Pregame: Cavs at Heat

Cleveland Cavaliers (8-39) at Miami Heat (33-14)
Time: 7:30 p.m.; Venue: AmericaAirlines Arena; TV/Radio: FS Ohio/WAKR

Cavs probable starters: PG Ramon Sessions, SG Manny Harris, SF Christian Eyenga, PF Antawn Jamison, C J.J. Hickson
Heat probable starters: PG Mario Chalmers, SG Dwyane Wade, SF LeBron James, PF Chris Bosh, C Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Injury report: Cavs -- Daniel Gibson (ankle/quad) doubtful, Anderson Varejao (ankle) out, Leon Powe (knee) out, Mo Williams (hip) out; Heat -- Udonis Haslem (foot) out.

Notes
* The Cavs dragging a 20-game losing streak into Miami tonight to face LeBron is like showing up at the prom with the ugly girl trying to impress your ex. The prom queen. Try as they might, LeBron wins. Period. Moving on.

* This is a great illustration to how badly injuries have shredded this roster. The five players who started for the Cavs against Orlando on Saturday played with James all of two seasons and two months. J.J. Hickson played with him for two years and Antawn Jamison played with him for two months. The other three starters (Ramon Sessions, Manny Harris and Christian Eyenga) never even played with James -- not counting Eyenga's couple sessions with him last summer at a Nike skills camp.

* The two guys who were most wounded by James' departure, Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson, are both expected to miss the game with injuries. It's not definite Gibson will miss tonight, although coach Byron Scott said it was likely Gibson would have to be shut down for a couple days to let his bruised left quad heal. The only other guy on the team who played with James more than a year is Anderson Varejao, and he's out, too.

* The Heat endured their own rash of injuries, but returned healthy for Sunday's win at Oklahoma City. Dwyane Wade is still nagged by a bruised wrist, but it's only forcing him to drive more to the basket. Chris Bosh returned Sunday after missing eight games with a sprained ankle. Miami's Big Three each shot better than 50 percent from the floor in the win over the Thunder, improving the Heat to 8-0 when that happens.

* Look on the bright side: At least a loss to the Heat tonight won't result in another historic milestone. At least the basketball gods granted the Cavs that much. If this current losing streak would've started just one game later, LeBron could've hand-delivered the Cavs their longest losing streak in franchise history. Now, if the Cavs lose, it will only be just another number in a long line that only keeps growing.