Cavaliers at Pistons
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have dropped four of their last six games, look to break out of their funk when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Thursday. Cleveland shooting guard J.R. Smith returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since fracturing his thumb on Dec. 20 and is questionable to play against Detroit.
Having Smith in the lineup versus the Pistons would be a welcome sight as 3-point specialist Kyle Korver (foot) will miss the contest. "Mentally, I'm just (thinking about) going in there, swiping at the ball, diving for loose balls," Smith told reporters. "That plays a factor, and you never really want to go into any type of game or whatever you're doing second-guessing yourself. So, if I got to second-guess myself, I won't play." Detroit lost for just the third time in eight games when it dropped a 115-98 decision to Indiana on Wednesday. The defeat dropped the Pistons two games behind the Pacers in the battle for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (42-20): Coach Tyronn Lue (sinus infection) missed Monday's loss to Miami and still was away from the team on Wednesday but is expected to join the club in Detroit prior to the tipoff. The Cavaliers announced Wednesday that Andrew Bogut (fractured left tibia) has been ruled out for the postseason after being injured just 58 seconds into his team debut on Monday. Kyrie Irving has scored 20 or more points in 12 consecutive games and is averaging 37.5 over his last two contests.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (31-33): Detroit is tied with Chicago for seventh place in the East as it enters a stretch in which five of its next six games are at home. Coach Stan Van Gundy was highly disappointed with the defensive intensity against Indiana as his squad allowed its most points since a 116-103 loss to Miami on Jan. 28. "They destroyed us," Van Gundy told reporters. "We didn't play defense at all. They scored on anything they wanted and we didn't guard at all."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pistons recorded a 106-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Dec. 26 to break a five-game regular-season slide in the series.
2. Detroit reserve F Tobias Harris scored 22 points in the loss to Indiana for his fourth 20-point effort in the last 10 games.
3. Cleveland has drained 816 3-pointers and is 11 away from passing the 2014-15 squad for the second-most in franchise history.