Cavaliers comeback to beat New York 96-86

It may have been closer than expected, but the Cleveland Cavaliers outlasted the New York Knicks with a 96-86 victory in Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night. Sporting their alternate black uniforms, the Cavs extended their winning streak to four games with the triumph over New York.

“I used to be a Carl Yastrzemski fan and a Jim Longborg fan,” Blatt said as he reminisced on his younger days as a Boston Red Sox fan. “Longborg, once and a while, he didn’t have his fastball. We didn’t have our fastball tonight.

“Sometimes you have to win it with the curve or win it with a changeup, and that’s sort of what we had to do tonight.”

LeBron James led Cleveland with a team-high 23 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Mo Williams added 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Cavs needed both standout performances as the Knicks gave Cleveland all it could handle.

New York pounced on the Cavs early, leading by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and 32-18 when the period ended. Through a quarter, everything was going the Knicks way as they were shooting 62 percent from the field to the Cavs 35 percent. Disappointed in their first quarter performance, the Cavs elevated their play in the second.

After the Knicks posted 32 points in the first quarter, Cleveland held New York to 14 points on 27 percent shooting in the second quarter. Aided by a solid defensive effort in the period, the Cavs trailed New York 46-38 at halftime.

“The Knicks played really well in the first half,” Blatt said. “It’s true we were not at the top of our game, but we played an opponent that battled us and competed. We sort of had to regroup at half and find ourselves.”

Trailing 59-52 following a Carmelo Anthony jumper with 6:39 remaining in the third quarter, the Cavs made their run. Cleveland immediately put together a 6-0 spurt, capped by a James layup that brought Cleveland within a point. By the time Matthew Dellavedova threw an alley-oop dunk to Tristan Thompson for the last bucket of the third quarter, the Cavs had secured their first lead of the game, 70-69.

Trailing 75-72 early in the fourth quarter, the Cavs used a 17-4 run to take an 89-79 lead with 3:31 to play. The spurt put the game out of reach, while James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help push Cleveland’s record to 4-1 this season. Since Jan. 19 of last season, the Cavs are now 22-1 in the regular season at The Q, outscoring opponents by nearly 13 points per game over that stretch.

“There are games that you just have to grind it out and win with some grit,” Blatt said. “I thought we did that tonight. A lot of that had to do with being able to battle Carmelo, who is such a great player.

“LeBron and Richard (Jefferson) both took the challenge and made it difficult for him, which is all you can really do.”

Anthony led New York with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Kristaps Porzingis chipped-in 13 points and four rebounds.

The Cavs are without Kyrie Irving, who is recovering from a fractured left kneecap, and Iman Shumpert, who recently had right wrist surgery. Neither player is expected to return to the Cavs lineup for at least a month, while shooting guard J.R. Smith is also out with a right knee contusion. Although the Cavs are one of the best teams in the NBA when healthy, Blatt wouldn’t expound on how good the Cavs can be.

“It stands to reason that when you add players like Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving to your lineup, guys that have played for us, that know us, that are the competitors they are and the talents that they are, that we should be better,” Blatt said. “How much? We’re going to see as we go along, but that’ll be a big positive for us obviously.”

The Cavs have put the defensive clamps on their opponents in the early stages of the season. Entering Wednesday night’s matchup with New York, the Cavs had held opponents to 91.3 points per game on 41.1 percent shooting from the field. After a subpar first quarter, Cleveland held New York to just 39 percent shooting Wednesday.

“I’d be happy if we could stay right around there (43 percent),” Blatt said. “I’ll be even more happy if we could bring that down. That’s a number that seems to be a winning number for us.

“It also seems to be realistic. You’re playing against an opponent, and the opponents that you see in the NBA night in and night out are pretty good. But, if you could stay around that 43 percent, 42 percent, you know you’re defending people.”

Cleveland has shut teams down from behind the three-point line at an even higher rate as opponents had shot just 27.5 percent from beyond the arc entering Wednesday.

The Cavs defense has been stellar so far this season, but Cleveland’s offense has been just as efficient. Through four games, the Cavs averaged 27.0 assists, ranking them second in the NBA. Cleveland also outrebounded opponents 49.0 to 40.5 through four games, led by Kevin Love, who entered the contest with the Knicks averaging a team-high 10.8 rebounds per game.

Against New York, Love finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cavs host the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday

POSTED 11/04/2015 23:56

Home