The Cleveland Cavaliers are once again thriving on all cylinders heading into a Christmas Day showdown with the Golden State Warriors. After a slow start to the season, the Cavaliers are getting healthy with the return of Kyrie Irving and they hope that things begin to get better as they prepare to face a New York Knicks team dealing with an injury to Carmelo Anthony.
According to the New York Post, Anthony suffered an ankle injury in the loss to the Orlando Magic which might be a factor over the next few weeks. Downplaying the issue, Anthony finished the game against the Magic, but he was clearly in pain as Knicks' fans hold their breath. Last year, the team met their complete demise after Anthony was lost for the season. They do not want a repeat of that this time around.
New York is in the midst of a four-game skid as they have yet to score more than 90 points in that stretch. That is not going to help them as they face a Cavaliers' defense that is only giving up an average of 84.8 points per game. With Anthony struggling, the Knicks will rely heavily on the play of Arron Afflalo who is averaging 23.0 points on 63.4 percent shooting over the past three games. Lance Thomas is also hitting his scoring stride. One player not hitting their stride is Kristaps Porzingis for is slumping shooting 29.0 percent overall in the last seven games.
Cleveland is looking to take advantage of the slumping Knicks as they prepare for a highly-touted matchup against the Warriors. The Cavaliers are beginning to find their form as Irving returned from a knee injury. The point guard scored 12 points in 17 minutes of action against the 76ers and that will only get better. The same can be said for Iman Shumpert who returned from wrist surgery and then a groin injury. The roster is now nearly at full strength which means Cleveland can return to being the best in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James has been carrying the team at this point in the year while averaging 29.2 points on the team's recent win streak. That should increase against a Knicks team where he had 31 points in their first meeting.
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