Cavaliers at Raptors
When Cleveland played Toronto in the second half of a back-to-back set last month it did not go well for the Cavaliers, who lost by 17 points at home to suffer their fourth straight defeat and prompt superstar LeBron James to call his team "fragile." A lot has changed since then and the same scenario sees Cleveland streaking into a rematch Friday at Toronto. Since that embarrassing setback on Nov. 22, the Cavaliers have won five in a row, including a gutty 90-87 triumph at New York on Thursday.
Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 37 points and James shook off a sluggish beginning to score 13 second-half points and finish with a season-high 12 assists as Cleveland moved three games above .500 for the first time. The Raptors won the final two games of a three-game road trip by spanking Sacramento 123-104 on Wednesday. Toronto pays another visit to Cleveland on Tuesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), TSN (Toronto)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (10-7): Nobody is supplanting James anytime soon as Cleveland's leader, but Irving continues to make his case and Thursday night in Madison Square Garden was a great example. While James appeared sluggish at times, making two of his first 10 shots, Irving carried his team with 23 first-half points. In the final seconds of the contest, Irving appeared angry when head coach David Blatt called a timeout and deprived the point guard the chance to go one-on-one, but Irving still stormed out of the huddle and scored the game's final basket.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (15-4): With DeMar DeRozan out indefinitely with a groin injury Toronto had a void to fill, and it appears as if running mate Kyle Lowry is intent on doing that job. He is averaging 30 points in the four games since DeRozan was sidelined and poured in a season-high 39 on 13-of-22 shooting in the win over Utah. Not missing a beat, the Raptors lead the Eastern Conference in scoring (109.7) by more than five points over any other team.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors G Lou Williams scored a career-high 36 points in the rout at Cleveland last month.
2. James is averaging 9.7 assists over his last six games.
3. Toronto is 13-0 when leading after three quarters.