Cleveland @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 21, 2017 ) Orlando 114, Cleveland 93

After being short at the point guard spot for the last two months, the Cleveland Cavaliers could be on the verge of having too many players capable of running the offense. The Cavaliers will have Isaiah Thomas available for his second game of the season when they visit the Orlando Magic on Saturday and are anticipating the return of Derrick Rose.

Thomas sat out the first 36 games while recovering from a hip injury and scored 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench in a 127-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday -- Cleveland's lone win in the last five games -- before sitting out the second night of a back-to-back at Boston on Wednesday. "I'm trying to get them to let me play a little more," Thomas, who is expected to have his minutes increased slowly, told reporters. "Especially (because) I played all right the first game that I played, so I'm -- trust me -- I'm on them about playing a little more because for the most part I feel fine. I'm a little sore, and I expected to be sore and a little stiff, but for the most part, my body feels good." The Magic snapped a 17-game losing streak in the series by trouncing the Cavaliers in Cleveland 114-93 on Oct. 21 as part of an 8-4 start, but they are just 4-23 since. Orlando's latest losing streak reached three in a row with a 116-98 home loss to Houston on Wednesday as it shot 38.5 percent from the floor, including 6-of-31 from 3-point range.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), FS Florida (Orlando)

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (25-13): Cleveland dropped its last five road games and opened the current five-game trip with a 102-88 loss to the Celtics on Wednesday, but it is now expecting to get even more help on the road from the return of Rose. The former MVP has been out since Nov. 7 with a sprained ankle and bone spurs and took a two-week leave from the team while contemplating retirement, but he is opening the door to a return soon. "It's whatever they want," Rose told reporters. "I'm not trying to be a distraction to the team or anything like that. I'm here to be a professional about any situation I get put into and to own up to it and be a man about it. I just want to win. No matter how many minutes I'm playing, I'm not a stat guy. I did all that in the past. Now it's time for me to win a championship."

ABOUT THE MAGIC (12-27): Magic power forward Aaron Gordon scored 16 points on Wednesday but was just 7-of-23 from the floor and is 15-of-43 in his last two games. "Sometimes the shots just aren't going to fall. We got the looks that we wanted to get, but they didn't fall," Gordon told reporters after Wednesday's setback. "It happens, but you just keep shooting. As much as I was missing, I had no worries that the next one was going to go through. I've got to keep shooting." Shooting guard Evan Fournier is battling through his own slump and is 6-of-26 from the field in the last two contests, including 0-of-9 from 3-point range.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cavaliers PF Kevin Love scored a season-low two points on 1-of-11 shooting in Wednesday's loss.

2. Magic SF Jonathan Simmons left Wednesday's game with a back injury and is day-to-day.

3. Cleveland superstar LeBron James scored 19 points on Wednesday - the second time in the last 21 contests that he failed to reach 20.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers 125, Magic 101