Memphis @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 26, 2018 ) Cleveland 87, Memphis 95

Kevin Love flashed his All-Star form in Cleveland's last outing and he looks to lead the Cavaliers to a second straight win when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Love, who recently returned from foot surgery, had 16 points and 11 rebounds in just 22 minutes as Cleveland notched a 111-98 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

Love missed 50 games due to his injury as the Cavaliers sunk toward the bottom of the standings and his effort against the Suns was encouraging as he is still working on his conditioning. "He's a walking double-double," forward Larry Nance Jr. told reporters of Love. "That's something he's been his whole career, that's certainly not going to change now. He's just such a weapon for us." The Grizzlies recorded a 95-87 home win over Cleveland earlier this season but enter the rematch with three straight defeats after falling 112-106 to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Memphis recently traded long-time stalwart Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors and now has lost impressive rookie forward Jaren Jackson Jr. for an indefinite period.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Memphis), FS Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (23-37): Jackson, who has a 13.8 scoring average, is dealing with a deep bruise to his right quadriceps that may sideline him for the rest of the season. Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters after the contest that the club won't take any risks with Jackson and that the diagnosis of a bruise was determined through an MRI exam conducted Friday. "He practiced (Thursday) and there must have been a moment in practice where it was re-aggravated," Bickerstaff said during his postgame session. "He finished practice and it wasn't something that stopped him from being able to practice. After practice he noticed it and went to visit the training staff."

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (13-46): Cleveland has won both of the last two games Love has played in since his return as the team's skill level - not to mention its mood - is greatly improved by the five-time All-Star's presence. "This is not a bottom-tier team," Nance told reporters. "We're very talented and dangerous when we can play well. Any team missing a player the caliber of Kevin is going to hurt. We hurt worse than most. I look at the East and I'm like 'man, whether it's the rest of this year or next year, we are just not that far back.'" Nance floated the possibly of the Cavaliers making a charge into contention of an Eastern Conference playoff spot but that's not happening with Cleveland 15 games behind the eighth-place Detroit Pistons with only 23 games remaining.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Cavaliers have a 17-4 home record against the Grizzlies.

2. Memphis C Jonas Valanciunas (personal reasons) will miss his second straight game.

3. Cleveland rookie PG Collin Sexton scored just eight points against Phoenix after averaging 22.8 points over the previous five games.

PREDICTION: Grizzlies 96, Cavaliers 92