Live Thread: Cavs @ Pelicans

The Cavs will look to bend a few beaks tonight as they prepare to take on the Pelicans in the first game of a quick back-to-back weekend road trip at Smoothie King Center (yeah, that’s right… Smoothie King… drink it in). New Orleans hasn’t quite lived up to their lofty expectations, after surprisingly winging their way into the playoffs last season. They come into this one with just a 4-15 record, having lost their last four in a row (sound familiar? *cough* *cough* Wizards…), despite still getting a high level of play from their rising superstar, Anthony Davis (23.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg). Meanwhile, the Cavs are reportedly making a change to their starting lineup to help bolster their defensive efforts from the outset, inserting Matthew Dellavedova for Mo Williams.

After giving up early leads to lesser teams lately, David Blatt is apparently looking to staunch the bleeding of opposing guard penetration, at least until his starting backcourt can return. On that front, the Cavs got some encouraging news with regards to their missing star point guard, as Kyrie Irving progressed to a full court, full-contact five-on-five practice yesterday. According to ESPN, Irving’s presence, along with Iman Shumpert’s, resulted in the Cavs’ “best practice, by far” of the season.

In the best quote of the article, Irving said that he and Shumpert hope to emulate professional wrestlers when they get back in the lineup:

“We understand our presence on the team and what we bring to the team,” Irving said. “When we get back we call ourselves the Hardy Brothers. We’re coming full attack like the Hardy Brothers back in WWF.”

Probable starting lineup for tonight for the Cavs: Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. And for the Pels: Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Alonzo Gee, Anthony Davis and Omer Asik.

One guy who won’t be playing, but made his presence known anyway during warmups, is former Cav (and still Angry Smurf) Kendrick Perkins, who reportedly shouted something at Delly…

Kendrick Perkins visited #Cavs on court. He yelled at Matthew Dellavedova, "You lucky I ain't playing. I'd hit you with a hard-ass screen."

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 5, 2015

Logic should dictate that the Cavs will be able to handle The Brow and his flock fairly easily, but as we know, nothing seems all that easy for the Cavs these days. New Orleans will likely give the wine & gold all they can handle on their home court, especially with the return of a healthy Tyreke Evans. Hopefully, Delly can help keep him in check.

Prediction: Cavs 114-110.

GO CAVS!