Los Angeles @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 19, 2017 ) Cleveland 125, L.A. Lakers 120

The Cleveland Cavaliers are streaking toward the top of the Eastern Conference as LeBron James continues to add to his already sparkling legacy. James will try to follow up another transcendent performance and lead the Cavaliers to their 16th win in 17 games when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

James tied a career high with 17 assists to go along with 25 points in a 123-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, and his teammates are struggling to describe his impact. "I've run out of ways to explain his greatness," shooting guard Kyle Korver told ESPN.com. "He's just amazing. He makes all of us better than we really are. That's just the way he plays, the way he leads the game. He's had to be in attack mode a lot of nights this season, but (Tuesday) you kind of feel the guys were hitting shots and he just went into playmaker mode." The Lakers are trying to get rookie point guard Lonzo Ball to enter playmaker mode on a more consistent basis, and he handed out six assists in 40 minutes on Tuesday as Los Angeles dropped a 113-109 decision at the New York Knicks in overtime. The Lakers took the first two of the four-game road trip before falling at New York and are staring at a difficult stretch with Cleveland, Golden State (twice) and Houston over the next four games.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, FS Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE LAKERS (10-16): Ball captures the headlines but fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma is coming through more often, and he scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter on Tuesday to help force overtime. The Utah product was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting in the opener of the road trip at Philadelphia before posting a double-double in a win at Charlotte and coming alive late in New York. Kuzma helped make up for an off night by second-year small forward Brandon Ingram, who was held to a season-low five points on 2-of-12 shooting in 41 minutes against the Knicks.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (20-8): Kuzma, Ingram and Ball will all likely find themselves matched up at some point on Thursday against James, though they might be better off crashing the passing lanes. James is averaging nine assists after Tuesday's barrage and gives all the credit to his teammates. "Individuals who make the shots on the 17 assists that I had, they put in the work," James told reporters. "My job is when I have two on the ball, or I see a guy running or I see a guy open, just try to put it in his pocket. I know how my teammates like the ball, I know if my teammates, each individual, if they like laces or no laces or laces out or whatever the case may be. I just try to make them comfortable."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cavaliers SG Dwyane Wade (knee) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.

2. Lakers C Brook Lopez is averaging 12.6 points in five games this month after scoring in single figures in each of the last four games in November.

3. James averaged 30 points, eight assists and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of wins over Los Angeles last season.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers 122, Lakers 109