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What To Expect In This Season’s First Pelicans-Cavaliers Matchup

Cleveland looks to sweep its current four-game homestand with a victory over New Orleans tonight.
Logan Potosky|
What To Expect In This Season’s First Pelicans-Cavaliers Matchup
What To Expect In This Season’s First Pelicans-Cavaliers Matchup

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Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers earned their third consecutive victory with a 124-116 win over the Utah Jazz last night.

Tonight, the Wine and Gold look to sweep their current four-game homestand as they host the New Orleans Pelicans in the second night of a back-to-back.

Here are four things to expect in tonight’s matchup between the Pelicans and Cavaliers.

1. Two Sick Superstars

Both teams will have a superstar player absent from tonight’s game due to illness.

According to the NBA’s 6:30 p.m. ET Injury Report, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell is out for the Cavaliers’ second consecutive game, while New Orleans’ Zion Williamson is out after playing in his team’s most recent game two nights ago.

2. Not Many New Orleans Threes

The Pelicans rank in the bottom-six in the NBA in both three-pointers made (11.3, 25th) and attempted (30.8, tied for 27th) per game.

The Cavaliers’ defense has held opponents to 11 three-pointers or fewer in nine games so far this season.

3. Cavaliers Spreading the Wealth

Last night, Cleveland dished out a season-high 34 assists as a team, with five players recording at least four assists each.

During their current three-game winning streak, the Wine and Gold are averaging 31.7 assists per contest.

4. Two Northeast Ohio Reunions

New Orleans forward Larry Nance Jr. and guard CJ McCollum both return to the area where they were born: Northeast Ohio.

Nance Jr. (out tonight with a fractured right rib) was born in Akron, while McCollum was born in Canton.

Nance Jr. played high school basketball at Revere High School and averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game in four seasons with the Cavaliers.

McCollum played high school basketball at Canton GlenOak High School, and was named the 2008-09 Gatorade Ohio Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

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Logan Potosky
LOGAN POTOSKY

Logan Potosky is an aspiring play-by-play sports broadcaster who, to date, has called approximately 350+ hours of professional, college, and high school sporting events. He is currently the Play-by-Play Broadcaster for the Lake County Captains, the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He graduated from John Carroll University in May of 2023 with a degree in Communication, with a concentration in Digital Media, and a minor in Entrepreneurship.

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