The SportsNetwork writes, “The Cleveland Cavaliers play four out of their next five games at home and hope to cut into the Detroit Piston’s huge 6 1/2 game lead in the Central Division. But on Tuesday, Richard Jefferson scored 28 points to lead New Jersey past Cleveland, 96-91, at Continental Airlines Arena and end the Cavaliers’ six- game winning streak. LeBron James poured in a game-high 31 points, grabbed 10 boards and handed out eight assists for the Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 21 points while Larry Hughes chipped in 16 points and seven assists in the loss.
Cleveland has lost five straight overall to the Nets and eight straight in the Garden State. The Cavaliers have a New Year’s eve afternoon date with the league-leading Pistons (23-3) to finish out the work week. The two teams have yet to play this season but have split eight games over the past two seasons. Despite being a division rival, the two clubs won’t see each other again until the end of February.
Then its off to Milwaukee (15-11) before returning to the friendly confines of the Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers are a stunning 12-3 at home this season. They are seventh in the league in average home attendance (18,718). The Detroit Pistons lead the league (22,076). Cleveland remains relatively injury-free with only Anderson Varejao (shoulder) and Sasha Pavlovic (ankle) on the injury report.”