Mar

22

Cavaliers Rip Down Nets 96-88

Posted by Matt Loede under NBA Game Recap 

Like a cat playing with a mouse, the Cavaliers took to the swap of New Jersey on Sunday night, and barely broke a sweat in a rather lackluster 96-88 win over the New Jersey Nets. Much like Saturday’s six-point win over the Hawks at the Q, Sunday’s win really didn’t tell the story about how the Cavaliers were clearly superior to the Nets.

LeBron James had game-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points, and Anderson Varejao, even playing with a knee contusion, had 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Cavs defense smothered the Nets most of the night, holding them to 41 percent shooting on 32-for-78 from the field. They also held the Nets from 3-for-18 from three-point range and had five blocks.

Vince Carter, who has had big games against the Cavs in the past, led the Nets with 25 points on 11-for-23 shooting. The Nets bench was basically invisible, as they scored just 20 points while the five Cavs bench players popped in 22 points.

The Cavs jumped on the Nets from the start, pulling away early with a 21-8 lead seven minutes into the game. The Nets were able to close within six at the end of one at 27-21, but the writing was on the wall of what type of night it was going to be.

The Nets did make it interesting as they drew within four at 31-27 with 9:14 to play in the first half, but then the Cavs pulled back out with an 8-0 run to make it 44-34 with 2:12 left in the half on a James lay-up. The first half ended with the Cavs leading by 10 at 48-38.

The second half found the Cavs jump on the Nets like they did to start the game, as they went on a 9-0 run to make it 59-40 after an Ilgauskas jump shot with 8:35 remaining in the third quarter. The third stanza closed out with the Cavs with a comfortable 71-55 lead.

New Jersey was able to draw within eight midway through the fourth quarter, but the Cavs stayed in control the rest of the way and were able to never allow the Nets to get closer.

The win keeps the Cavs in sole possession of the best record in the NBA at 57-13. With four more home games this next week and just one home loss on the season, they should be able to build on that, along with home court in the East and possibly for the Finals if it comes to that.

The back-to-back with the Nets continues on Wednesday as they play New Jersey at home at Quicken Loans Arena at 7pm.


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