Cleveland @ Portland preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2018 ) Portland 110, Cleveland 127

The Portland Trail Blazers can't seem to lose, and they are finally beginning to gain a little separation from the pack of teams chasing them for the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who visit the Trail Blazers on Thursday, already ceded the No. 3 spot in the East and are 2-2 on a six-game road trip.

Portland sits 1 1/2 games ahead of the fourth-place Oklahoma City Thunder in the West and 3 1/2 games clear of the trio of teams tied for the No. 7 spot after extending its winning streak to 10 straight with a 115-99 romp over the Miami Heat on Monday. "We just care about the next game and that's how we approach," Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic told reporters. "Every next game is going to be important for us and we're not looking that far out. We're in a great position and just trying to do every game to keep that spot." The Cavaliers sit in fourth place in the East, a half-game behind the Indiana Pacers, but are feeling better about themselves after a 129-107 thrashing of the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. LeBron James notched his 14th triple-double of the season in the win and told reporters, "I'm like fine wine; I get better with age."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), NBCS Northwest (Portland)

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (39-28): James does not appear to be slowing down at all at age 33 and collected 28 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks in Tuesday's win. "It's just being around the court and being reliable to my teammates," James told reporters. "For me to be able to clean glass and get my guys good looks where they were able to just catch and shoot or catch and lay it up, it made it a lot easier for me, for sure. With the scoring, I just tried to be aggressive and got to the free-throw line tonight and was able to knock those down, too." James is on pace to play in all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career and is averaging 26.9 points, nine assists and 8.5 rebounds.

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (41-26): All-Star guard Damian Lillard continues to come up big for Portland and led the way with 32 points and 10 assists on Monday, but Nurkic's effort on the inside stood out. The 23-year-old delivered 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 16 rebounds to mark his fifth double-double of the winning streak. "(Nurkic) was huge," Lillard told reporters. "That's the Nurk that we need, just a beast, taking his time scoring on the block, making plays off the block, rebounding the ball, blocking shots. I think his presence was really felt on both ends of the floor."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cavaliers SG Rodney Hood (back) and SF Cedi Osman (hip) both sat out Tuesday and are day-to-day.

2. Lillard is 25-of-46 from 3-point range over the last four games.

3. The home team took the last eight in the series, with Cleveland earning a 127-110 home win on Jan. 2

PREDICTION: Trail Blazers 128, Cavaliers 116