Cavaliers at Hornets
The Cleveland Cavaliers are taking on all challengers and turning them aside with regularity, as long as all three of their stars are in the lineup. The Cavaliers hope to have LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving available when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue rests his stars at any hint of a lingering injury, and Kyrie Irving left Thursday's 124-118 win over the Boston Celtics late with a hamstring cramp. "Just tightened up, that's all," Irving told reporters after a 32-point, 12-assist performance. "I took a spill with (James) in the first half. I threw a pass to Tristan (Thompson) in the middle (of the) lane, and me and Bron bumped knees. Then my calf started getting tight and my hammy started to get tight. I felt better coming out of the second half. Then when I did that last layup, it started to cramp up. That's all." Irving will need to be at the top of his game when he draws the defensive assignment against Hornets point guard Kemba Walker, who scored 20 or more points in four of the last five games. Charlotte is trying to prove it can play on the same level as the Cavaliers while battling the Celtics for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (24-7): James returned to the lineup on Thursday after sitting out Monday's loss at Detroit and bemoaned his performance despite recording 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 11 assists, eight rebounds and three blocks in 44 minutes against the Celtics. "I think I was horrible tonight," James told reporters. "In every facet of the game, I was just pretty bad, and it's unacceptable. I can't do that if I want to help this team get to where we want to get to. So, if there was a report card, I'd give myself an 'F' for tonight's performance. I just got to be better." James was charged with eight turnovers in the win after giving the ball away five times in Sunday's victory over the Warriors.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (19-14): Charlotte is picking up its level of play as shooting guard Nicolas Batum picks up his own pace and consistently joins Walker by filling up the boxscore. The 28-year-old Frenchman is averaging 20.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists in the last five games after posting 16 points, 13 boards and eight assists in Thursday's triumph. The double-double on Thursday was his team-leading 10th of the season and eighth this month, including one triple-double.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets SG Marco Belinelli (ankle) sat out the last three games and is questionable for Saturday.
2. Irving posted a points-assists double-double in five of the last seven contests.
3. Cleveland took each of the last four and eight of nine in the series.