Cleveland Cavaliers, who stand atop the eastern conference in the NBA, are set to face the second-lowest team in the western conference, New Orleans Pelicans, at Smoothie King Centre on Friday. The Cavaliers will be gunning for their 14th victory of the season when LeBron James and co square off against the Pelicans.
The Cavaliers will be eager for victory as they lost their last match against the Washington Wizards, a match they were expected to win at home. Hence, they are aware they cannot take any team lightly irrespective of their standings in the league.
LeBron James knows they need to come up with a better performance as they were defeated in all departments of the game against the Wizards.
"To start off, they beat us from the beginning to the end," AP quoted James as saying. "With the 10-0 run in the first quarter, to the 7-0 run in the third quarter, they beat us in every facet of the game. Their pace, their speed and their ability to get the ball up the floor really quickly caused us problems tonight."
James, who is not used to losing, is expected to shine and help his team emerge victorious against the Pelicans. James has been their standout player this season, as expected, with 25.6 points per game alongside Kevin Love, who has been great with a 19.2 ppg average.
If the duo comes up with their A-game, the Pelicans can forget about winning as the duo can create havoc and make life miserable for the Pelicans, who will depend on Anthony Davis as he averages 23.8 this season.
The Pelicans are in desperate need of a change of fortunes as they have lost four matches on a trot and have an uphill task to break their losing streak when they hosts Cavaliers. Despite their poor record of late, they were decent against Houston Rockets in their last game, but made a number of turnovers, which cost them the match as well.
Davis, who scored 29 points against Rockets, wants his players to not make the same error of turnovers against the Cavaliers, who with their array of stars, can make them pay heavily.
"When we needed a basket, we had turnovers," said Anthony Davis. "It was tough and we just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. They came up with some stops and ... converted them on the other end."
Where to watch live
New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game is scheduled for 9:30 pm EST (8 am IST, 2:30 am GMT) start. Sony Six/HD will offer live Tv coverage for India viewers.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game will be shown live in the UK on BT Sport 1 with live streaming on Watch BT Sport or with the BT Sport Online app.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game will be shown live in the US on ESPN with live streaming option on WatchESPN.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game can be followed live in the Philippines on Fox Sports.
International viewers, including those in India, can watch all the NBA live action by live streaming on NBA Online.
