Cavaliers at Celtics
THE STORY: Both the Cavaliers and Celtics believe they're playoff contenders, but they've taken far different paths to arrive there. The Celtics have won four straight to climb back to .500 and might finally be playing their best basketball of the season. The Cavaliers have lost five of their last six following a fast start, but they're defending well this season, still tied for the eighth seed in the East and they have a legitimate scoring threat in rookie Kyrie Irving, who nearly rallied the Cavaliers to victory Friday night when they trailed the Nets by 17 with seven minutes to play. "If we compete for 48 minutes for the next (48) games we have left, this is a playoff-caliber team," Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison said. "That might be a shocker to the outside world knowing the things that happened last year ... But we believe." So do the Celtics, who are riding high after that thrilling win over the Magic and another rally to victory Friday against the Pacers. Paul Pierce deserves the bulk of the credit, apparently healed from his heel bruise. Pierce is averaging 26.3 points and 8.8 rebounds during the winning streak.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Ohio, Comcast Sports
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (7-11): Irving had a career-high 32 points Friday, but really dazzled by scoring 17 points in the final three minutes of what became a three-point loss to the Nets. Irving leads the Cavaliers, and all rookies, in scoring at 17.6 points per game and his 4.8 assists rank second among rookies behind Minnesota's Ricky Rubio.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (9-9): With starters Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal out nursing injuries, the Celtics are relying on their bench more than ever. That's why Chris Wilcox's 14 points and six rebounds, both career highs, were so important to Friday's win over the Pacers. Wilcox recently missed six games with his own calf injury. Conditioning remains a concern, but until some of the regular starters return, Boston will rely on its bench players to start and little-used reserves like Wilcox will play key roles.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao is fifth in the league in rebounds, averaging 11.1 per game.
2. Kevin Garnett recently passed Jerry Lucas on the all time rebounding list and now ranks 14th in league history with 12,954 rebounds.
3. Rondo is second in the league in assists, averaging 9.4 per game.