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Cavaliers face Magic in battle for first in the East

Dec 16, 2006 - 5:24 PM Cleveland (14-8) at Orlando (15-10) 7:00 pm EST

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavalier have proved they can win at home, but now they face Dwight Howard and the Magic in Orlando.

The Cavaliers have won four of their last five games, including a 106-84 win over Seattle on Friday.

James finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Larry Hughes scored a team-high 25 points in his second straight start after missing 10 games with a sprained ankle.

The Cavaliers are looking to win three straight games for the first time since a season-high five-game winning streak in mid-November. However Cleveland is just 7-6 in its last 13 games, with five of the losses coming on the road.

Orlando has struggled recently, losing three straight including a 99-89 defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday. Keyon Dooling scored 20 points and Travis Deiner added 16 for the Magic, who received just 10 points from Howard.

Averaging a team-high 17.2 points this season, Howard is scoring just 10.3 points over the last three games.

Orlando was playing without starting forwards Grant Hill (left knee) and Hedo Turkoglu (ankle), and starting point guard Jameer Nelson (strained groin). All three are considered day-to-day.

Cleveland has won three of four against Orlando last season, and has beaten the Magic in eight of its last 11 contests.