Cavs go Buck hunting in Milwaukee

This is the second of four meetings between the clubs this season. On December 29th, LeBron James poured in 32 points and dished out five assists as the Cavaliers built an early lead and held on to defeat Milwaukee, 109-99, at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers have won four in a row in this series. Cleveland, though, has lost 14 of 17 and 15 of its last 20 at Milwaukee.

Cleveland enters tonight’s contest on a two-game winning streak. James scored 32 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists to lead Cleveland past the Boston Celtics, 107-104, on Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 27 points and 11 boards in the win over Boston for the Cavaliers, who have won five of their last six games overall. Larry Hughes collected 14 points, while Drew Gooden finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cavaliers are just 5-9 on the road this season. They return home to host the New Jersey Nets on Saturday before embarking on a season-long seven-game road trip. Cleveland will visit Sacramento, Phoenix, the Clippers, Seattle, Portland, Denver and Golden State on the upcoming swing.

Milwaukee, which has won seven in a row at the Bradley Center, attempts to get back on the winning track. Gilbert Arenas again put the Washington Wizards on his back, scoring 32 points, including the game-winning three- pointer as the buzzer sounded to lift Washington to a 108-105 win over the Bucks at the Verizon Center.

Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 27 points, and Maurice Williams scored 24 in the loss to Washington for the Bucks, who have still won seven of their last nine games overall. Charlie Bell scored 14 points and Ruben Patterson netted 12 in defeat.

The Bucks are 9-4 at home this season. Their last loss in front of their fans was on November 25th against the Celtics. Milwaukee is scheduled to visit the Nuggets on Monday at the Pepsi Center.

On the injury front, forward Charlie Villanueva (right shoulder tendinitis) is questionable for Milwaukee, while Cavaliers forward Donyell Marshall (head contusion/sore neck) is also questionable.