Cavs resume road trip in Big Apple

Cleveland punched its ticket to the postseason on Tuesday with a 105-94 win over Indiana on Tuesday. LeBron James scored 26 points, pulled down seven rebounds, and tallied six assists.

The win moved the Cavaliers to within 2 1/2 games of Detroit for the top spot in both the Central and Eastern Conference standings.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 23 points, and Eric Snow added 14 points for Cleveland, which has won two of three and 10 of 13 overall. The Cavs are 16-18 on the road this season and will also travel to Chicago, Boston and Minnesota on their swing.

The Knicks have dropped out of the playoff race courtesy of a lengthy losing streak that reached four games after a 94-89 loss to Orlando on Monday. New York is now two games behind New Jersey for the eighth playoff spot in the East.

Stephon Marbury scored 32 points to lead New York against the Magic and Eddy Curry added 17 points. No other player finished in double figures in the loss.

The setback was the Knicks’ third in a row at home and dropped them to 18-18 in the Big Apple this season. New York plays its next two games on the road, in Dallas and Oklahoma City.

Forward David Lee (sore right leg/ankle) and guard Quentin Richardson (sore lower back) are both doubtful for tonight’s game. Lee has missed 14 of New York’s last 16 games, while Richardson has sat out six straight.

Tonight’s game is the final meeting between the clubs this season. Cleveland has taken two of three against New York this year. The Cavs snapped a three- game series road losing streak to New York with a win in November.