Cavaliers at Bulls
Both Cleveland and host Chicago are prepared to be without key members of their starting lineup when they meet Thursday in the final NBA game before the All-Star break. The Cavaliers, who have won 14 of their last 15 after a 113-93 rout of Miami on Wednesday, lost forward Kevin Love to a corneal abrasion in the third quarter and his status for Thursday is unclear. Love will be re-evaluated but is expected to make the trip to Chicago.
The Bulls have won three in a row, including a 104-86 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday in which standout shooting guard Jimmy Butler was knocked out with a shoulder injury. Butler underwent an MRI on Wednesday that confirmed nothing more than a strain, which left him day-to-day and put his status for Sunday's All-Star Game up in the air. Chicago is 2-1 without Butler this season, the one loss coming at home against Cleveland on Oct. 31.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (33-21): Love's departure was a non-factor against Miami as Cleveland had plenty of contributions from its other big men. Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson combined to score 37 points on 16-of-19 shooting while grabbing a total of 16 rebounds to help control the Heat on the interior. LeBron James had a team-high 10 boards for the Cavaliers, who had a 43-36 advantage on the glass and outscored Miami in the paint by a 52-32 margin, two categories in which they've dominated the Bulls in the prior two meetings this season.
ABOUT THE BULLS (33-20): Just as the Cavaliers filled the gaps without Love, Tony Snell picked up where Butler left off and finished with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Snell is 11-for-19 from 3-point distance over his last three games, has recorded six of his seven double-digit efforts in the past month and impressed his head coach on Tuesday with his ability to score while maintaining a solid defensive effort on Sacramento's Rudy Gay. "[Defending a scorer] puts enormous pressure on you and I thought he played well on both sides of the ball."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bulls C Pau Gasol has recorded 13 straight double-doubles.
2. Cavaliers SG J.R. Smith made 6-of-9 3-pointers en route to 20 points in a win over Chicago last month.
3. James needs two assists to move past Hall of Famer John Havlicek (6,114) and move into second place on the all-time list for NBA forwards.