Cavaliers guard Larry Hughes will miss Cleveland's next two games and maybe two more with a high ankle sprain, a tricky injury the club is making sure is 100 percent healed before he plays again.

Hughes injured his right ankle last week against Portland while fighting for a loose ball on the floor. The Cavaliers have taken a conservative approach in rehab with Hughes, who missed 46 games last season and has been injury prone throughout his career.

Hughes underwent a second MRI on Tuesday before the Cavaliers hosted the Memphis Grizzlies, the first of four games in five nights for Cleveland this week.

Coach Mike Brown said the test results did not show any more damage and that Hughes' was improving.

``We're not in any rush to get him back right now,'' Brown said. ``We want to make sure we handle this the right way.''

The Cavaliers, who entered Tuesday's game an Eastern Conference-best 7-3, are 1-1 since Hughes was sidelined. The club went 27-19 without him last season, the 27-year-old's first with Cleveland.

The Cavs play at Toronto on Wednesday, and after getting Thanksgiving Day off, they'll play their second back-to-back of the week on Friday in Indiana and Saturday at home against Philadelphia.

Brown would prefer that Hughes practises before he comes back. Following Saturday's game, the Cavaliers will have three days off for workouts before they face the New York Knicks on Nov. 29.

David Wesley made his third straight start on Tuesday, replacing Hughes. He's averaging just 1.7 points and has made only 5-of-22 shots in his first season with the Cavs.

© The Canadian Press, 2007