief after the Bobcats lost for the 32nd time in 36 games since Nov. 26. "Any veteran coach will tell you that going in there and having a fit after a game like this is counterproductive," the rookie NBA coach explained. "You just have to load [your equipment bags] and go." Dunlap also singled out Sessions and power forward Tyrus Thomas for "playing hard" off the bench, making it clear to his other five reserves that he was not happy with them.

BAD MOVE: Despite the lopsided nature of the game, Scott did not use Cavaliers shooting guard Daniel "Boobie" Gibson until 5:44 remained in the fourth. The seventh-year pro had been sidelined since Jan. 26 with a sprained right big toe, but remains one of Cleveland's key substitutes. Gibson scored three points on 1-for-3 shooting. ... Only 13,264 fans attended the Cavaliers' fifth win in their last six games at Quicken Loans Arena. It was their fourth-smallest home crowd of the season.

NOTABLE: Bobcats small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (concussion) traveled to Cleveland, but missed his second straight game. The No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft was injured Saturday when he took a scary fall to the court at Houston. "Mike's head is clear and all of his [physical] signs are a plus," Dunlap said. "He said everything feels substantially better." ... Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao (season-ending right knee surgery) visited his teammates before the game and said he remains on blood thinners, but the post-surgical blood clots in his lungs have dissipated. "I feel good, really good, actually," the mop-topped Brazilian said.

UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Saturday @ Philadelphia, Monday vs. Boston. For the Cavaliers, Friday vs. Orlando, Saturday vs. Denver, Monday vs. Minnesota.

• Bobcats: Kidd-Gilchrist
• Cavaliers: Selby, Varejao

• Bobcats: Henderson
• Cavaliers: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
• Officials: #15 Bennett Salvatore, #6 Tony Brown, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 13264
• Duration: 1:59