Preview: Cavaliers at Bulls

[February 12, 2015]  Both Cleveland and host Chicago are prepared to be without key members of their starting lineup when they meet Thursday in the final NBA game before the All-Star break. The Cavaliers, who have won 14 of their last 15 after a 113-93 rout of Miami on Wednesday, lost forward Kevin Love to a corneal abrasion in the third quarter and his status for Thursday is unclear. Love will be re-evaluated but is expected to make the trip to Chicago.

The Bulls have won three in a row, including a 104-86 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday in which standout shooting guard Jimmy Butler was knocked out with a shoulder injury. Butler underwent an MRI on Wednesday that confirmed nothing more than a strain, which left him day-to-day and put his status for Sunday's All-Star Game up in the air. Chicago is 2-1 without Butler this season, the one loss coming at home against Cleveland on Oct. 31.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (33-21): Love's departure was a non-factor against Miami as Cleveland had plenty of contributions from its other big men. Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson combined to score 37 points on 16-of-19 shooting while grabbing a total of 16 rebounds to help control the Heat on the interior. LeBron James had a team-high 10 boards for the Cavaliers, who had a 43-36 advantage on the glass and outscored Miami in the paint by a 52-32 margin, two categories in which they've dominated the Bulls in the prior two meetings this season.

ABOUT THE BULLS (33-20): Just as the Cavaliers filled the gaps without Love, Tony Snell picked up where Butler left off and finished with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Snell is 11-for-19 from 3-point distance over his last three games, has recorded six of his seven double-digit efforts in the past month and impressed his head coach on Tuesday with his ability to score while maintaining a solid defensive effort on Sacramento's Rudy Gay. "[Defending a scorer] puts enormous pressure on you and I thought he played well on both sides of the ball."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bulls C Pau Gasol has recorded 13 straight double-doubles.

2. Cavaliers SG J.R. Smith made 6-of-9 3-pointers en route to 20 points in a win over Chicago last month.

3. James needs two assists to move past Hall of Famer John Havlicek (6,114) and move into second place on the all-time list for NBA forwards.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers 103, Bulls 102

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.