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LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade – three of the top five picks two years ago – have already made an indelible mark on the Association. James has rung up more personal accolades, but ‘Melo and the Flash have tasted the postseason.
Anthony comes into Thursday night’s nationally-televised matchup nearly as hot as LBJ, having scored 40-or-more points in two of his last three games. One of those contests was against Wade’s Miami Heat. Carmelo’s Nuggets are as hot as he is, defying the rigors of the road to win four of their last five ballgames.
“He’s a great player,” LeBron said of his old buddy and rival. “He’s a great one-on-one player. He’s a great team player. He won a national championship and he got his team to the playoffs.”
Carmelo has been in and out of hot water with the league for some questionable decisions. Last week, he was fined $5,000 for kicking a ball into the stands and hitting a kid. (He offered the child an autographed jersey to apologize, but the kid wanted Earl Boykins’ threads instead.) But, like James, Carmelo has become the leader of George Karl’s Nuggets. This year, ‘Melo is averaging almost 23 points, five boards and three assists per game.
“You have to give much respect for a man like him with the way that he has handled everything,” praised James. “We’ve been able to manage our time and manage our play and come out pretty well.”
Until the Cavaliers topped the Nuggets, 93-72, last December 2, LeBron had never beaten Anthony. Tonight, he’ll look to repeat the feat. The Wine and Gold need this one badly.
The rivalry hasn’t been as intense with Wade, who has also reached superstar status. Nowhere is that more evident than the report that came out yesterday that revealed Wade’s Heat jersey is now the No. 1 selling jersey in the NBA. Both James and Anthony have, at one point, held that honor.
Wade’s numbers this year are even more impressive than Anthony’s. The former Marquette star is averaging 26.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 2005-06. Much of that has been done without Shaq.
Wade is versatile and tough. And he has had the luxury of playing with Shaquille O’Neal for the past year-and-a-half. The Diesel is back from his ankle injury and he’ll join the Flash on Saturday night, when the Cavaliers get a true test of where they stand in the East. They’ll also face one of the most prolific coaches in NBA history – Pat Riley – who took over the Heat’s helm this week when Stan Van Gundy abruptly called it quits.
The Cavaliers have been struggling but a pair of wins over the next two opponents at The Q would go a long way in righting the ship as Cleveland plows through the tough month of December.
Be sure to tune in during every Cleveland Cavaliers' game for Joe Gabriele's IN-GAME LIVE quarterly updates.
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 December 15, 2005Eric Snow enters tonight’s game leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.82). Against the Hawks on Tuesday night, Snow had a six assist and zero turnover performance which brought his assist-to-turnover ratio up from 4.47. |
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Skyrocketing: Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets are back on the right track. After a rough start, the Rockets have won 5 out of 6 games and last night beat Golden State in Oakland, 111-105. Rocket rookie Luther Head sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left and Yao Ming scored 4 of his 30 points in the overtime session to pace Houston. Golden State seemed to run out of energy after losing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and winning a last second thriller in Seattle last night.
Around the League
Trading Season: The NBA trade season unofficially begins today as under collective-bargaining rules, players who signed contracts over the summer are ineligible to be dealt for 90 days after they signed or until Dec. 15 – which ever is later. Now that the 15th is here, many teams could look to erase moves that haven’t worked out the way they hoped. Other teams who stood still in the off-season now can make moves after more than a month of games played. There are plenty of rumors out there and many expect there to be a flurry of moves made because the collective-bargaining rules have made it easier to trade players by lessening the value needed in return from teams.
Jay Williams: There is a possibility that an NBA team could have two players on it with exactly the same name. The Miami Heat continue to be interested in former Duke and Chicago Bull standout Jay (changed from Jason) Williams. After evaluating him in the offseason, as the point guard attempted an NBA comeback, the team (and many others) decided to wait. Now, more than a month into the season, the Heat have worked Williams out again. It is not known whether the team will add him as its 15th player, but with current Heat guard Jason Williams injured, they might be tempted.
| DECEMBER 2005 |
Tuesday, December 20th vs. Utah 7:00 p.m. Purchase Tickets
Friday, December 23rd vs. Indiana 8:00 p.m. Purchase Tickets
Saturday, December 31st vs. Detroit 1:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets
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