NBA Early Preview – Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat (XMas)
The NBA schedule-makers are always looking to create drama and excitement wherever they can. When LeBron James made the move to Cleveland, everyone knew that his return to Miami would be scheduled in the most prominent place possible. In the Association, that’s Christmas Day.
As you and your families shower each other with gifts, James and the Cavaliers (16-10) will be trying to shower the Miami Heat (13-5) with alley-oops and treys at at American Airlines Arena (5:00 p.m. Eastern).
One of the biggest question marks heading into this game is how James will be received by the Heat fans. The King led Miami to four straight NBA finals – and two championships – but then dumped the squad just as quickly as he arrived. While he likely won’t hear the same type of boos that rained down in Cleveland in the wake of “the Decision,” you can bet that there will be some disgruntled fans in the seats.
On the court, the Cavs will come into this game as heavy favorites (though the line is not out yet). Cleveland is slowly building chemistry and finding its form, winning seven of their last ten and inching closer to the Bulls for first-place in the Central Division. James and point guard Kyrie Irving both suffered minor injuries recently, but neither is expected to miss Thursday’s game.
In contrast, Miami will be without star forward Chris Bosh, who is out indefinitely with a calf injury. The Heat weren’t playing well before Bosh went down, going just 4-8 in December. That trend has only continued without their leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, as Miami has lost three of five in Bosh’s absence.
Making matters worse, point guard Dwyane Wade is day-to-day with a knee injury. If Wade can’t go, this Christmas day game will lose a lot of its appeal; the Heat will be forced to put in the ball in the hands of Mario Chalmers, who is having a nice season, but is not capable of carrying a team.
Miami has won the last ten meetings with the Cavs, however, the most important player has reversed his pinnie. Whether Wade can go or not, look for the Cavs to dominate on Christmas and end their losing streak to the Heat.
(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA (AAAA0584) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
