The Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the game from Quicken Loans Arena starts up past 7:30 pm ET and has LeBron James taking on Lance Stephenson as Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving get things going for the Cavs heading into the back stretch of the January and into the All-Star break.
The Cavaliers come in after a win against the Utah Jazz and that saw James lead the way in scoring and now they have the Hornets before a big matchup with the Thunder. The Cavaliers play against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on Sunday afternoon and that should be a huge matchup for the league. The Thunder have been playing well since their stars returned and so have the Cavs, as LeBron James and Kevin Love are now back in the lineup.
The Cavs have been playing much better since falling under .500 and now they are on a winning streak and they come in at three games over with a 23-20 record. The team is now second in the central division and they can set their sights on the Bulls, as they have slumped since the calendar turned to 2015. The Cavaliers are now ranked 15th in the league in scoring and James comes in after dropping 26 points and nine assists against the Jazz, while Kevin Love put up 13 rebounds to lead the way.
The Cavs are starting to play better as a team and now the stars are clicking and that is bad news for the rest of the league. The Cavaliers are looking to take care of business at home and a win here would clinch the sweep of the season series against the Hornets in three games. The Cavs have been rolling on offense, winning four games in a row and putting up 100 points for the fifth game straight. The team now has the chance to beat the Hornets, as they come in actually playing fairly well, going 8-2 in their last 10 games, but they are just 18-25 on the season.
The Cavaliers have been much improved after the trades for JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov and Shumpert has yet to suit up and he could be a big boost as well. Mozgov has added some much needed defense, averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds over the last two games, while Smith has helped add an offensive flourish from the outside.
The Hornets are playing well during this little stretch, as they have been playing great defense and they are now ranked seventh in points allowed per game. The team comes in after a win against the Heat and they will next play against the NY Knicks after this matchup with the Cavaliers in Cleveland.
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