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James, Cavaliers look to climb back to .500

Jan 6, 2008 - 3:00 PM Cleveland (16-17) at Toronto (17-16) 1:00 pm EST

TORONTO (Ticker) - After an NBA Finals appearance last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be happy to just get to .500 in this campaign.

The Cavaliers will look to break even when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Cleveland started the season in good shape but hit a skid at the end of November that coincided directly with LeBron James' five-game absence due to a finger injury. The team had some trouble getting back into form upon James' return and ended up dropping eight of nine to fall to 10-14.

But James, who leads the NBA in scoring at 28.9 points per game, has led the Cavaliers to wins in four of their last five games and back into second place in the Central Division. The All-Star swingman has led Cleveland in both points and assists in each of their last eight games.

The Raptors had the good fortune of meeting the Cavaliers on November 30 - James' first missed game - and cruised to a 91-82 victory behind 26 points from second-year forward Andrea Bargnani.

Cleveland took the first meeting of the season between the teams, 111-108 here on November 24 as ames scored 37 points and dished out 12 assists.

Toronto lost its last game, 101-85, to Eastern Conference power Detroit on Friday.