Cavaliers at Celtics
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics have both put together a string of losses lately - leaving plenty at stake when the teams face off Saturday afternoon in Massachusetts. The Cavaliers have lost three straight games and five of six, and are coming off a 127-125 overtime defeat to Atlanta in which Jeff Teague hit the winning shot at the buzzer. Boston has also dropped three straight, blowing large leads twice as it tumbles down the division standings.
The Celtics looked to be the best of a bad bunch a week and a half ago, winning five of their first seven games in December to rise to the top of the Atlantic Division. But they squandered a 21-point first half lead in a narrow loss to the Detroit Pistons, then wasted an 18-point advantage three nights later in a 106-99 setback versus Washington. Boston dominated throughout its 103-86 victory over Cleveland in their previous encounter Nov. 29.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (10-18): There was a reason for optimism in the Cleveland locker room despite the heart-wrenching loss to the Hawks. Guard Dion Waiters returned after missing three games with tendinitis in his right wrist, and put together a solid effort - racking up 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting while playing nearly 42 minutes off the bench. "It's going to linger, but it's way better," he said prior to the game against Atlanta. "I can do things I couldn't do before. It will bother me a little bit, but nothing that will keep me out."
ABOUT THE CELTICS (12-17): Rookie big man Kelly Olynyk understands the nature of changing roles in the NBA - and he'd like the opportunity to expand his. Olynyk averaged nearly 23 minutes per game over his first 14 NBA contests, but suffered a sprained right ankle in late-November and saw his minutes trimmed to less than 13 per night upon his return. "You got to play yourself back in," he told the Boston Herald. "Nothing is going to be gifted to you on a silver platter, and that's how it should be."
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Boston has won five of the last seven encounters while holding Cleveland below 100 points in all of them.
2. Waiters averages 13.7 points and 4.3 assists in three career games versus the Celtics.
3. Cleveland boasts the highest-scoring bench in the Eastern Conference at 40.2 points per game.