Cleveland @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 5, 2017 ) Atlanta 117, Cleveland 115

LeBron James is in the 15th season of a career that will finish in the Hall of Fame but still manages to find ways to do things he's never done in the NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers expect to have James back on the court on Thursday when they visit the Atlanta Hawks after he was hit with his first career ejection on Tuesday.

James collected 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting while adding 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals in 28 minutes against the Miami Heat on Tuesday but was not on the court to celebrate his team's ninth straight win after he was ejected for arguing a non-foul call. "I got fouled all the way up the court, from the time I stripped (Heat forward James Johnson), all the way until I got to the rim," James told reporters. "I said what I had to say and then I moved on, but he decided I should get (ejected). It is what it is. We got the win, and that's what's most important." The Hawks don't need to see a well-motivated James or a red-hot Cleveland squad after suffering the worst loss of an already down season with a 112-78 home setback to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. "Our defense was just - they were shooting 64, 68 percent at the half," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "They'd hit enough 3's to make you worry about that and they'd just kick it into drive. I feel like our defense, not just in the paint but everywhere, was just not good enough for an NBA game."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (14-7): James' ejection on Tuesday overshadowed a dominant performance from forward Kevin Love, who scored a season-high 38 points while going 10-of-16 from the field and 14-of-17 from the free-throw line. The All-Star came up one rebound shy of his sixth double-double during the nine-game winning streak. Love will get a chance on Thursday to wipe away the memory of his worst performance of the season, when he managed four points on 1-of-6 shooting in a home loss to Atlanta on Nov. 5.

ABOUT THE HAWKS (4-16): Atlanta is getting plenty of practice time this week to get things right with only the matchup against Cleveland coming between the loss to the Raptors last Saturday and a trip to Brooklyn this Saturday. Point guard Dennis Schroder scored a team-high 14 points in the loss to Toronto and reached double figures in scoring in seven straight games after bottoming out with seven points on 2-of-16 shooting in a loss at Washington on Nov. 11. Schroder matched a season high with 28 points and added nine assists in the Hawks' 117-115 win at Cleveland on Nov. 5.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cavaliers SG Dwyane Wade is averaging 15 points over the last four games - 4.2 points above his season mark.

2. Hawks PF Ersan Ilyasova is shooting 28.3 percent from the floor in nine games this season, including 19.2 percent from beyond the arc.

3. Cleveland SG Iman Shumpert (knee) sat out four of the last five games and is day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers 120, Hawks 106