The Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Milwaukee Bucks in a preseason game on Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cavaliers fans will not see superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, though, as both players were ruled out for the NBA preseason 2014 match for precautionary measures.
First-year Cavaliers coach David Blatt confirmed that James will miss the game against the Bucks, but he denied reports that the four-time Most Valuable Player is nursing an injury, saying that they just want to keep their superstars fresh for the start of the new season.
"Just part of our process and part of our management of how we want to approach preseason and best get him ready for the start of the season," said Blatt, who will be coaching in his first season in the NBA this year.
Blatt said that the decision to sit James out has nothing to do with his back injury. James, who averaged just 9.5 points to go along with 6.0 assists in 20.5 minutes in their first two preseason matches, recently said that his back is feeling better and he is getting into his desired playing shape.
"We are all getting in better game shape and that helps," James said via Cleveland.com. "But also being back on the floor. You have that off-season and mine is always shorter than a lot of people's so I was able to get back into game shape and get my body back used to playing basketball every day."
Irving, on the other hand, will also not play against the Bucks because of the ankle injury that also forced him to miss their preseason match against the Miami Heat in Brazil on Saturday.
Blatt said after Monday's practice that Irving is feeling better, but they are taking a cautious approach on his return, saying that they want to avoid aggravating the playmaker's hurting ankle.
"Kyrie moved around a good bit today, not in live practice, but in terms of the drills that we had. That's a good sign," Blatt said. "He's coming along. We're not going to rush it, we're being careful because we want him back on his feet full strength. But he did take a step forward today, no question."
Irving's return remains left hanging in the balance, while James is expected to play against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
The Cavaliers-Bucks match will tip-off at 7:00 PM ET and will be broadcasted live on NBA TV.
