After Saturday night’s clunker in Miami, the Cavaliers needed a convincing win to clear the air and cleanse the proverbial palate on Monday night at The Q.
They got exactly that – starting off with a season-high 38-point first quarter and proceeding to score 68 points in the second half, cruising to the 124-91 victory to lock up the ninth 50-win season and fifth Central Division crown in the history of the franchise.
The impetus behind Cleveland’s historic night came courtesy of the man who owns most of the franchise’s records – and has led it to many of the aforementioned accomplishments: LeBron James, who notched his second triple-double of the season and 41st of his brilliant career, finishing with 33 points, 11 boards and 11 assists.
James – who set the tone, scoring 17 of his 33 in the first quarter – went 12-of-19 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the stripe in the win it was the 19th time in his career that he punctuated a triple-double with a 30-point night.
Led by LeBron, the Cavaliers jumped all over the Nuggets – playing the final contest of a five-game road trip – right from the start, running out to an 18-point lead near the end of the first quarter. But Denver answered with an 18-3 run to start the second and actually took a brief lead midway through the period.
But Cleveland extended its lead back to double-digits before halftime and cruised to the finish line after intermission – extending the lead to as many as 36 in the fourth quarter.
J.R. Smith followed up with 15 points – going 6-of-12 from the floor and an even 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Smith, who added five assists and four boards, also finished with a game-high four steals – the third time this season he’s had four or more this season.
Channing Frye got the start in place of Kevin Love, who’d been under the weather all weekend and didn’t dress for Monday’s contest. As he has since being acquired by Cleveland back on February 18, Frye was equal to the task – finishing with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, going 3-for-7 from long-distance.
Overall the Wine and Gold shot 48 percent from long-range – going 15-for-31 on the night, their eighth straight game of double-digit three-pointers. Monday marked the 41st time this season that the Cavs have hit 10 or more triples, the eighth time they’ve canned at least 15.
The Nuggets’ Will Barton – who finished with 29 points off the bench in Cleveland’s 93-87 victory in Denver back on December 29 – was easily the best player on Mike Malone’s squad again on Monday, leading them with 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
The Cavaliers shot 56 percent from the floor overall, holding Denver to just under 40 percent. They outrebounded the Nuggets, 43-35, and converted 17 Denver turnovers into 33 points. Cleveland also scored 58 of its 124 points in the paint in Monday’s win.
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