Cavaliers at Kings
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still likely a few games from getting LeBron James back in the lineup and look to begin turning their fortunes around when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. The Cavaliers have dropped four straight and seven of their last eight games - 1-6 with James (knee, back) out - after being thumped 112-94 at Golden State on Friday. Sacramento is trying to stay in the hunt for a playoff berth, winning two of four in January after a demoralizing 4-14 stretch.
Cleveland will have to deal with a Kings’ offense which ranked in the top 10 in the league through Friday, led by DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay – both averaging at least 20 points. Cousins totaled 32 and 13 rebounds in the 118-108 loss to Denver on Friday at home – getting outscored 36-15 in the third quarter. The Cavaliers will lean on point guard Kyrie Irving, who has posted 61 points combined in the last two games.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (19-18): J.R. Smith rebounded from a 0-of-5 performance in his Cleveland debut to pour in 27 points against Golden State and center Timofey Mozgov had nine points and eight rebounds in his first game with the club Friday. Kevin Love is averaging 23.8 points and 12.8 rebounds in the last five contests since missing the Milwaukee game with back spasms. Tristan Thompson has also raised his game, producing 13 points and 11 rebounds per game over his last nine outings.
ABOUT THE KINGS (15-21): Sacramento has allowed 106 or more points in eight of the last nine games and stands fourth in the league in most turnovers per game (15.8). The Kings do own two of the top-15 scorers in the league with Cousins (23.8) and Gay (20.8) while averaging 102.2 points, but are near the bottom of the league with 19.8 assists per outing. Point guard Darren Collison is averaging 19.3 points in four January games to raise his mark to 16.6 and Ben McLemore (11.9) also contributes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Sacramento G Nik Stauskas, the eighth-overall pick in the 2014 draft, reached double figures for the third time in 36 games this season with 13 on Friday.
2. Love is tied with Cousins for fourth in the league with 20 double-doubles.
3. The Cavaliers have scored more than 94 points once in their last eight contests.