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Banged-up Cavaliers look to bounce back vs. Magic

Feb 11, 2008 - 3:48 PM Cleveland (28-22) at Orlando (32-20) 7:00 pm EST

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- With four key members of the regular rotation sitting out, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a hard time getting anything going offensively Sunday.

The Cavaliers search for new answers a day later when they visit the Orlando Magic.

Cleveland was without four of its top seven players in Anderson Varejao (ankle), Sasha Pavlovic (foot), Drew Gooden (groin), and Daniel Gibson (hamstring) on Sunday. The Cavaliers narrowly avoided their largest home margin of defeat since LeBron James joined the team in the 2003-04 season.

James scored 30 points in the 113-83 setback against the Denver Nuggets - the eighth time in 10 meetings that Carmelo Anthony has gotten the better of James since they entered the league. Larry Hughes was the only other player on the team to reach double figures, finishing with 14 points.

The Cavaliers' injury count mounted when Zydrunas Ilgauskas left early with back spasms and Damon Jones sprained his right ankle. They are both questionable for Monday's contest.

The Magic are coming off a 117-113 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday which dropped their home record to 13-10. The Southeast Division leaders have dominated Eastern Conference competition this season, building up a 21-8 record.

All-Star Dwight Howard continues to emerge as the best center in the East, averaging 21.8 points and 14.5 rebounds this season while shooting 60.2 percent.

Orlando won the first meeting of the season between the teams, a 117-116 overtime thriller on November 14 in which Howard went off for 35 points and 16 boards. James paced the Cavaliers with 39 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists in the loss.