Cavaliers slip past Timberwolves 114-107
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
It wasn’t easy, but Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue earned his first victory as an NBA head coach Monday night. In a closely contested battle for much of the night, the Cavs escaped Quicken Loans Arena with a 114-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“It felt great to finally get a win,” Lue said on his first victory as Cavs head coach. “It’s only been two games, but to get my first head-coaching win, it means a lot. I felt great about that.
“I came in the locker room and the team presented me with the game ball, and ‘Bron gave a speech. They all gave me a hug and said congratulations, so it’s just a great feeling.”
Against the Timberwolves, six Cavaliers finished with double-figures in scoring, including all five starters. LeBron James led the scoring output, totaling 25 points, four rebounds and nine assists. Tristan Thompson posted his 11th double-double of the season, finishing with a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. On Cavs’ Australia Day, which celebrated the team’s ties to the Land Down Under, native Australian Matthew Dellavedova finished with 18 points and seven assists off the Cleveland bench.
With 10:07 to play in the fourth quarter, the Cavs (31-12) had their largest lead of the game, 90-75. However, Minnesota continued to chip away at the Cavs’ lead with chances to take the game late. Brief Cavalier and Timberwolves budding star Andrew Wiggins splashed a jumper over James that brought the Timberwolves within a 106-102 deficit with a minute to play. Minnesota trailed 110-107 with 16.5 seconds to play, but James sank two free throws that essentially iced the game.
“I think that going into the fourth quarter when we got the 15 point lead, we relaxed and we have to continue to have that aggressive mindset, especially going against a young uptempo team like that where they want to get back into the game and they cut it down to three,” Kyrie Irving said after finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The victory over Minnesota (14-32) was Cleveland’s fifth in its last six meetings with the Timberwolves, including wins in each of the last four. In the previous three games against Minnesota, the Cavs’ average margin of victory was 21 points. Matters were much tougher Monday night as three different Timberwolves totaled at least 20 points (Karl-Anthony Towns - 26 pts, Wiggins - 20 pts, Zach LaVine - 21 pts). While the Cavs defense continues to find its footing since the coaching change last week, Cleveland’s offense fared much better than the last outing against Chicago.
The Cavs shot 51 percent from the field against Minnesota. When shooting at least 50 percent from the field, Cleveland is 12-0 this season and 40-0 when making at least half their shots since March 23, 2014 (regular season). The Cavs’ hot shooting allowed Cleveland to win its 13th contest in the last 14 games over the Western Conference at The Q.
While Lue earned his first victory Monday, the new Cavs head coach admitted that he is still caught in the whirlwind of his new position.
“Things are still moving fast for me,” Lue said. “Not used to it yet, but I think I’m ready for it. I’m built for it. I think after tonight and the Phoenix game, I think things will start to slow down and I’ll start to get an understanding of what we need to do, and what we need to do better.
“But it comes with the territory. When you coach this type of team, a team who has aspirations to win a championship, it’s going to be like this. I’ve been in this position before as a player, so now I know what it takes — And I was in this position before as a coach when I was with Doc Rivers in Boston. So, I know what it takes. Now I just have to try to get us there.”
POSTED 01/25/2016 22:38
Lake County Sentinel
Photo by Tim Phillis (TCP Photography)
