Despite being down four of their top eight rotation players, it’d be a misnomer to call these Cavaliers “shorthanded.” And it’d be disrespectful to a young Magic squad that found themselves overmatched by Cleveland’s undermanned lineup.
Still without Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert – and missing Mo Williams and Timofey Mozgov on Monday night – the Cavaliers stayed perfect at home, pulling away from Orlando for the 117-103 victory, their third straight overall, eighth consecutive at The Q and 11th in a row against the Magic.
Kevin Love notched 27 of his game- and season-high 34 points before intermission – scoring 17 straight Cavalier points in the second quarter, going 7-for-8 from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 from deep in the period. On the night, Cleveland’s three-time All-Star finished 11-for-18, 6-of-9 from long-distance, adding eight boards, four assists and a blocked shot.
In eight games at Quicken Loans Arena this season, Love is averaging 21.5 points and 12.6 boards per contest.
J.R. Smith continued warming up and, after threatening to break out over the last four games, finally did so on Monday night, tallying a season-high 26 points – going 10-of-16 from the floor, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
After taking a tough spill on a dunk attempt in the first quarter, LeBron James bounced back to notch 15 points and a season- and game-high 13 assists. Matthew Dellavedova – getting his third straight start in place of Mo Williams – also tallied 15 points, adding nine assists of his own.
On the night, the Cavaliers had 34 assists on 43 made baskets.
As was the case in Saturday night’s drubbing of the Hawks at The Q, the only starter who didn’t notch double-digit scoring was Tristan Thompson. And, again, it was Thompson who led both teams on the boards – snagging 14 rebounds, or the same amount as all of Orlando’s starters combined.
With more reserves pressed into starting duty, Cleveland’s bench got a little thinner – yet still managed good productivity in the two-touchdown win. Richard Jefferson went 3-of-5 from the floor for seven points, Anderson Varejao hit both of his shot attempts and grabbed eight rebounds and Jared Cunningham did a little bit of everything – finishing with four points, three boards, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
The Cavaliers shot 53 percent from the floor and canned a season-high 18 three-pointers – going 18-for-35 from long-range on the night.
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