NBA Basketball Preview: Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

This is certainly not just another game. (AI Wire Images)"]

Tonight the Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of the Eastern Conference's best record and the league's only unbeaten team at home, will host the Boston Celtics in an early January matchup that carries a mid-June playoff vibe.

The 4-point underdog Celtics are coming in looking nothing like defending NBA champs and the Cavs can smell blood.

Boston lost for the sixth time in eight games on Wednesday night to the Houston Rockets, who held the Celtics to 11 points in the fourth quarter.

After blasting to a 27-2 start, the Celtics appear physically tired and have begun to show the strain of having to live up to their title every night.

Cleveland will again be without center Zyrdunas Ilgauskas, who has missed three games with a chipped ankle bone. But what they will have is 20,000 screaming fans that have helped the Cavs build an 18-0 record at Quicken Loans Arena.