Even with Uncle Drew in street clothes, when the Wine and Gold are clicking defensively like they were on Tuesday – and with J.R. Smith is feeling like himself again – they’re almost impossible to beat.
Memphis came into the first half of the rare inter-Conference home-and-home back-to-back with Cleveland having won six straight – including a convincing win over the Warriors on Saturday night. But the Cavaliers have had the Grizzlies’ number of late – and that trend continued on Tuesday night, with the Wine and Gold won their fifth straight, a 103-86 decision at The Q.
Kyrie Irving, who had a full summer of hoops after winning the NBA title last June, got Tuesday night off to rest some heavy legs. And the other two-thirds of Cleveland’s Big Three – neither of whom will travel to Memphis – will do the same in the second half of the back-to-back on Wednesday night.
Kevin Love continued to make his early case for the Eastern Conference All-Star squad – leading both teams with 29 points and 13 boards, going 9-for-17 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the stripe to go with three assists and a pair of steals.
J.R. Smith had easily his best offensive performance of the season, snapping out of a recent funk with 23 points – drilling four of his first five three-pointers before cooling off in the second stanza. Overall, Swish went 6-of-10 from long-range, 8-for-17 overall.
The East’s reigning Player of the Week, LeBron James, was the only other Cavalier in double-figures – finishing with 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting, leading both teams with eight assists and the Cavaliers with three steals.
The Cavaliers didn’t exactly shoot the lights out and committed 18 turnovers that led to 23 Grizzlies’ points. But they knuckled down defensively against Memphis, holding the shorthanded Grizzlies – playing without Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons – to just 41 percent shooting, including 18 percent from beyond the arc.
DeAndre Liggins got the spot start in place of Irving and, although he struggled on the offensive end – going 1-for-7 from the floor – he was once again a force defensively, taking three charges and tallying five boards, two steals and a blocked shot.
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