The Cleveland Cavaliers (29-11) defeated the Brooklyn Nets (11-32) 91-78 on Wednesday.
The Cavs were looking for a resurgent performance after Monday night's embarassment versus the Golden State Warriors. While they still didn't quite hit on all cylinders, their performance, particularly on defense, was certainly enough to score the road victory. Cleveland stymied Brooklyn to the extent that they only surrendered 55 points to them through three quarters, and held them to stingy 41.7-and-21.1 percent totals from the field and three-point range, respectively. Brook Lopez was the Nets' top scorer, but with only a modest 16 points, and two starters, Joe Johnson and Wayne Ellington, managed only three points apiece.
The visitors were lead by an outstanding effort from Kevin Love, tallying 17 points, 18 boards and two steals. It was a great bounce-back effort for the power forward, who had put together a miserable three-point performance against the Warriors. LeBron James equaled Love's point total and added five assists, a rebound, a steal and a block. Timofey Mozgov provided some rare offensive production, pitching in with 11 points and five rebounds. Tristan Thompson paced the Cleveland reserves with a double-double, tallying 14 points and hauling in 10 boards.
The Cavs improved to 29-11 and remain atop the Eastern Conference's Central Division. They head back to home to face off against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
Lopez did haul in 10 rebounds in addition to his 16 points, and also had an assist and a block. Thaddeus Young registered 14 points, five assists, an assist and a steal. Donald Sloan continued his recent stretch of solid play as a starter, coming an assist short of a double-double with 12 points, nine dimes, a rebound and a steal. Shane Larkin paced the Nets bench with seven points and seven assists over 23 minutes.
Brooklyn fell to 11-32 and remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division. They will next face off against the Utah Jazz on Friday at home.
