National Basketball Association
Cleveland 91, Brooklyn 78
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials:
#74 Curtis Blair, #48 Scott Foster, #29 Mark Lindsay
Attendance:
17732
By The Sports Xchange
NEW YORK -- Forward Kevin Love collected 17 points and 18 rebounds in three quarters as the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 91-78 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
Love had his 19th double-double and fourth in five games by halftime. He was 5-of-10 from the field and came within one of his season high for rebounds while playing just 31 minutes.
Forward LeBron James did not reach 20 points for the third straight game but didn't need to. He finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and five assists while sitting out the final 12 minutes.
Cleveland also had productive games from its centers as reserve Tristan Thompson contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds while Timofey Mozgov added 11 points.
Coming off Monday's ugly 132-98 home loss to Golden State, Cleveland (29-11) led for the final 40-plus minutes and won for the eighth time in its last nine road games. The Cavaliers shot 47 percent and scored 19 points off turnovers.
Center Brook Lopez led the Nets with 16 points and nine rebounds, but it was not enough as Brooklyn (11-32) lost for the ninth time in 10 games and 11th time in its last 12 home games. Forward Thaddeus Young added 14 points before fouling out, but the rest of Brooklyn's starting lineup was held to 21 points.
The Cavaliers never trailed after James scored six points in an 8-0 run in the first quarter. Cleveland gradually increased the lead, taking a 51-38 edge at halftime and a 73-55 cushion through three quarters.
The Nets briefly threatened in the third quarter, getting within 54-47 on a 3-pointer by guard Wayne Ellington with 9:26 remaining. Over seven minutes later, Cleveland surged ahead with a 15-6 run, which featured an alley-oop dunk by Mozgov and James' lone 3-pointer of the game.
The Cavs sealed the win in a span of 55 seconds in the fourth, on two dunks by Thompson and a finger roll by guard J.R. Smith. Those hoops extended the lead to 85-62 with 7:04 remaining and sent some headed for the exits.
NOTES: The Cavaliers changed their schedule after Monday's blowout loss to Golden State. Instead of using Tuesday as strictly a travel day, Cleveland watched film and practiced before heading to New York. ... Cleveland coach David Blatt said he spoke with G J.R. Smith about the flagrant-2 foul on Monday. Blatt also said he felt the call might have been based on Smith's reputation. "Looking at that play, I'm not sure if that was someone else that that's a flagrant foul," Blatt said. ... According to a report in Forbes Magazine, the Nets' franchise worth of $1.7 billion is the seventh-most valuable in the NBA. The report also stated the Nets' revenue is $220 million but also indicated that the team has an operating income of an estimated minus-$5.7 million. ... F Andrea Bargnani was listed as questionable with a sore right ankle, but Nets interim coach Tony Brown said he was available. He played 13 minutes and scored four points Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
Cleveland |
|
Brooklyn |
LeBron James 17 |
Scoring |
Brook Lopez 16 |
Kyrie Irving 5 |
Assists |
Donald Sloan 9 |
Kevin Love 18 |
Rebounds |
Brook Lopez 10 |
Kevin Love 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Willie Reed 2 |
Kevin Love 2 |
Steals |
Bojan Bogdanovic 1 |
Iman Shumpert 2 |
Blocks |
Markel Brown 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Cleveland
|
91 |
46.8 |
5-17 |
14-20 |
15 |
45 |
3 |
6 |
13 |
Brooklyn
|
78 |
41.7 |
4-19 |
4-8 |
20 |
39 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
Upcoming Games
-
Brooklyn will play their next game at home against Utah. The Nets have a W/L % of .182 after a win and .281 after a loss.
-
Cleveland will play their next game at home against L.A. Clippers. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .759 after a win and .636 after a loss.