New York @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 9, 2018 ) Cleveland 123, New York 109

The Cleveland Cavaliers are finishing the regular season strong and look to win for the 12th time in the past 14 games when they conclude the campaign against the visiting New York Knicks on Wednesday. Cleveland won 12 of the past 13 meetings against the Knicks, including a 123-109 victory on Monday in New York in the front end of the home-and-home set.

The Cavaliers are battling the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs but Monday's win was the squad's 50th of the season and also clinched the Central Division crown. "We've got one more at home and then like we always say, 'the real thing starts,'" All-Star power forward Kevin Love told reporters. "But yeah, 50 wins and a division title ... we're still happy with that, and home court (advantage in the first round). Ready to dial it in." While Cleveland is celebrating its fourth straight 50-win season, New York is playing out the end of its fourth consecutive 50-loss campaign. The Knicks lost 25 of their past 30 games and second-year coach Jeff Hornacek is expected to be fired following the season.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FS Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE KNICKS (28-53): New York will be shorthanded similar to Monday's contest as center Enes Kanter (back) is slated to miss his sixth straight game, shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle) is expected to miss his third in a row while point guard Emmanuel Mudiay (concussion) will definitely miss his third straight outing. Rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina stood out in Monday's game as the 19-year-old scored a season-high 17 points and also recorded six rebounds and five assists. Rookie shooting guard Damyean Dotson put together three straight double-digit outings, topped by the season-high 30 he scored against the Miami Heat last Friday.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (50-31): Forward LeBron James indicated he will play in the season finale - "I'm healthy, so I'm playing," James told reporters - and it will mark the first time he has played in all 82 regular-season games during his 15-year NBA career. "LeBron has led this charge and playing 81 out of 81 games," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue told reporters after Monday's game. "It's very easy for a guy to sit down when you're going through the stuff we went through all season. I think he did a great job just leading by example, playing every game even though we were going through a tough stretch and tough stretches. I think he did a really good job of setting the tone for everyone." James has downplayed the possible accomplishment but the underlying belief is he is proud of being able to do it at age 33.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Knicks fared superbly in Cleveland on Oct. 29, when they held James to 16 points and rolled to a 114-95 victory.

2. Cavaliers swingman Rodney Hood (Achilles) will likely miss his second straight game.

3. New York SF Michael Beasley is averaging 16.5 points over the last two contests after missing the previous two due to a knee injury.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers 120, Knicks 104