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Cavaliers-Kings Preview

Dec 22, 2009 - 8:03 PM By JUSTIN EINHORN STATS Senior Editor

Cleveland (21-8) at Sacramento (13-14), 10:00 p.m. EDT

The Cleveland Cavaliers just pulled off an impressive feat no team had accomplished all season. On the same night, the Sacramento Kings did something more bewildering that no team had done in 13 years.

That leaves both the Cavaliers and Kings with momentum going into their matchup Wednesday night at Arco Arena.

Minutes before Cleveland (21-8) handed Phoenix its first home loss Monday night, Sacramento (13-14) completed one of the best rallies in NBA history. The Kings overcame a 35-point deficit to beat Chicago 107-103.

"I'm not sure I understand what happened nor am I sure I believe it," coach Paul Westphal said.

His club was behind 79-44 with 8:50 left in the third quarter, but would pull off the biggest comeback since Utah defeated Denver after trailing by 36 on Nov. 27, 1996.

Ime Udoka scored 15 of the Kings' first 22 points in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 95-91 with 2:28 to play, after which Tyreke Evans outscored the Bulls 9-3.

"Wow! All I can say is, 'Wow!'" said Evans, who had 23 points. "We fought to the end. It was amazing."

Evans, the Rookie of the Year front-runner, is one of four players in the league averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.

One of the others is LeBron James, who scored 29 points in the 109-91 victory at Phoenix. The Suns had been the only team without a home loss this season, and they had won 19 consecutive home games since losing to the Cavaliers on March 12.

James was one of five players to score in double figures for Cleveland, winner of six of seven.

"I get a lot of the media talk and a lot of the hoopla but at the end of the day we're a ballclub that's very good and we have some guys that know how to play the game," said James, averaging 34.0 points in his last six road games.

James was clearly the go-to guy the last time Cleveland visited Sacramento on March 13. That's when he had the most recent of his eight 50-point games, scoring 51 in a 126-123 overtime victory that clinched the Cavs' first division title since 1976.

Their return to Arco Arena could be considered a potential trap game, considering it follows the trip to Phoenix and comes two days before they visit the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cleveland has won its last four games in Sacramento and six straight overall in the series, but this Kings team is 10-3 at home and appears far better than the one that finished a league-worst 17-65 last season.

Sacramento has won two straight and four of six. A victory Wednesday would leave the Kings with a non-losing record this deep into a season for the first time since ending 2005-06 at 44-38 - also the last season they reached the playoffs.

"Even though we even won 17 games last year, we're trying to make the playoffs," said second-year forward Jason Thompson, who averaged 18.9 points and 9.8 rebounds over the last eight games. "If that's not a goal for yourself, you might as well not step on the court. The sky is the limit for this team because we're so young."