By Tom Withers
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - Jeff McInnis saved Cleveland's season once, and now he has to rescue the Cavaliers again.

He may be too late this time.

After missing eight games with a shoulder injury, McInnis will be back on the floor Tuesday night for the Cavaliers, who might have to win their final six games to have any shot at making the NBA playoffs.

"We're hanging by a thread here, but we're still hanging," coach Paul Silas said after practice on Monday. "We just have to win as many as we can - and we need some help."

Do they ever.

The Cavaliers trail Boston by 2 1/2 games for the eighth spot and New York by 3 1/2 for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has six games left: three at home (Toronto, Miami and Milwaukee) and three away (Memphis, Miami and New York).

Both the Celtics and the Knicks have five games (three away, two at home) remaining, which leaves the Cavaliers with no margin for error entering Tuesday's game against the Raptors.

"We kind of control our own destiny," rookie LeBron James said. "If we don't win, we're out. If we win, we got a chance. We have to do our jobs."

James is confident the Cavaliers, who have dropped to the brink of elimination by losing eight of nine, can run the table.

"We have before," he said. "We won seven in a row before."

That was on March 16 when the Cavs finished off the Chicago Bulls 111-87 in a game that ended with McInnis icing a sore right shoulder. The injury seemed insignificant at the time; now it is perhaps the one that will define Cleveland's season.

The Cavaliers have been lost without their starting point guard, whose arrival in a Jan. 21 trade from Portland transformed them into winners. With McInnis watching helplessly from the bench in street clothes, Cleveland's offense has sputtered and its defense is allowing too many easy baskets.

McInnis has been missed - badly.

"It's like in football when your quarterback goes down, that makes it pretty tough," Silas said. "I don't want to make excuses, but losing him hurt."

McInnis' shoulder isn't 100 percent, but with time running out on the Cavaliers' season, he knows he has to play. He'll be activated on Tuesday and guard DaJuan Wagner is expected to go on the injured list.

Wagner was kept out of Monday's practice with a sore right knee, the same one he had operated on last March, causing him to miss his final 20 games as a rookie and the first 33 games this season.

It's a good thing McInnis will be back in uniform. He can't bare the thought of having to sit on the bench another second.

"That's the first time in my career where I've been hurt bad enough where I couldn't play in consecutive games," said McInnis, who insists his shoulder is only bruised. "Going to the game knowing that I wasn't going to play, that was hard for me. I was bored, walking around and doing anything I could to stay busy."

Passing time instead of the ball wore on McInnis, who began watching the out-of-town scoreboard with regularity, checking to see how the Celtics, Knicks and others were doing in the East's tight playoff chase.

At least that wasn't as painful as McInnis seeing his teammates lose night after night without him.

McInnis, who expects to have his $3.6 million contract option picked up for next season, now understands his importance to the Cavaliers. He just wishes he didn't have to find out at the expense of Cleveland's record.

"I'd rather us get some wins than to know how valuable I was," he said. "I hate to see my team lose."

Losing McInnis probably shouldn't have caused the Cavaliers to unravel as much as they have. But Silas said his team's inability to handle the adversity shows how far it has to go. There's work to be done.

"We're not a solid club yet," the first-year coach said. "We made a nice run because everything just kind of fell into place. If we make this thing, it's an unbelievable feat."