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Key: The Mamba's Last Ride
Apart from the huge sideshow in tonight’s game – Kobe Bryant’s final game at The Q – tonight’s contest provides the Cavaliers with an excellent opportunity to head into All-Star Weekend with some solid momentum.
After dropping two straight late last week, the Wine and Gold rebounded to blow past both the Pelicans and Kings, improving their record against the West to 17-1 at home over their last 18 matchups. On Monday night, the Cavs made short work of Sacramento – opening up a double-digit lead late in the first half and allowing the Kings to get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.
The Cavaliers will look to improve their record against the West when Byron Scott’s struggling Lakers roll into Cleveland on Wednesday night. Despite the goodwill of Bryant’s farewell tour, the Lakers have struggled all season and come to The Q having dropped 16 of 19 since January 5. On Monday night, the Lakers dropped a close contest in Indiana – with Kobe leading the way with 19 points, despite going 6-of-25 from the floor to do so.
It’ll be an emotional night in Cleveland, but the Cavaliers have business to take care of before wrapping up the season’s first half.
Key: Farewell Tour
Wednesday night will mark Kobe Bryant’s 16th and final visit to Quicken Loans Arena, and he’s had some huge nights here. But in terms of wins and losses, victories haven’t come easy for the Black Mamba in Cleveland.
Although Kobe hasn’t played in the Lakers’ last two visits to The Q, the Lakers are 1-8 in his last nine appearances. Bryant – who hasn’t won in Cleveland since 2009 – was outstanding in his last three visits: posting 42 points in his last appearance, doubling up with 17 points and 12 boards before that and finishing with 31 points in January 2010.
In the final season of his Hall of Fame career, Bryant has been up and down – although he’s showed flashes of his former self lately, averaging 26.4 points per over his last five games, including a 27-point, 12-rebound performance against the Pelicans last Thursday and a 38-point outburst against the Timberwolves in the game before that. Overall, Kobe has a 17-15 mark against the Wine and Gold dating back to 1997.
Although he missed the game in Cleveland last year, he did double-up with 19 points and a career-high 17 assists in the Cavs’ season-altering win in Tinseltown.
Key: Down with the King
All eyes will be on one future Hall of Famer as he winds down his illustrious career. The game’s other future Hall of Famer still has plenty of unfinished business to attend to, and he’ll continue his work on Wednesday night.
As he prepares to make his 12th consecutive All-Star start, LeBron James will try to ensure that his squad heads into the Break feeling good about itself when the second half begins eight days later against the Bulls. On Monday night, James notched his first triple-double of the season – and 40th of his career – going an even 8-of-16 from the floor for 21 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.
LeBron and Kobe have had some epic duels over the years and tonight could be the last of them (although the Cavs face the Lakers once more – on March 10 in L.A.). In two games against the Lakers last year, LeBron averaged 29.0 points on 51 percent shooting to go with 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists. In his lone head-to-head matchup with the Mamba, LeBron went off for 36 points in just his second game back from an eight-game layoff.
Key: Long-Distance Calls
Although he won’t be in this weekend’s Three-Point Shootout in Toronto, not many current players are shooting the ball better from long-range than J.R. Smith.
On Monday night, he drilled the 1,600th three-pointer of his career – going 6-for-12 overall from beyond the arc. Monday’s win notched the second straight game in which he hit six triples and the sixth time this season he’s done so. Monday also marked his fifth straight game that he’s drilled at least four treys and the 11th straight game that he’s hit at least a pair. Since the start of the new year, only Stephen Curry has hit more threes than Swish – who’s hit 73 since January 1 and 257 since his arrival on January 7 of last year, the most in the Eastern Conference over that span.
Smith, who’s scored at least 20 points in each of his last three outings, leads the way from long-range as the Cavaliers rank 5th in the NBA, hitting an average 10.1 treys per game. The Cavaliers are hosting a road-weary Lakers squad on Wednesday and although they’ve been stingy against the long-ball this season, the Wine and Gold have the East’s hottest shooters on a roll right now.
Key: Kyrie-Diculous
Kyrie Irving and Kobe Bryant never did have that eagerly-anticipated one-on-one battle that was hyped a few years ago. But Kobe might still find himself tangled up with Irving at certain points during tonight’s contest.
That hasn’t been a good matchup for any opponent as of late, with Kyrie quickly rounding back into All-Star form. In Monday night’s win over Sacramento, Kyrie tied a season-high in points and tied a career-high in assists. On the night, Kyrie finished with 32 points – going 13-for-21 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc – adding three boards, a blocked shot and a team-high 12 assists.
Irving has now topped the 20-point mark in six of his last seven games, averaging 25.7 points on 55 percent shooting over that span. He was right on that mark against the Lakers in two contests last season – averaging 25.0 points on 63 percent shooting, including 42 percent from long range. He’ll square off primarily with Lou Williams – who’s had some big games with Toronto against the Wine and Gold – on Wednesday.
Kyrie might not have made the All-Star squad, but he looks every bit the part as we head towards the Break.