Tonight, the NBA’s defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Utah Jazz at 9:00 p.m. EST inside The Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After Cleveland’s acquisition of marksman Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday for Mike Dunleavy, Mo Williams, cash considerations, and a future first-round pick (2019), all signs point to the 6’7″ swingman making his debut tonight.
If he’s available to play we’re going to play him minutes, so we’ll see how it goes,” Lue said after this morning’s shootaround in Salt Lake City.
According to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mike Dunleavy has passed his physical examination. That means Korver should indeed be available to dress for tonight’s match-up.
Korver is currently ranked as the eighth- best three-point shooter in NBA history, so it’s no secret the Cavs will be asking him to take plenty of shots from the perimeter. When Korver arrived inside the Cavs’ locker room on Sunday in Phoenix, LeBron James offered a few words of advice for his new teammate.
The first thing I told him when he walked into the locker room the other day was, ‘If you want to fit in, shoot the ball every time you get it. Shoot the ball as soon as it touches your hands,” James said. “Shoot it. We don’t care.”
According to Joe Vardon of www.cleveland.com, James has been watching film clips of Korver’s game to see how he likes to receive a pass.
Where he likes the ball, how he likes the ball, if he likes it low, if he likes it high, if he likes the seams, no seams. From my perspective, as far as the quarterback, I see where my receiver likes the ball,” James said.
I think it’s safe to say; with Korver in the rotation, the Cavaliers have become even more dangerous from beyond the arc. Having so many accurate shooters on the wing creates serious match-up problems for opposing sides. For now, Korver will come off the bench. Coach Lue has stated that he likes the way DeAndre Liggins has been defending opposing point guards in the absence of J.R. Smith (thumb fracture).