Wrap-Up — The Cavaliers closed the season’s unofficial first half in style – manhandling three straight Western Conference opponents at The Q. But dropping the Pelicans, Kings and Lakers on their home floor is one thing; blowing out a Thunder team in Oklahoma City is something completely different.
That’s just what the shorthanded Wine and Gold did on Sunday afternoon – upping their win streak to five straight by handing the Thunder – who’d won 14 of their previous 17 outings – their worst home loss of the season, a one-sided 115-92 decision at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Playing without Iman Shumpert (nursing a sprained left shoulder), Channing Frye (who still hasn’t been cleared to play) and – for the most part – Kyrie Irving (who left the game after one quarter with flu-like symptoms), the Cavaliers took the lead early in the second quarter and barely looked back, sweeping the Thunder in convincing fashion.
Kevin Love had one of his best outings of the season, leading everyone with 29 points – going 9-of-18 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the stripe, notching his team-high 25th double-double of the season with 11 boards.
LeBron James followed up with 25 points on an even 11-for-22 shooting, finishing with a team-high 11 assists, seven boards and a game-high three steals.
Tristan Thompson notched his third straight double-double, tallying 14 points and 14 boards in the victory. And J.R. Smith rounded out the Cavalier starters in double-figures with 15 points, going 5-of-8 from beyond the arc — the 23rd time this season Smith has canned more than three triples in a game.
With Shumpert on the shelf and Kyrie under the weather, the Wine and Gold bench came up big.
Richard Jefferson went 3-of-4 from long-distance – 4-of-5 from the floor overall – for 15 points and six boards in relief. Timofey Mozgov added 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with six boards. And Matthew Dellavedova, in his second game back from missing five straight with a sore left hamstring, pitched in with seven helpers – while flummoxing Russell Westbrook for most of the afternoon.
The game began with a back-and-forth first quarter, with five lead changes in the opening period. But LeBron took over in the second, netting 12 of his 25 in the quarter – propelling a 7-0 run midway through that gave Cleveland a nine-point edge at intermission.
The Thunder came into the contest as the league’s second-highest scoring team, but the Cavaliers held them to just 41 percent shooting on Sunday afternoon. OKC shot just 23 percent from beyond the arc and 69 percent from the stripe. Cleveland, on the other hand, shot 51 percent from the floor, 44 percent from deep and 85 percent from the line.
Turning Point — The Cavaliers gave themselves some breathing space before intermission, but after the Thunder made their small run in the fourth, Tyronn Lue’s squad hit the accelerator and left them in the dust.
Russell Westbrook’s dunk with just over eight minutes to play in the third got the Thunder – who had trailed by as many as 10 – back to within four, 66-62. But the Wine and Gold – powered by a pair of J.R. Smith bombs – came charging back with a 14-2 run and would eventually outscore OKC, 29-13, for the remainder of the quarter.
Overall, the Cavaliers would proceed to outscore the Thunder, 35-25, in the second quarter and 33-20 in the third. In the final period, OKC would get no closer than 17.
By the Numbers – .846 … Cavaliers’ road record (11-2) since December 28 – top mark in the NBA over that stretch. Sunday’s win over OKC also improves their record against the West to 17-5 this season and 31-6 over their last 37 games against inter-Conference foes.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the Cavs’ physical play on Sunday afternoon …
“We have to bring the fight no matter who we’re playing. It just makes us focus more when we’re physical. We’re more in tune. That’s two straight games that we’ve been able to do that, and I think that needs to be our staple. And I think the guys know that. It’s not even a point of emphasis; we know when we go out there we’ve got to bring that.”
Up Next – The Cavaliers return home to complete the back-to-back, welcoming the Pistons to The Q for the first time this season on Monday night. On Wednesday, the Wine and Gold hope to get a measure of revenge when the Hornets – who stung the Cavaliers before the break in Charlotte – come to town. On Friday night, the Cavs travel north of the border for a big Eastern Conference matchup – taking on the Raptors in the season’s rubber match at Air Canada Centre.
