LeBron James going home - again

CLEVELAND (AP) - The hype and the hate just aren't the same.

LeBron James will make his second trip to Cleveland as a visiting player on Tuesday night and he doesn't expect it to be nearly as intense as his return on Dec. 2, when Cavaliers fans unloaded months of built-up frustration on the superstar, who bolted as a free agent last summer.

James said his upcoming visit “can't get no worse than it was Dec. 2. I know that for a fact.”

Cleveland fans aren't frothing like they were three months ago. Maybe that's because the Cavaliers have fallen on hard times, a slide that accelerated after James returned and helped the Heat embarrass Cleveland 118-90. Coach Byron Scott contends the loss didn't have a negative affect on his team, but the Cavaliers lost a record 26 straight games shortly after James' homecoming.