Cleveland @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 17, 2017 ) Boston 99, Cleveland 102

Storylines abound Wednesday in Boston as the Celtics welcome back Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a matchup of Eastern Conference heavyweights. Thomas, who was a two-time All-Star with the Celtics before being traded with Crowder for star guard Kyrie Irving this offseason, made his debut for the Cavaliers in Tuesday's 127-110 win over Portland after missing the first 36 games of the season due to a hip injury.

The 28-year-old will not play against his former team as he sits out the second half of a back-to-back and the Celtics will not play a video tribute, per his request, but Thomas knows there will be plenty of emotion. "I know it will be all love," Thomas told reporters Tuesday. "I keep saying that I gave that city everything I had and they showed me genuine love back and I think that love is going to last forever. So, there's no hard feelings. This ain't no revenge game. They know what they gave up. They knew what they got. It's all good. I'm focused on the Cleveland Cavaliers and trying to win a championship." Despite knocking off Boston in the season opener, Cleveland has been looking up at the Celtics in the East for most of the season, but the hosts feel they still have work to do to dethrone the Cavaliers. "They've got a guy that's probably leading the charge for MVP in the league in LeBron (James), who's been doing it now for 15 years," Boston coach Brad Stevens told the media Tuesday. "They're the team to beat. Everybody knows that."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Ohio (Cleveland), NBCS Boston

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (25-12): James had 24 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals as Cleveland snapped a three-game slide Tuesday, but the superstar knew that the night belonged to Thomas. "The only thing I knew was what was going to happen when he came in, that these fans would give him the ovation he had been waiting on and that he deserved," James said of Thomas, who had 17 points in 19 minutes. Coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that Thomas would likely enter the starting five Saturday against Orlando.

ABOUT THE CELTICS (30-10): Irving, who was a four-time All-Star with Cleveland, scored 28 points in a 108-105 win over Brooklyn on New Year's Eve, Boston's third consecutive victory following a 5-6 swoon. "Except missing another franchise cornerstone [Gordon Hayward] that's still cheering us on," Irving told reporters when asked about the team's relative health. "But in terms of the guys that are available, just I feel like we're rounding out at the right time in terms of getting healthy and getting back into the swing of things." Hayward was lost to a broken ankle minutes into the opener against the Cavaliers, when Irving had 22 points and 10 assists in his return to Cleveland.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Crowder averaged 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds last season with Boston.

2. Celtics F Marcus Morris is 6-for-9 from 3-point range over his last two games.

3. James had 29 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists in the 102-99 win over the Celtics earlier this season and went for 35, eight and eight in the decisive Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Boston in the spring.

PREDICTION: Celtics 107, Cavaliers 105