Nets at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers return home after a four-game, seven-day road trip to take on the desperate Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The Cavaliers paid for the tiring stretch with a 106-92 loss at Miami on Monday that ended a four-game winning streak and LeBron James told reporters, “I feel our legs just kind of gave out.” Kevin Love, who was rested the last two games, is expected to return for Cleveland against a Brooklyn squad that has won two straight as it tries to stay in the playoff hunt.
The Nets trail Miami, Boston and Indiana -- all tied for seventh place in the Eastern Conference -- by 2 ½ games after beating Minnesota 122-106 on Monday. Thaddeus Young averaged 20 points in his last two games for Brooklyn, which dropped five in a row before its current streak. The Cavaliers have won three straight against the Nets, including a pair in December.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE NETS (27-38): Brooklyn must finish the month strong to give itself a chance and meets the Cavaliers twice during that span while facing Indiana, Boston and Charlotte – three teams directly ahead of them – in succession from March 21-25. The Nets may be healthy enough to make a run with active five players averaging at least 12.4 points. Brook Lopez tops the team in scoring (15.4) and rebounding (6.9) while Joe Johnson scores 15 per game and Young (14.1) has been productive since being acquired.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (43-26): Cleveland fell behind by 18 on Monday after scoring only 16 points in the second quarter, but has been tough at home (24-9). James (26 points, 7.4 assists per game) played against Miami and scored 26 – 16 in the fourth quarter – despite a sore knee that required treatment throughout the day. Kyrie Irving (22.2 points) cooled off after posting 90 points in his previous two outings by scoring 21 on 5-of-15 shooting Monday and Love averages 16.8 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cleveland C Timofey Mozgov is averaging 10.5 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 58.8 percent from the field in 33 games since being acquired from Denver.
2. Brooklyn G Jarrett Jack is averaging 15.3 points over the last four contests.
3. The Cavaliers were seventh in the league in 3-point shooting (36.2 percent) through Monday while Brooklyn stood 27th at 32.5.