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Cavaliers host Heat in Christmas Day matchup

Dec 25, 2007 - 2:51 PM Miami (8-19) at Cleveland (12-16) 2:30 pm EST

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - If the Cleveland Cavaliers are to make a run at the top teams in the Central Division, Tuesday's game with the struggling Miami Heat would be a good time to start.

The Cavaliers and Heat both come into the game having won only two of their last six games.

Cleveland lost to Golden State at home on Sunday, 105-96, despite a 14-point fourth quarter by the Warriors. Golden State never trailed and built an 89-61 lead late in the third quarter.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers have lost 10 of 13 and were booed by the home crowd throughout the game.

LeBron James, the NBA's leading scorer, scored 25 for Cleveland. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 20 points and Daniel Gibson 13 for the Cavaliers.

Miami used a 20-footer at the buzzer by Dwyane Wade on Saturday to defeat visiting Utah, 104-102. Deron Williams scored 22 points, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 and C.J. Miles scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Jazz, which took its only lead of the second half on a pair of free throws by Matt Harpring with 46.3 seconds remaining.

Tuesday's game is the first of the season between the teams. The Heat won three of four meetings last year.