Wrap-Up – The Cavaliers haven’t had their full complement of players since Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when they took on the team they’ll face on Christmas Day in Oakland – and even then, Anderson Varejao was in street clothes. But before getting to that monster matchup, they needed that full team to drop the Knicks before bolting for the West Coast.
Cleveland won its sixth straight in dramatic fashion, clamping down on the Knicks late in the fourth quarter and holding on for the 91-84 win on Wednesday night at The Q.
Playing without the services of Carmelo Anthony, who sprained his ankle in a Monday night loss, the scrappy Knicks clawed their way back into the lead early in the fourth quarter and again with 4:31 to go in regulation.
But Iman Shumpert, who was one of those players who recently returned to the lineup, was dominating on the defensive end – clamping down on New York’s Aaron Afflalo as LeBron James took over on the offensive end.
LeBron – the league’s leading fourth-quarter scorer – notched nine of his game-high 24 points, going 9-of-22 from the floor overall and adding nine boards and five assists in the win.
Kevin Love did his damage early, tallied 15 of his 23 points before intermission, adding 13 boards to double-up for the 12th time this season. It was also the seventh time Love posted a 20-point, 10-board game this season.
Tristan Thompson continued his run as the league’s top-rebounding reserve, leading everyone with 14 boards – seven of those off the offensive glass – to go with 10 points to round out the Cavaliers in double-figures.
The Knicks were led by impressive rookie big man, Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 23 points – going 4-of-5 from long-distance – and a team-high 13 rebounds. As good as the 7-3 Latvian import was most of the night, the Wine and Gold shut him down in the final period, holding him scoreless on a single shot attempt.
At just 39 percent apiece, neither team shot the ball particularly well on Wednesday night. But the Cavaliers made nine more trips to the line, outscored New York by 16 points in the paint and outdid them on the fastbreak, 10-4.
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LBJ seals the deal.
Watch final game highlights.
Turning Point – In the second-half of the closing quarter, the Cavaliers broke out the stifling defense that they’ve used to hold their past four opponents to just under 39 percent from the floor.
After a pair of buckets by Afflalo gave New York a one-point lead midway through the fourth, Kevin Love split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 80-apiece. LeBron scored on a layup to give them the lead back and Shump took over on the other end, forcing Afflalo into a turnover and missed trey on successive possessions.
Moments later, James electrified the crowd on a powerful dunk to give Cleveland a six-point edge and Tristan Thompson’s free throws with 10 seconds remaining sealed the deal for Cleveland – which outscored the Knicks, 11-4, over the game’s final four minutes.
By the Numbers – 12 … points the Cavaliers allowed the Knicks to score in the fourth quarter in Wednesday’s win – the second time this season they’ve held New York to a dozen points in the closing period.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the Cavaliers’ defense down the stretch …
“We always preach that it might not always be pretty on the offensive end and tonight we needed it on the defensive end and we did that. In those last possessions, we just got stops. We held them to one for seven, two turnovers and we were able to make some timely shots.”
Up Next – The Cavaliers embark on a tough four-games-in-five-nights West Coast junket, beginning with their biggest regular season matchup of the season – a Christmas Day matchup with the World Champs, who won that title in six hard-fought games against the shorthanded Cavaliers last June. After their monster meeting in Oakland, the Wine and Gold travel to Portland for a Saturday night tilt with the Blazers. After a day off on Sunday, it’s a date with the Suns on Monday in Phoenix before closing out the trip on Tuesday night, taking on the Nuggets in the Mile High City.
