It’s not normal to say that a team with championship aspirations would need a victory over a team 20 games below .500 in the middle of January. But after Monday night’s loss to the Warriors – and a pair of tough games looming at The Q – the Wine and Gold needed to thump the Nets on Wednesday night in Brooklyn.
The Cavaliers did just that, opening up a safe lead at intermission and coasting through the second half – righting the ship with a 91-78 win over the struggling Nets at the Barclays Center.
it wasn’t one of Cavs’ most impressive victories of the year. But it was a business-like win for a team still smarting from their worst loss in a very long time – and it gave the starters a chance to rest up for the second-half of a back-to-back against a red-hot Clippers squad waiting in the wings back in Cleveland.
After struggling mightily in Monday’s loss, Kevin Love bounced back with a monster effort in Brooklyn, netting 17 points and a game-high 18 boards – one off his season high — going 5-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the stripe.
LeBron James set the tone early, notching eight of his 17 points in the first quarter – throwing down three man-sized breakaway dunks in the period to alert the Nets that it was not their night. The four-time MVP was an economical 7-of-12 from the floor, adding five assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
Tristan Thompson came off the bench to net 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, adding 10 boards in the win. Matthew Dellavedova was equally efficient in reserve, going 3-for-3 from the floor to go with three boards and three assists. The Cavaliers were +14 and +15, respectively, with both players on the floor.
Kyrie Irving notched all nine of his points in the first half and, along with LeBron, was the only starter to hand out an assist – finishing with five before joining James, Love and Timofey Mozgov on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.
The Nets – who came in having dropped eight of their previous nine contests – were held to 42 percent shooting, including 21 percent from beyond the arc. The Wine and Gold outran them, 16-4, on the fastbreak and limited them to eight trips to the line.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
