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.
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.
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