Not many Eastern Conference teams have given the Cavaliers trouble this season, but the Heat – who’ve topped the Wine and Gold twice already – are one of them. On Thursday night, however, Eric Spoelstra’s squad was a long way from South Beach and facing a Cavaliers club that has been literally unbeatable at home since mid-January.
Cleveland continued that trend at The Q, opening up a double-digit lead to start the second quarter and never looking back – blowing past the Heat, 114-88, to win their 17th straight contest on the home hardwood.
The Cavs got excellent production from both their starters and reserves. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 23 points apiece. LeBron finished 9-of-16 from the floor, adding eight boards, a team-high seven assists and a game-high three blocks. Irving notched 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter, going 5-of-6 from the floor to help blow the game open. Overall, Kyrie finished 7-of-12 from the field to go with five assists and a game-high-tying four steals.
J.R. Smith rounded out the starters in double-figures with 12 points, going 4-of-12 from the floor, adding four assists, three boards and a pair of steals.
Cleveland’s bench was exceptional on Thursday. Iman Shumpert was stellar on both ends, finishing with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go with four steals. Matthew Dellavedova tallied 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, canning all four treys he attempted in the final period. And Tristan Thompson, the top-rebounding reserve in the league, stayed true to form against Miami – leading both squads with 15 boards, one more than the Heat’s entire second unit – and adding eight points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Cavs out-rebounded Miami, 43-36, despite not having the services of Kevin Love, who missed the game with a sore back suffered in Sunday afternoon’s win over Philly. Cleveland shot an even 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent from beyond the arc – going 15-for-35 from deep and notching their 34th game this season in which they’ve drilled double-digit three-pointers.
Turning Point – Despite Dwyane Wade suffering a left knee bruise in the second quarter, the Heat cut Cleveland’s early 19-point lead to 11 at intermission. The Cavs tried to pull away, but Goran Dragic’s trey midway through the period got Miami to within ten – 75-65.
But the Cavaliers, who didn’t close the half well, made up for it to end the third – using an 8-0 run in the final two minutes, punctuated by a monstrous one-handed alley-oop dunk by Tristan Thompson and a three-pointer by J.R. Smith. The Cavs closed the third up, 91-72, and led by more than 20 through most of the fourth.
By the Numbers – 24,837 … career points for LeBron James, as he surpassed Patrick Ewing for 20th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. This year, James has already surpassed Robert Parrish, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson and Ray Allen. His next target is “the Logo” himself – Jerry West – at 25,192 points.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the Cavs second unit in Thursday night’s win …
”For our bench, our main thing that we want from our bench is to come in with a defensive mindset, keep the tempo and play the game the right way. Anytime we get scoring off the bench is huge for us, but it’s something we don’t bank on. Tonight, Shump was great as far as his scoring. Delly chipped in. Double-T was a monster on the boards. We didn’t lose a step when those guys came in and that’s what it’s all about.”
Up Next – After dropping the Heat on Thursday night, the Cavaliers get another couple days’ rest before another big nationally-televised matchup on the way – as they welcome the Bulls to town on Easter Sunday afternoon. After that, the Cavs head to Milwaukee for one of their final two road contests of the season on Wednesday night against the Bucks. The following weekend, the Cavaliers wrap up their season series with the Celtics in a home-and-home matchup – on Friday night at The Q before heading to Beantown for a Sunday afternoon affair.
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