East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - The Cleveland Cavaliers hope to snap an eight-game slide when they travel to New Jersey to face the Nets at Continental Airlines Arena.

Cleveland has a 1-7 mark on the road after a 97-80 loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers with 24 points, while Ricky Davis added 19.

"They were more aggressive," Ilgauskas said. "We got it close but then they hustled and wanted it more than we did. They outhustled us on the glass. They boxed out and got a lot of long rebounds. Sometimes those things happen."

The Cavaliers are 0-4 within the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey will be cranky after a 96-79 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. The Nets traveled to Boston knowing the Celtics would be looking for a pound of flesh. New Jersey snatched a trip to the NBA Finals from the Celtics at FleetCenter last season, so this game was circled on Boston's calendar since last spring.

The Celtics came out and whipped a dazed-and-confused Nets team in front of a packed house. While the Nets worried about Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, the combination of Tony Delk and Shammond Williams killed them from the perimeter. Delk and Williams scored 21 points apiece and missed just six shots combined. Williams was 8-of-9 from the field including 3-of-3 from three-point land.

New Jersey allowed the Celtics to shoot 14-of-25 from behind the arc and sent them to the line 23 times.

"No excuses. We just played like crap," a visibly annoyed coach Byron Scott said. "We didn't compete. It was as simple as that. We did an awful job defensively. We were terrible tonight. We didn't compete. We didn't come ready to play. Guys were tired. We didn't run the floor. It was terrible, a terrible basketball game.

"We've been up and down throughout the first 12 games. For whatever reason, we haven't come out to play every single game like we did last year. And that's disturbing. I don't understand how you can come in here, especially against a team that you know is going to play you extremely hard, that wants to beat you badly...and we come out with a lackadaisical effort."

Jason Kidd led the Nets with 19 points and Richard Jefferson added 16 to the losing effort. Kidd downplayed the pay-back angle after the game.

"The rivalry started in the playoffs," Kidd said, "and it will have to continue in the playoffs, not the regular season."

The Nets were also outrebounded 57-46 by an average Boston frontcourt. New Jersey needs rebounds more than most teams. Obviously, boards are important to any squad, but when you want to get out on the break the way the Nets do, it's imperative that you hit the glass.

New Jersey won three of the four meetings between the teams last season, but trails the all-time series 68-49.