Wrap-Up — it doesn’t take an in-depth analysis of the stat sheet to see how the Cavaliers had their five-game win streak stopped in Charlotte. A quick look at the rebounding numbers says it all.
Despite being without their two best players – Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson – the Hornets dominated on the boards, 49-28, and exploited another lackluster third quarter for Cleveland to hand the Cavaliers the 106-97 loss on Wednesday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena.
For the second time in as many games, the Wine and Gold came out flat in the third period and the shorthanded Hornets turned a nine-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead – outscoring Cleveland, 33-17. Over the Cavs’ last two games, they’ve been outscored in the third, 63-32.
In terms of rebounding numbers, Kevin Love led the Cavaliers with 12 boards, while the rest of the squad added a combined 16 in the loss.
Love doubled-up for the 23rd time this season, adding 12 points to his dozen rebounds, adding two steals and a pair of blocks.
Kyrie Irving led both teams with 26 points, going 10-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the stripe to go with five assists and a steal. It was Irving’s fourth straight game topping the 20-point plateau.
LeBron James followed up with 23 points on 10-for-21 shooting, adding six boards, a team-high six assists and two blocks. But one game after helping the Cavaliers snap a 10-game losing streak in Indiana, James had a personal streak snapped – falling for the first time in 22 games against Charlotte, a streak that dated back to February, 2010.
J.R. Smith pitched in with 14 points, going 4-for-9 from long-distance and adding a game-high four steals. He also picked up a technical foul midway through the fourth quarter when he and former Cavalier, Spencer Hawes, locked horns battling for a loose ball – a moment that had been simmering from the previous two possessions.
During the Cavaliers’ five-game win streak, they’d been averaging 114.2 points per – topping the 110-point mark in all five, a streak no Cleveland team had accomplished in 33 years. But they struggled to find any offensive continuity in the second stanza on Wednesday night. Overall, the Cavs shot 46 percent from the floor, including 36 percent from beyond the arc.
Charlotte’s Jeremy Lin, inserted into the starting lineup in place of Kemba Walker – who was a late scratch with a sore left knee – led the Hornets with 24 points, 11 of which he scored in the deciding third quarter. Rookie Frank Kaminsky came off Steve Clifford’s bench to finish with 15 points, going 7-of-8 from the floor.
The Hornets outscored Cleveland in the paint, 44-34, on the break, 19-12, and on second-chance opportunities, 13-5.
Turning Point — The Cavaliers closed the first half of Wednesday’s contest in control – with J.R. Smith capping a late 10-1 run to end the half with a triple at the buzzer. In the half, the Wine and Gold shot 54 percent from the floor, 55 percent from long-range and didn’t commit a single turnover.
But immediately after intermission, Nicolas Batum canned two straight buckets, including a three-pointer less than a minute into the second half that cut Cleveland’s lead to four. Kyrie Irving kept the Cavs afloat with five straight points, but the Hornets answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 67-apiece.
Kyrie’s layup with 6:36 t0 play in the period gave the Cavs the lead back, but Jeremy Lin’s and-1 on the next possession gave Charlotte a one-point advantage. The Hornets closed the quarter on a 12-6 run and the Cavaliers never led again.
By the Numbers – 26,081 … career points LeBron James has scored over the course of his career, passing Kevin Garnett and into 16th place on the NBA’s all-time list. He’s the youngest player in league history to reach the 26,000-point mark and is one of just six active players – joining Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan and Garnett – in that elite group.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the team getting outrebounded by 21 in the loss …
“Some of it was ball-watching and some of it was bad bounces. We’ve got to do a better job of putting bodies on guys. I know I had back-to-back (rebounds) with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the fourth quarter that are unacceptable. It’s a rarity for us to get outrebounded like we did. We’ve just got to do a better job'”
Up Next – After wrapping up the road portion of the first half of the season – running off 10 wins in their final 12 contests away from The Q, even with Wednesday’s loss in Charlotte – the Wine and Gold return home for a weekend back-to-back. On Friday night, they take on the Boston Celtics, who they swept out of the postseason last spring and sunk, 89-77, in mid-December this year. On Saturday, the Cavs will look for some revenge against a Pelicans team that knocked them off in overtime back on December 4. Next week, they close out the homestand with the DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings on Monday followed by Kobe Bryant’s final appearance at The Q when the Lakers roll in on Wednesday.
