LeBron James

LeBron James was in a suit for the Cavaliers' loss Friday. The day is coming when he'll be in uniform again.

(Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO -- LeBron James was on the floor with his Cavaliers teammates and shooting the ball Saturday at practice, but coach David Blatt greatly downplayed the likelihood that James could play Sunday in Sacramento.

"He's making progress and that's a good sign," Blatt said at San Francisco's Olympic Club, where the Cavs practiced before taking a bus ride northeast to Sacramento. Cleveland played and lost Friday night to Golden State in Oakland, California.

James hasn't played since Dec. 28 with strains of his left knee and lower back. The Cavaliers are 1-6 in that stretch and 1-7 without him this season.

Asked if there was any chance James would play Sunday, Blatt said: "No, I don't expect so.

"Definitely, I would say very definitely not, but who knows what the stars (will bring)," Blatt said. "But no, I don't expect it."

James dropped a hint Friday that he could return earlier than his Jan. 15 target date. He put up some shots Friday during the Cavs' morning shootaround, and was already more active during the portion of practice open to the media Saturday than he was the day before.

LeBron James has been on the practice floor the last two days, though he has yet to participate fully, the Cavs say. He's talking to general manager David Griffin here.

"We're just going to continue the process, gradually get him moving again, and work him him back slowly into a full practice," Blatt said. "Still not there yet. But he is coming along well."

While it's unlikely James would play Sunday and more likely he would play Tuesday in Phoenix, a source said James couldn't be entirely ruled out until it's known how he responds to the work he did at practice.

The Cavs, of course, have been wrong before about a player's availability when speaking about it at the Olympic Club.

Consider the case of new center Timofey Mozgov, whom Blatt declared Friday morning to be out for that night's game, and about an hour later the team sent out a press release declaring Mozgov probable.

Mozgov scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes against Golden State.