Cleveland ? The Cavaliers may be about to experience how life would have been had they not won the NBA lottery.

Rookie LeBron James, who sprained his right ankle during a win at Utah during the weekend, is not expected to play tonight when Cleveland plays host to Seattle.

“He wasn’t walking too good on it,” Cavs coach Paul Silas said Monday after practicing without his 19-year-old standout and leading scorer.

Silas is planning for James to miss at least one game — and perhaps a few more.

“We just have to make do until he comes back,” he said. “If he doesn’t play, somebody will have to step in and step up. We’ve got to win games.”

If the potential loss of James wasn’t bad enough, the Cavs learned they will also play today without center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas received a one-game suspension without pay by the NBA Monday for throwing a punch at Jazz center Greg Ostertag in Saturday’s game. Ilgauskas’ suspension will cost him $150,000.

James (20.4) and Ilgauskas (14.1) account for more than one-third of Cleveland’s scoring, forcing Silas to look elsewhere on his roster for points.

James scored 29 points before twisting his ankle when he landed on the foot of Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko in the final seconds of regulation in Saturday’s comeback win — Cleveland’s first at Utah since 1989.

The No. 1 overall draft pick was unable to put any weight on his ankle and was carried to the locker room. James was kept out of practice and received treatment Monday while his teammates worked out at Gund Arena.

James, who was on crutches at a high school game Sunday night, was not available for comment.