Milwaukee @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 19, 2017 ) Cleveland 116, Milwaukee 119

The Cleveland Cavaliers' lengthy list of absences is extending to the coaching staff, but the team is still hanging onto the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers hope to have coach Tyronn Lue back on the bench when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.

Lue stayed in the locker room after halftime during Saturday's 114-109 win over the Chicago Bulls with an undisclosed illness -- the second time in the last six weeks that he could not make it through a game. "I mean, he's the captain of the ship, so absolutely," Cleveland superstar LeBron James told reporters. "We worry about his health, obviously. That's way more important than this game of basketball. We know he's been doing everything he needs to do to stay healthy. Take even more measures to get himself right. Everything that's been going on with our year, it's just another one." Milwaukee is three games behind Cleveland and sits in seventh place in the East after notching wins in three of its last four games. "Just got to do a good job coming in playing the basketball we know because at the end of the day we've got to play great basketball from now until the playoffs, so we can beat good teams in the playoffs," Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo told reporters.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE BUCKS (37-32): Milwaukee suffered a 126-117 loss at lowly Orlando on Wednesday and almost suffered another loss to a team at the bottom of the standings before pulling out a 122-117 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. "We can get a lot better," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "What'd they have, 117 (points)? We can get a lot better. That's not what we do. ... We are really, really good defensively if we want to be. We've got to have the mindset coming into the game that we've got to play defense, so we can win the game and not just offense." Antetokounmpo did his part on the defensive end Saturday with four steals and two blocks to go with 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (40-29): Cleveland finished up a 3-3 road trip with Saturday's win and will play seven of the next 10 at home as they try to hold off the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers in the race for the No. 3 spot in the East. The Cavaliers' lengthy list of absences does not include James, who notched his 15th triple-double of the season with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists on Saturday -- his second triple-double in the last three games. James is averaging 30 points on 54.2 percent shooting, 10.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists in nine games this month.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cavaliers SF Cedi Osman (hip), PF Larry Nance Jr. (hamstring), SG Kyle Korver (personal) and SG Rodney Hood (back) are all questionable for Monday.

2. Bucks SG Khris Middleton is averaging 24.8 points over the last four games and is 10-of-17 from 3-point range in that span.

3. Cleveland took the first two meetings this season, but Milwaukee grabbed a win in the latest matchup -- 119-116 at home on Dec. 19.

PREDICTION: Bucks 122, Cavaliers 115