• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Grizzlies-Cavaliers Preview

Feb 2, 2010 - 6:15 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Memphis (26-21) at Cleveland (38-11), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown says he'd prefer close wins, but he's definitely enjoying his team's recent stretch of blowout victories.

The NBA-leading Cavaliers look to extend their season-high winning streak to nine Tuesday night when they aim to continue their run of home success against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Cleveland (38-11), which moved one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the league's best record after the defending champions lost 95-93 at Memphis (26-21) on Monday, has won its last three by an average of 20.0 points. The Cavaliers won the first five games on their current streak by a margin of 3.4 per game.

"The more close games you win, the tougher you can become because when you have close games down the stretch it puts a mental and physical stress on you that you have to try to deal with," Brown said following Monday's practice. "Close games are good, but every once in a while, blowouts are also fun because you don't have to worry about going through that added stress."

There wasn't much stress in Sunday's 114-89 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavaliers tied an NBA record with 11 3-pointers in the opening 12 minutes, propelling them to a franchise-best 46 points in a quarter.

LeBron James, the league's third-leading scorer with 29.4 points per game, hit five 3s and scored 23 of his 32 points in the first quarter as Cleveland won eight in a row for the first time since a 13-game run March 7-31.

"There's no description of a player getting into the zone like that. It just happens," James said. "And when it happens, everything you put up, you feel like it's going in."

James was likely in that zone in Memphis on Dec. 8, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 43 points, but it wasn't enough to lead his club to victory. After Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley scooped in a shot with three seconds remaining in overtime, James missed a 30-footer at the buzzer and Cleveland fell 111-109.

Since snapping a seven-game slide to the Cavaliers and a six-game overtime skid in that contest, the Grizzlies are 10-4 in games decided by six points or fewer.

Memphis, though, has dropped four of five on the road as well as its last five visits to Cleveland. The Grizzlies also must face a Cavaliers team that's won 17 of 18 at Quicken Loans Arena.

"I told the guys in the locker room that it is not like college. You can't go play Sacred Heart tomorrow, you have the Cleveland Cavaliers," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins told the team's official Web site Monday. "It just keeps coming. That's the beauty of this game. That is what competition is all about. If you are a competitor, you will get your juices flowing again tomorrow."

Memphis will likely need another big game from All-Star forward Zach Randolph to win its first game in Cleveland since a 122-115 double-overtime victory on Nov. 29, 2003. The 2003-04 season was also the last time the Grizzlies swept their annual two-game series with the Cavs.

Randolph, who had 32 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in the Dec. 8 victory over the Cavaliers, has posted a double-double in each of his last five games, averaging 22.6 points and 14.8 boards in that span. He is one of two players in the NBA, along with Toronto's Chris Bosh, averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game on the season.