The World Champs know they’re going to get an opponent’s best shot every night. And even the Orlando Magic – who’d dropped 14 straight games to the Cavaliers and trailed by 22 at one point on Saturday night – brought their A-game to The Q.
But a red-hot J.R. Smith shot them down in the fourth quarter, canning three huge triples in the period to squash Orlando’s rally as the Wine and Gold improved to 3-0 on the young season with a 105-99 victory in an electric downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
The Cavaliers Big Three had been doing most of the heavy lifting so far this year – and the trio was strong again on Saturday – but it was Smith who dampened the Magic’s upset hopes and kept them winless through three games in 2016-17.
The Wine and Gold went into the final quarter up 18 – 80-62 – but D.J. Augustin and Serge Ibaka led a furious Magic rally in the fourth and cut Cleveland’s lead to just three, 98-95, with under a minute to play. But Smith drilled his third triple of the quarter on the Cavs’ next possession to essentially put the game on ice.
Smith finished with 16 points on the evening, going 5-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc, adding five boards, a steal and a blocked shot – his best offensive outing of the season.
Kyrie Irving hit the 20-point mark for the third straight game to start the year – finishing with 20 points on 7-for-18 shooting, adding four boards, two assists and a game-high two blocked shots.
LeBron James quietly led all scorers with 23 points and once again paced both teams with nine assists to go with six boards.
James, like Irving and Kevin Love – who rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 19 points – all logged over 33 minutes of work on Saturday, something Coach Tyronn Lue would’ve liked to avoid with his squad coming off a hard-fought win the previous night over the Raptors in Toronto.
The Magic were led by Evan Fournier, who finished with 22 points in the loss. Ibaka added 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Augustin added 13 points off the bench.
Cleveland’s bench was solid on Saturday night, and they needed it all, finishing with 25 points in the win as Mike Dunleavy, Richard Jefferson and Chris Andersen all added six points apiece.
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