LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to get back on track with a second straight victory on Thursday night. (Getty)
The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming home and they’d like to completely erase the memory of the last time they were there.
LeBron James and the Cavs will play at the Q for the first time since Monday night’s absolute beatdown by the Golden State Warriors, but there’s still reason for Cleveland fans to be a bit positive. The Cavaliers got a much-needed victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday and earned a day off on Wednesday before tonight’s tilt against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers will be without Blake Griffin, but they’re still a dangerous team and the Cavs are going to need another win if they want to build some momentum heading into February. Here’s everything you need to know about the East-West matchup:
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2016
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: QuickenLoans Arena, Cleveland, OH
TV Channel: TNT
Line: Cleveland -6.5 via OddsShark
Live Stream: TNT Overtime
Game Preview: It’s time for the Cavaliers to get back on track and regain a bit of home court pride.
After the fairly embarrassing performance against the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Cleveland is looking to seize some of its momentum back, returning to the Q after a road win over the Brooklyn Nets and a day off on Wednesday.
“For us, we haven’t earned anything,” LeBron James said after the bounce-back win. “We just got to go out and prove ourselves to each other, it’s not about what everybody else thinks, it’s about what we need for each other to get better every night. I think tonight it was very easy to look each other in the face and know that we got better tonight.”
Now, there’s good news and bad news for the Cavs matchup against Los Angeles.
The good news, at least for Cleveland, is that Blake Griffin will be sidelined once again as he continues to recover from a partially torn left quadriceps tendon. The bad news is that LA seems to be doing fairly well without Griffin. In fact, the Clippers are 10-1 without him and J.J. Redick has been on absolute fire, averaging 22 points and shooting 58.6 percent from distance.
Add into the mix that Redick currently leads the league with .473 points per touch and the Cavs are facing a seriously challenging return home.
Meanwhile, the Clippers aren’t getting off easy either. Los Angeles will take on New York and Indiana after tonight’s game, matchups against three Eastern Conference division leaders.
This one is going to be fun.