Carlos Boozer is supposed to return to action tonight, but he might take it easy and not play too many minutes.
Why? Because the Cleveland Cavaliers are bad. Really, really bad. Possibly on the way to being historically bad, although at 8-34, they'd have to lose every one of their 40 remaining games to break the Philadelphia 76ers' 9-73 futility record.
So you're asking the old Johnny Carson question -- how bad are they? Here's how bad: they have lost 15 games in a row. One of those losses was by a single point -- to the nearly as bad Timberwolves. Other than that, they haven't come closer than six points in the final score of any of the 15 games, and many have been by double-digits, including a ridiculous 55-point, 112-57 loss to the Lakers on Jan. 11 where they set a franchise low for points. If not for an overtime win over the Knicks on Dec. 18, they would have a 26-game losing streak.
That's right. The Cavs have lost 25 of their last 26 games, and that includes an 88-83 loss to the Bulls in Cleveland on Dec. 8. (The Cavs did have the lead for a while in that game, too.) The Bulls also beat the Cavs in Chicago on New Year's Day, 100-91.
Thanks, LeBron James. This is your real legacy. The Bulls still have to play this game, but they ought to win easily.
The game begins at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised on WGN (local and national).