The Cavaliers can have the longest win streak of the season with a win in Memphis

The Cavaliers keep streaking! Who will be the one to extinguish their flame?

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (55-10) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (42-24)

Where: FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN

When: 8 pm EST

TV: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Line: Cavs -2.5

Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Cavs injury report: Donovan Mitchell - OUT (groin), De’Andre Hunter - PROBABLE (illness), Emoni Bates - OUT (G League), Nae’Qwan Tomlin - OUT (G League), Luke Travers - OUT (G League)

Expected Grizzlies starting lineup: Ja Morant, Desmond BAne, Jaylen Wells, GG Jackson II, Jaren Jackson Jr.

Grizzlies injury report: Santi Aldama - OUT (right calf), Jaren Jackson Jr. - QUESTIONABLE (left ankle), Yuki Kawamora - OUT (G League), Zyon Pullin - OUT (injury/illness)

You can watch the game live with us on Playback. Sign up with a free account and say hello in the chat!

What to watch for

Sweet Sixteen

The Cavaliers are on the precipice of being the sole team in the NBA this season to reach a win streak of 16 games. They have had two separate runs this season totaling 15 wins in a row. The first streak ran from October 23 through November 19 while the current streak began on February 5.

De’Andre Hunter was acquired at the trade deadline on February 6, therefore, Hunter has not experienced a single loss while donning the wine and gold. The Cavaliers have already clinched the division title after Tuesday’s win against Brooklyn. They also clinched a postseason berth on March 6. All that is left is to secure the one seed and the way to accomplish that is to trudge along during the dog days of the NBA regular season.

It’s a mental challenge for certain to retain the same level of fight night to night. Especially with how the Cavaliers have had to grind for their wins lately. Wins in the league aren’t easy, especially when you are considered the gold standard of the season. It’s often easier being the hunter than the hunted. The Cavaliers have found that out the hard way as they have battled in close contests with the basement dwellers of the league.

DPOY Locked Up?

The last time these two teams faced off, there was a much closer contest for Defensive Player of the Year. Fresh off of Victor Wembenyama being shut down for the season, the contest reopened. Jaren Jackson Jr. opened up as the favorite, however, oh how the turntables have... Since that contest, Evan Mobley appears to have run away with the award, according to the sharks in Vegas.

Don’t look now Memphis fans, but Jackson is now currently tied for second in the odds at +1000. Standing in a tier of his own is Evan Mobley at -250. Since I know all of you are wondering yes, I did put a substantial fortune down on Mobley at +130 when Wemby bowed out of the race. In the words of Kevin Malone, if Evan Mobley wins the DPOY, I am going to become a VERY rich man ($4.20 to win $9.60).

Morning all.

It’s Chelsea today in the Premier League, and after three games without a win, it’s time we put that record straight. I suspect we could all probably give the starting line up a good guess, the only real question for me is whether or not Gabriel Martinelli is fit enough to start.

He was kept on the bench for most of the Wednesday’s game against PSV. Perhaps it was fitness, perhaps it was because he was carrying a yellow card into the game and ran the risk of a suspension from the first leg of the quarter-final. He did get on for a bit towards the end, so it’s hard to know if it was physical or Mikel Arteta thought he could manage a few minutes without a booking.

If he is available today, we could see Leandro Trossard play in the centre-forward position, but my gut feeling is that it’ll be Mikel Merino again with the Brazilian on the bench. The absence of Raheem Sterling (who is ineligible against his parent club) won’t upset too many Arsenal fans, but it does leave Martinelli as the only other natural attacking player if he does start on the bench. Having that option might well be something the manager considers useful if he does need to do something to change the game.

If you combine that with some concern about whether or not he can do 90 minutes, it might make some sense to keep him in reserve, even if the Merino up front option is a fairly blunt instrument that hasn’t really worked. It’s not to pin it on him, per se, but if that’s your option to change a game that needs something else, it’s a significant risk. Martinelli would, at least, bring something different to the table in that context.

Beyond that, I think everyone reading could predict the rest of today’s team (bar a coin flip at left-back), and then it’s about being better than we have been in recent games. The run of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Man Utd has felt like a chore. Not just because Arsenal goals have been at a premium, but because we’ve faced teams who have sat deep – whether that’s deliberately or because the way we have played has forced that doesn’t really matter, it’s still been a problem.

I don’t expect Chelsea to play like that today, so there should be more room to create and attack, but a lot of this is about decision making. I noticed Declan Rice on Wednesday consistently making runs from his position as the ‘left 8’ across to the pitch towards the right hand side, looking for someone to play the pass from deep behind the opposition defence. It never happened, and he grew visibly frustrated – presumably because he wasn’t just making those runs for fun, it was part of the game plan.

Arteta was interesting in the build-up to that game, asked in his press conference about low blocks, he referenced the game against Man Utd, saying:

Against Man Utd we had 11 situations where we had open spaces to attack, 11 big ones. We used one. Top teams, they use nine. And in the past, and against other teams, we have used 60-70% of that situation. The situations were there.

We didn’t use them.

I can’t recall those situations myself, but Arteta and his analysts obviously identified those in their postmortem, so being more efficient as and when those scenarios arise again today could be key. It’s not as if the players we have at the back, or deep in midfield, aren’t capable of making those passes, and if it means we’re a little less controlled a bit more direct, the pay-off could well be more attacking situations for us. Or, at least, a game which is a bit more stretched and open. Hopefully that’s a message the manager has imparted ahead of this one.

The bottom line is that Forest’s win yesterday leaves them just a point behind us, we’ve under-performed in recent weeks, and it’s high-time we got back to winning ways. Three points going into the Interlull would be very welcome too, we don’t need two weeks of introspection and navel-gazing while fretting about injuries to our international players. So, Arsenal, if you wouldn’t mind just winning today, that’d be great.

Right, let’s leave it there for now. You can find a preview podcast over on Patreon if you need something to pass the time until kick off. Join us later for live blog coverage, plus you’ll get the match report, goal clips, reaction, player ratings and much more over on Arseblog News.

Come on you reds!

The post Chelsea preview: Martinelli and moments appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.