LeBron, Love lift Cavaliers past Magic, 122-102

CLEVELAND The on-court issues have been obvious for weeks.

Cleveland was coming off a 135-130 double overtime win over IN on Sunday.

LeBron James recorded his second straight triple-double Tuesday night.

Reports indicate that head coach Tyronn Lue will have his full compliment of players on Wednesday night.

“That means we’re moving the ball”, Lue said. “Blame it on me”.

Kyle Korver is expected to play tonight for Cleveland. In the playoffs, Thompson is as important a sidekick as James has.

“It’s pretty big for us, for us as a group”, said Crowder.

The combined USA ratings held firm at 0.8 for the season while the league has seen a 3 percent rise in unique viewers and a 6 percent increase in the total hours of game action fans have watched in a season in which more games were broadcast nationally than ever before.

So what are Lue’s options minus Thompson? In March, the Cavs made headlines when they rested their big three for a nationally televised Saturday night game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Boston on the other hand, is now top ten in both defensive and offensive rating, making them the best all around threat to James’ hold on the conference. “At the same time, we’ve been taking it one game at a time this whole season”. Thompson can switch onto guards with tremendous skill, is one of the best three or four offensive rebounders in the National Basketball Association and has really worked on his rim protection. This was a highlight reel block by James, but it symbolized a bit more. There was none of that love Sunday, with the postgame vibe subdued and odd. But if you have a chance to beat a good team like Cleveland it would bring a good vibe to our team.

Well, there may be some exposed nerves now.

Still, it’s noteworthy, because in December 2015, James credited the Celtics for helping him get where he needed to get in his career.

ABOUT THE MAGIC (27-50): Orlando played back-to-back solid games in losses to Oklahoma City (114-106) and Boston (117-116) before allowing 53.2 percent shooting in a 10-point loss at league-worst Brooklyn on Saturday.

For the Celtics, Thomas has averaged 30.7 points and 6.7 assists per game against the Cavaliers this season.

James’ output has increased noticeably over the last week as the regular season winds down. If the Celtics win on Wednesday and knot the season series at two games apiece, the next playoff tiebreaker would be conference record. Questions have risen about whether the Cavs have what it takes to get to a third straight NBA Finals, and those concerns are validated. He’s had disagreements with teammates before, which is why he did all he could to diffuse tension afterward.

“I like everything”, he said.

James knows this isn’t the time for a family feud.

But, cautions Mike Breen, who will handle the play-by-play of the game broadcast on ESPN (8 p.m. – it also airs locally on CSN), James is not going to be able to underestimate the Celtics much longer, if that is indeed what he is doing now.