Cavaliers 91 - 87 Hornets
Final
  for this game

Life sans LeBron resumes as Cavs visit Hornets

Jan 2, 2015 - 2:51 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Life without LeBron James for a little while continues for the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night when they travel to Time Warner Cable Arena to face the Charlotte Hornets.

James has missed the last two games for the Cavs, but on Thursday, the team announced he would sit for two weeks due to both a left knee strain and a lower back strain.

The Cavs have dropped three straight, including two at home. They are 1-2 in their last three on the road.

On Wednesday, without James, or Kevin Love, who sat because of back spasms, the Milwaukee Bucks strolled into Quicken Loans Arena and left with a 96-80 victory.

Cleveland was done in by a horrid third quarter. The Cavs shot 3-for-19 from the floor after intermission, and fell behind, 71-54, with the final quarter remaining.

Kyrie Irving paced Cleveland with 25 points and Tristan Thompson deposited 10 points and 13 rebounds. Matthew Dellavedova had 11, while Dion Waiters scored 10 off the bench.

"Obviously when those great guys go down and they're not playing, it's going to be a different game," said Irving. "For us, right now, we just have to pick it up. Guys in our locker room have to be ready to step up and I think we're ready to do so but we're going to need a little more."

Both Love and Shawn Marion, who missed the Milwaukee game with a sprained left ankle, are questionable for Friday.

The Hornets have been hit hard by the injury bug as well. Lance Stephenson remains out with a sprained pelvis and center Al Jefferson will be down for a month with a strained left groin.

Charlotte's first game without Jefferson did not go well on Wednesday. The Hornets went to Houston and left with a 102-83 loss thanks in part to eight made 3-pointers by James Harden.

The Rockets defense propelled them to victory, especially in the second half. The Hornets managed just 38 points over the final 24 minutes and turned a reasonable two-point halftime deficit into a lopsided loss.

"Their defense is good, really good actually," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "Tonight just taking care of the ball was an issue."

The Hornets committed 18 turnovers and shot 38.2 percent from the floor and an abysmal 16.7 percent from long range.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Gerald Henderson each scored 16 points for the Hornets, who have lost four in a row on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Kemba Walker ended with 12 points and five assists.

The Cavaliers beat the Hornets by nine in Cleveland on Dec. 15. That halted a five-game losing streak in this series for the Cavs, who have dropped three straight in Charlotte.






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