Cleveland Cavaliers Report: Cavs beat Clippers 107-101

Nov 5, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Walters (3) is defended by Los Angeles Clippers forwards Matt Barnes (22) and Ronny Turiaf (21) at the Staples Center. The Cavaliers defeated the Clippers 108-101. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

With their level of play being consistently stellar, Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao may be a special trio in the making. Coming off of a tough, last second loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cavaliers road their dynamos to a 107- 101 victory. Waiters led the way with 28 points, while Irving added 24 points with 10 assists. Varejao had 15 points and 15 rebounds, his fourth straight double-double this season. Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 20 points.
After quickly falling behind 7-0 and taking a quick timeout, the Cavaliers flipped the switch and took their game to a whole new level. And when they needed it most, one of their three stars took over the game whenever needed. Irving took that on this mantle the first quarter, scoring 16 points in that period. The rest of the night, he could be found dishing passes to Waiters, whose shooting was deadly all night. And when neither Waiters nor Irving was scoring, Varejao could be found cleaning up on the offensive boards or nailing 18-foot jumpers. It was one of those games where you see glimpses of what the Cavaliers are capable of.
The fourth quarter was the turning point for Cleveland. With Clippers star Chris Paul defending Waiters and Eric Bledsoe on Irving, the Cavaliers took control and finished the game strong. Waiters took early control, nailing shot after shot after shot. Irving then took his turn, nailing a dagger of a three pointer that prompted a Clippers timeout. Varejao sprinkled in scoring here and there, hitting jumpers from the top of the key that the Clippers didn’t defend. Coupled with key stops down the stretch, the consistent scoring led the Cavaliers to their win, which puts them at 2-2 on the season.
The major star was of this game was Waiters. While he has shown flashes of skill thus far this season, tonight he took his game to the next level. He nailed clutch three after clutch three, including one from about five feet behind the arc. He also should some true emotion, saying “F*** with me” to the camera and also demanding the ball down the stretch. If Waiters can play like this consistently, the Cavaliers backcourt of Irving and Waiters will be one of the most dynamic in the league. After all, if Paul and Caron Butler had problems defending the duo, what will a backcourt from a team like Phoenix do later on this trip? As Bill Simmons tweeted tonight, the Irving-Waiters backcourt is generally exciting and it should be fun to see how they develop over the course of the season.
A noticeable improvement from tonight’s game from the last game was the play off the bench. Tyler Zeller played an active 24 minutes, while C.J. Miles found his shooting stoke that went missing when the season started. Samardo Samuels also got time, as did Daniel Gibson. All in all, the bench looked much better than it has in recent weeks.
However, there is one downside coming out of tonight’s game. No starter played less than 32 minutes, with Irving leading the way with 37. This is not a good trend – NBA players can only play so many minutes at one time, and their minutes must be managed. Their bench will need to become a factor if the Cavaliers are going to be a factor at all this season.