Seattle finishes four-game road trip in Cleveland

Cleveland, OH (Basketball News) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will be shorthanded tonight when they welcome Ray Allen and the Seattle SuperSonics to Gund Arena.

Earlier this season, Cleveland defeated the Sonics, 104-96, on January 13, 2004 at KeyArena.

Cleveland’s rookie phenom LeBron James has a sprained right ankle and is expected to miss tonight’s game. James suffered the injury in the waning seconds of regulation in Saturday’s overtime win over Utah. This would be the first game of James’ NBA career that he has missed.

The Cavaliers, who open a five-game homestand tonight, will definitely be without center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was suspended one game for throwing a punch at Utah center Greg Ostertag during Saturday’s game.

Carlos Boozer scored a career-high 32 points, 21 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime, and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Cavaliers rallied late to stun Utah, 102-96, and earn the team’s first-ever win in 13 tries at the Delta Center. With the win, Cleveland finished its six-game road trip with a 2-4 record.

James finished with 29 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won two of three.

Cleveland won in Utah for the first time since a 113-110 overtime victory over the Jazz at the Salt Palace on December 11, 1989.

The Cavs, who have won two of their last three at home, are 9-8 as the host this season.

Seattle finishes a four-game road trip tonight. The Sonics, who are currently 1-2 on the swing, have won eight in a row at Cleveland.

On Monday, Allen poured in a game-high 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the SuperSonics to a 90-81 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wachovia Center.

Vladimir Radmanovic added 15 points and Rashard Lewis chipped in 12 in the win for the SuperSonics, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Sonics are 9-10 on the road this season.

The road team has won the last four meetings in this series.