Cleveland Cavaliers (8-3) at Washington Wizards (2-7), 7 p.m.

Sports Network | November 18, 2009

(Sports Network) - A recent rash of injuries has yet to slow down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who take aim at a sixth straight victory in tonight's clash with the badly-struggling Washington Wizards from the Verizon Center.

Despite having leading rebounder Anderson Varejao sidelined for the past five games with a hip contusion and center Shaquille O'Neal missing the team's last two outings due to a strained shoulder, the Cavaliers haven't lost since a one-point setback to Chicago on November 5 and improved to 8-3 on the young season with Tuesday's 114-108 home triumph over Golden State.

Cleveland does still have LeBron James, however, and the superstar forward led the way in last night's win with game highs of 31 points and 12 assists. James is averaging 31 points and 8.2 assists over the course of Cleveland's five- game surge.

Youngster J.J. Hickson contributed a career-best 21 points along with nine rebounds for the Cavaliers on Tuesday, while Mo Williams finished with 16 points, eight boards and six assists.

Neither O'Neal nor Varejao are expected to be available for tonight's tilt, and reserve forward Jamario Moon probably won't play as well after spraining an ankle in the third quarter of Tuesday's win.

Washington has had to deal with health issues of its own this season, most notably to standout forward Antawn Jamison. The two-time All-Star hasn't played since partially dislocating his right shoulder in an exhibition game against the Cavs back on October 14.

Jamison has been able to practice without restrictions this week, however, and is slated to make his regular-season debut tonight. The Wizards hope he'll be joined on the court by guard Randy Foye, who sat out Saturday's 106-103 loss to Detroit with a sprained right ankle but also participated in Tuesday's practice.

Washington could certainly use both players, considering the club has dropped six in a row to begin the month of November. It's the Wizards' longest losing streak since a six-game slide since January 6-14 of last season.

"We're concerned, but at the same time we've got a lot of talent in this locker room," said guard Mike Miller after Saturday's setback. "We're trying to figure it out. Tonight we played a lot better. We just didn't win and when you don't win it's disappointing."

The Wizards have not lost seven straight contests since an eight-game skid from December 11-23, 2008.

Miller netted 20 points against the Pistons, as did guard Earl Boykins in his first game in a Washington uniform. The diminutive veteran was signed by the Wizards last week due to injuries to Foye and fellow backcourt members Mike James (broken left hand) and Javaris Crittenton (foot surgery).

The Cavaliers posted a 102-90 victory over the Wizards in Cleveland earlier this month, but have lost in four straight and eight of their past nine trips to the Verizon Center.