Cleveland (10-4) beat Seattle 112-85 on Nov. 9 for their largest margin of victory on the season. All-Star F Lebron James led the way for Cleveland with 31 points and believes the Sonics will be fired up. "Seattle's going to be competitive," James said. "They're going to want to get us back for what we did to them last time. I think we'll need to come in with the mindset to play great, get defensive stops and try to contain G Ray Allen and F Rashard Lewis." Cleveland needed overtime on Tuesday to beat the upcoming Los Angeles Clippers 112-105 at the Quicken Loans Arena., C Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers in scoring with 29 points, James pitched in 28 and F Donyell Marshall nailed two three pointers in overtime to help Cleveland end a two game losing streak. Cleveland is only 3-3 on the road and have yet to prove they are worthy of being a road favorite in the NBA. Seattles defense is on holiday vacation. Seattle (4-6) is giving up 104.6 points per game, the most in the NBA. The Sonics are second in field goal percentage allowing other teams to hit a healthy 48.6 percent from the floor. Last season the Sonics made the playoffs by allowing only 96.6 points per game on 46 percent shooting. Seattle is also become lackadaisical on the glass. Seattle is being out rebounded by a margin of 4.36 per game after out rebounding their opponents by three rebounds per game last season. Danny Fortson is day-to-day with a toe injury and will be needed against the tough frontcourt of the Cavaliers. Seattle did stop a three game losing streak by beating the Charlotte Bobcats 104-94 on Tuesday at the Key arena. Allen led the Sonics in scoring with 32 points and Lewis contributed 27 points. The Sonics will need help from the rest of the team if they want to even out the series with Cleveland. |
