Jordan J Wilson

jordan.wilson@indystar.com

Cavaliers at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI

UPDATE (10:55 a.m. Wednesday): For those waiting to see if LeBron James would play or not before buying tickets to tonight's Pacers-Cavs game, feel free to make plans to be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse tonight.

"I ain't sitting," James told Pacers Insider Nate Taylor during Cavs shootaround this morning.

James had sat out the last two games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but that mini-streak appears to be coming to an end.

INDIANAPOLIS — A healthy Myles Turner would much rather be on the floor for the Indiana Pacers than resting.

The second-year center has played an average of 30.5 minutes through 50 games this season, averaging the third-most points (15.5) and most rebounds (7.3) among the Pacers, but shrugs off the idea of taking a night off to rest up.

“I, for one, like to go out there and play,” Turner said Tuesday.

Turner also said he likes squaring off against the best, which — with Cleveland and LeBron James coming to town Wednesday night — highlights one of the bigger debates bubbling around the NBA: Should teams be allowed to rest healthy star players?

The Cavaliers (35-15) have been criticized this season for resting one or more of their stars. The complaint is that they deny fans the chance to see elite players compete.

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Indiana fans faced this disappointment in November when James sat out for the first time this season. He also sat out the April 6 meeting with the Pacers last season.

His absences have made a kid cry, devastated a Chicagoan looking to cross "See LeBron live" off his bucket list and cost many on the secondary ticket market a pretty penny.

James has since rested for two more games, including a night in Memphis where he, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving all stayed behind in Ohio.

Fans and members of the media have criticized the decisions to rest, with some asking whether the league should prevent scheduled rest not for health reasons.

Moreover, some questioned whether teams resting their players were even invested in competing for that particular game. The Cavaliers have lost all three games James has taken off for rest this season.

C.J. Miles sees it differently.

“When you look at certain guys that play a lot of minutes and, what I’d say, carry the load, make deep runs every year all the time, they take a pounding,” the Pacers small forward said. “You look at it as, ‘How do you be as healthy as possible when you need to be?’”

Asked about the issue in November on SiriusXM NBA Radio, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he would prefer teams rest their players at home, where fans can regularly see their superstars in action. But he also defended teams’ decisions to rest players for “matchup specific” reasons.

Teams often rest players facing games on consecutive nights, as the Cavaliers did when they visited Indiana in November. This time, It's possible that coming off of playing 42 minutes against Washington on Monday, James might decided to take a break.

“I think you have to leave it up to the teams,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “They decide how they want to play their players, they know the health of their players, the condition of their players, and when teams decide to do that, there’s a reason for doing that.”

McMillan said that teams have looked harder at resting players over the past 10 or so years on the advice of medical staff.

‘There’s been a lot of real big change in how we try to help players recover and get through the season,” McMillan said. “And for some teams, part of getting through the season and being fresh in the playoffs is sitting some guys in some games.”

James has passed on his last two chances to play in Indianapolis. It's likely fans won't know until after practice tomorrow morning whether James will play this time.

Don't expect the Pacers, riding a season-high, seven-game winning streak, to take the Cavaliers lightly regardless of who plays.

“I think you’re going to go out there and compete hard no matter who’s on the floor and you want to not let what the other team is doing affect what you’re doing,” Miles said.

Follow IndyStar reporter Jordan J. Wilson on Twitter: @Wilsonable07. Email him atjordan.wilson@indystar.com. Jim Ayello contributed to this article.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (35-15) at INDIANA PACERS (29-22)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

TV: Fox Sports Indiana

Radio: WFNI-1070 AM, 93.5 FM

Three things to watch:

>> It looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers might set up a reunion matchup between the Indiana Pacers and former guard Lance Stephenson when they hosted him for a four-guard tryout, but Stephenson opted to sign a 10-day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavs also worked out Jordan Farmar, Mario Chalmers and Kirk Hinrich but might end up leaving their remaining roster spot open for the time being.

>> The Pacers seemed to prove the streak isn’t a fluke when they downed Oklahoma City and won their seventh straight game, but the Thunder were far from the end of the test. The Pacers must not only get through East-leading Cleveland on Wednesday night but also handle another high-end conference team in the Wizards on Friday. The Pacers have not seemed to miss a beat without Thaddeus Young (sprained wrist), but they also haven’t faced bigs quite like LeBron James and Kevin Love.

>> No word on whether Young will be ready to go for Wednesday’s game. Lavoy Allen has filled his shoes nicely, but Allen has not yet had to guard superstars. The Pacers have some home-court mojo, but perhaps not enough to fend off a huge contender for this season’s NBA title. Cavaliers 103, Pacers 94 — Jordan J. Wilson.