Cleveland is coming off another disappointing loss, this time to the Utah Jazz, and there are now disturbing reports of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving having an "intra-team war".
They'll try to get their season back on track against the Nuggets, who are struggling so far this season and are coming off a blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers (1-3)
G Kyrie Irving – 22.0 ppg, 3.8 apg
G Shawn Marion – 2.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg
F LeBron James – 23.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.8 apg
F Kevin Love – 17.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg
C Anderson Varejao – 9.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Denver Nuggets (1-3)
G Ty Lawson - 12.5 ppg, 7.8 apg
G Aaron Afflalo - 11.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg
F Wilson Chandler – 9.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg
F Kenneth Faried - 10.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg
C Timofey Mosgov - 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
What to watch for:
How will the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving saga play out on the court?
James and Irving had some words with each other following Cleveland's loss to Portland, and they seemed to just take turns dominating the ball in the Cavs' loss to Utah.
That has killed Cleveland's offense so far as there has been a total lack of ball movement. If they play that way again and only have six assists as a team (like they did against the Jazz), they won't win. However, they're so much more talented than Denver that if they share the ball just a little bit, Cleveland will walk away with the easy victory.
Who steps up for Denver?
The Nuggets have been missing that key player who will step up and lead their team, making plays when they need it. Ty Lawson had been that guy in the past, but he's only shooting 38.2% so far this season.
Lawson, Aaron Afflalo, and Kenneth Faried all have that ability to take over a game, but they just haven't yet. The Nuggets need one of them to have a monster performance to pull out a win in this one.
Prediction: Cavs win 93-86
Cleveland came out incredibly slow against the Jazz and played uninspired basketball in the first 20 minutes before they picked up their level of play and got themselves back into the game. Given all the criticism this team has taken since then, I expect the Cavs to come out looking to prove a point and will control this one from the opening tip.
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