Wrap-Up – Over the previous 10 games, the Cavaliers have proved that they can seriously clamp down on opponent to get into the win column. But on Monday night, the Wine and Gold proved that if it a team wants to get into an old-fashioned shootout, that’s fine too.
Despite LeBron James watching from the sideline in the fourth quarter, Cavaliers went off for 64 second-half points, blowing past the Raptors, 122-100, to win their fourth straight game and improve to 15-1 at The Q.
With a daunting road trip looming later this week, home contests against Orlando and Toronto proved to be just what the Cavaliers needed – beating both by an average of 23.5 points per and keeping their 11-time All-Star fresh in the process.
Kyrie Irving, who was still recovering from offseason knee surgery when the Raptors knocked Cleveland off on November 25 in Toronto, had his best all-around game since returning – leading all scorers with 25 points, going 10-for-16 from the floor to go with a team-high eight assists and six boards before calling it a night late in the fourth quarter.
J.R. Smith was red-hot from beyond the arc, going 8-for-14 from deep to follow up with 24 points as all five Cleveland starters notched double-figures.
In just over 30 minutes of action, LeBron was the model of efficiency, going 7-of-11 from the floor for 20 points, adding seven helpers and a team-best three steals.
The Cavaliers improved to 6-1 on the season with Tristan Thompson in the starting lineup, and the fifth-year forward doubled-up for the seventh time – netting 14 points and 11 boards. Kevin Love added 14 points of his own to go with nine boards and a game-high three blocks.
Matthew Dellavedova came off the bench to finish with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting, including 2-of-3 from long-distance. Iman Shumpert didn’t light up the boxscore off the bench – although he did throw down a massive one-handed dunk early in the second quarter – but the Wine and Gold were +18 with their defensive stalwart on the floor.
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J.R. heats up from downtown.
Watch final game highlights.
As a team, Cleveland shot 55 percent from the floor, 52 percent from three-point range and 89 percent from the stripe. In avenging their November loss north of the border, the Cavaliers dominated Toronto on the boards, 40-26, and outscored them, 64-44, in the second stanza.
Turning Point — After both squads shot at a blistering pace in the first half, the game was nip-and-tuck early in the second. And with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter, Toronto’s James Johnson drilled a three-pointer to knot the score at 69-apiece.
But on Cleveland’s next possession, J.R. Smith hit his sixth trey of the game to put the Cavs back on top. LeBron would go on to score nine of the squad’s next 18 points as the Wine and Gold closed the quarter on a 21-9 run.
James didn’t get off the bench in the fourth, so the point guard tandem of Irving and Dellavedova combined for 17 pints as the Cavs pulled away for their 35th home win in their last 37 outings at The Q.
By the Numbers – 14 … games that J.R. Smith has canned at least eight three-pointers in a single game, an NBA record. Swish also holds the Association’s all-time mark with 26 games of at least seven treys in a game and has hit 193 triples since arriving in Cleveland last January – most in the Eastern Conference over that span.
Quotable – Coach David Blatt, on what he said to Kyrie Irving after Monday night’s victory …
“Honestly, I just told him: ‘Man, it’s good to have you back and looking at full strength.’ It felt like he was himself tonight. You expected he would come back and he would take a little bit of time to catch the rhythm of the game to get his game legs. Tonight just looked like the old Kyrie.”
Up Next – The Cavaliers embark on their longest road trip of the season – staring out with a Wednesday night meeting with the Wizards in Washington. They travel to Kevin Love’s old stomping grounds for a matchup against the Timberwolves on Friday night before wrapping up the season series with the Sixers on Sunday evening in Philadelphia. The roadie takes a tough turn in Texas the following week – taking on the Mavericks on Tuesday night in Dallas and closing out with a back-to-back with the Spurs on Thursday night and the Rockets the following night in Houston.
