Tuesday, January 9th, the Cavaliers faced off against the Kings in Arco Arena. This game was to kick off a seven game road trip which is to have the Cavaliers playing in seven cities in the Western Conference. Coming off a four game winning streak, the Cavaliers were looking to not only keep the streak alive in Sacramento, but also get their “West side tour” off to a great start.

LeBron and company started the game awfully. They looked sloppy and they were doing a lot of dribbling and shooting without setting up plays or getting some ball movement. The began pounding the ball inside like they so often do at the start of games. Giving Big “Z” some touches early. Drew Gooden even got in on the low post game, knocking down some buckets on Shareef. The Cavaliers however, were a little worried with the Kings getting fast-break points, so they didn’t crash the boards very hard offensively and they got back on defense more quickly. They let “Z” and AV try and nab some offensive rebounds, while the guards and LeBron got ready to slow down the Kings at half court. This play worked, the Kings had zero fast-break points in the first half, however, the half court defense of the Cavaliers was terrible.

The Kings looked to post up early on LeBron James with the solid body of Ron Artest. Artest had two easy buckets on LeBron early. A little later he did the same thing to Hughes, little did he know that this was the last play he would truly have his way with the Cavaliers on offense. Sacramento was pulling Miller out on offense to his favorite spots (the elbows) and forcing “Z” to play defense where he isn’t comfortable (any where not close to the basket). This worked. The Kings ran players off of Miller with give-and-go type play. Martin and Bibby were doing most of the rubbing off Miller. Martin and Bibby (mainly Bibby who was hot in the first half) would then come off Miller and take an easy shot or wait for Miller to step away from “Z” (who was trying to hedge out and stop Bibby) and pass Miller the ball who then would easily hit the shot (Miller was also on fire in the first half). The Cavaliers couldn’t stop this play and the Kings couldn’t miss a shot. The Kings were beating the Cavaliers by 17 points.

Around eight minutes to go in the third quarter, something clicked and the Cavaliers picked up the pressure on defense. The Cavs began getting to the open man, boxing out, and getting in Sacramento’s face. The Kings started struggling, and the Cavalier defense began to thrive. As we all know, when the Cavaliers do good on defense, they begin to do good on offense as well. The Cavaliers went on a 10-0 run to close the 17 point gap they had found themselves in. The real turning point was when AV got a pass from LeBron, got fouled, and made the bucket. He then made the freethrow for a three point game. After that, the Kings had lost all momentum and the game.

The Crowd was getting angry and the Kings were getting flustered. Mike Bibby got an on the floor foul and he threw up a shot from beyone the arc, just because. It went in and the crowd cheered, they all knew it didn’t count, but at least they finally saw something go threw the hoop in their favor. The Kings went seven minutes and thiry seconds without a field goal, although they did get some points off freethrows.

In the fourth, LeBron got real hot and made three shots behind the arc in a row, one from pretty far down town. The once 17 point lead for the Kings had diminished and in its place was a 10 point deficient. The game ended with the score being 108-98. Chalk another win for the Cavaliers. LeBron had 34 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists with 24 points in the second half. Drew Gooden had another double-double that included 21 points and 11 rebounds. Big “Z” put up 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. The top scorers for the Kings included Brad Miller with 24, Mike Bibby with 26, and Kevin Martin with 23 points.

The Cavaliers got their first road win in this “West side tour,” they increased their winning streak to five games, and they increased their lead in the Central Divison by one game against the Pistons who also won that night. The Cavalier defense is what sparked and won the game for the Cavaliers tonight. Defense like what was played in the second half is what wins championships and defense like that, if the Cavs keep it up, will have them playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, headed to the NBA Finals. The Cavs need to keep that defensive pressure and intensity throughout the season and more importantly in the playoffs. The Kings couldn’t handle that second half ‘D, can the rest of the NBA?

Next up: The Suns. This is a big time game for the Cavaliers and a chance to prove they aren’t the same as the rest of the East, they mean business.

- Drake