LeBron, Cavs welcome Nets to town

The Nets have won two straight and will close out a two-game road trip. In Tuesday’s 96-92 win over Washington at the Verizon Center, Richard Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points and Vince Carter posted 31 points for the Nets, who won for the fourth time in five contests and are 1 1/2 games behind Washington for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey is on the verge of capturing a playoff berth and owns a 15-23 record away from the Meadowlands this season.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have alternated losses and wins over their last 11 games and suffered an 87-82 setback to the Central Division-rival Detroit Pistons on Sunday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

LeBron James finished with 20 points after going scoreless in the first quarter for the Cavaliers, who are five games behind Detroit in both the Central and Eastern Conference standings. Chicago is 4 1/2 games off the mark in both categories and owns the tiebreaker over the Cavs.

Cleveland, which is fifth overall in the East, will open a two-game homestand tonight versus New Jersey and Atlanta. It is 27-11 at Quicken Loans Arena this season.

Thursday’s game between New Jersey and Cleveland is the third and final meeting of the regular season. The series is split so far, but New Jersey has won six of nine and eight of the last 13 meetings.

New Jersey has lost two straight, four of six and seven of its last 10 at Cleveland.