Cavaliers at Rockets
LeBron James will be back in action Sunday when he leads Cleveland into a nationally televised matinee at Houston, but his running mate remains on the sidelines. Both James (rest) - who was coming off a season-high 42-point effort in a win over Golden State - and star point guard Kyrie Irving (shoulder) were absent Friday at Indiana and the Pacers took advantage with a 93-86 win to send the Cavaliers to just their third loss in 21 games. Irving has already been ruled out for Sunday's contest.
The Rockets have won the first four games of a five-game homestand and entered Saturday sitting 1 1/2 games behind first-place Memphis in the race for the Southwest Division and the possible No. 2 seed in the West. Houston needed to rally late for a 102-98 win over Brooklyn on Friday, riding a season-high 26 points from Terrence Jones to its eighth victory in the last nine home games. James sat due to injury and Irving scored 38 points in a 103-95 home loss to the Rockets on Jan. 7, Houston's fifth straight win in the series.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (37-23): Kevin Love did a nice job picking up the slack when James missed eight games earlier in the season with knee and back issues - including a 17-point, 16-rebound effort in the loss to Houston - but has not provided much of a boost in his last two opportunities. The up-and-down power forward shot 3-of-15 without James on the floor against Portland on Jan. 28 and was 6-of-19 at Indiana on Friday. Cleveland has won 10 straight against Western Conference foes, its longest such run since an 11-gamer in 2008-09.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (40-18): It appears as if Jones is all the way back from a leg injury that kept him out for nearly three months, a development that has helped Houston absorb the lengthy absence of star center Dwight Howard. Jones was 11-of-16 from the floor Friday night and also grabbed 12 rebounds to record his second double-double in the last three games. The third-year pro averaged 13.7 points on 57.5 percent shooting once the calendar turned to March last season and looks primed to finish strong once again.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers SG J.R. Smith, who had a team-high 21 points at Indiana, was 0-for-5 from the floor against Houston last month in his first game with Cleveland.
2. Rockets SF Trevor Ariza is 10-of-18 from 3-point distance over the last two games.
3. Houston has won seven straight against Cleveland at home.