Game Summary
The Cavaliers will play their fifth game of their six-game road trip on Friday night at the Golden 1 Center where they will face the Sacramento Kings. Tipoff is at 10:30 p.m. (ET).
Cleveland leads the Eastern Conference in overall wins (28, 4th in NBA), winning percentage (.757, 4th in NBA), three-pointers made (472, 2nd in NBA) and points per game differential (+6.3, 4th in NBA), while ranking 2nd in the East in three-point percentage (.387, 3rd in NBA) and points per game (109.8, 4th in NBA).
CAVS TO DON WINE JERSEYS
From where to catch all the action to Friday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.
FOX Sports Ohio
WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega
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Learn more about Friday's matchup.
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The Wine and Gold aim to bounce back after losing in back-to-back nights against the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. Despite the Cavaliers mini skid, the Wine and Gold have had some solid individual performances as of late.
LeBron James has scored at least 20 points in a season-high tying 9 straight games (12/25-present and 12/2-12/21). Over his current nine-game stretch, he is averaging 28.4 points on .534 shooting from the field, including .409 (18-44) from beyond the arc, 8.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 37.6 minutes.
Tristan Thompson has pulled down double-digit rebounds in each of his last three games and has been just as effective against the Cavaliers opponent on Friday, averaging 12.5 rebounds to go with 10.0 points in 29.5 minutes against the Kings last season.
Cleveland as a squad has had recent success over Sacramento. The Cavs have won three straight games over the Kings and are 12-5 against them since the 2007-08 season.
Sacramento had lost three straight before knocking off the Detroit Pistons, 100-94, on Tuesday night to improve their record to 16-22 on the season.
In that victory, DeMarcus Cousins scored a team-high 24 points to go along with 13 rebounds and six assists. This season, the sixth year big out of Kentucky is averaging 28.0 points and 10.1 rebounds.
Where to Catch the Action
TV: FOX Sports Ohio
Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega
Programming Note: On Friday, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Lightning game (8:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Kings game (10:30 p.m.). To view TV listings, CLICK HERE.
For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.
Probable Starters/Status Update*
#2 - Kyrie Irving
#4 - Iman Shumpert
#23 - LeBron James
#0 - Kevin Love
#13 - Tristan Thompson
G
G
F
F
C
#7 Darren Collison
#17 - Garrett Temple
#8 - Rudy Gay
#43 - Anthony Tolliver
#15 - DeMarcus Cousins
Status Update: (Cavs) - J.R. Smith, (Right Thumb Fracture, Out), Chris Andersen, (Right Knee ACL Tear, Out)
Status Update: (Kings) - None to Report
*Subject to change.
Dethroning the Kings
Cleveland won both meetings against Sacramento in 2015-16 as the offense topped 120 points in each of the two contests (120-100 on 2/8/16 and 120-111 on 3/9/16). This season, the Cavs have scored 120 points or more on nine occasions, which already matches the number of times they scored 120 points last season.
Against the Kings last season, Kyrie Irving scored 30-plus points in each outing and averaged 31.0 points on .558 (24-43) shooting from the field, including .444 (8-18) from deep, and 8.0 assists in 37.0 minutes.
LeBron James also was dominate against the Kings last season, averaging 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists and posted a triple-double in a win on 2/8/16 (21 pts, 10 rebs, 10 asts).
This is the first of two regular season meetings between the two teams. They will square off again on Jan. 25 in Cleveland.
On Deck
After Friday's game, Cleveland travels concludes the road trip with a heavyweight battle against the Golden State Warriors on MLK Day in Oakland. VIEW FULL SCHEDULE