LeBron James and the Cavaliers thought they were going into Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. What they got instead was a very intense practice session.
The Cleveland Cavaliers (25-9) came, they saw and they conquered— very easily I might add. They took down the young and developing Minnesota Timberwolves (12-25) by a score of 125-99.
It was really no contest from the opening tip to the final whistle. The Cavaliers juggernaut of an offense continued to be on display, shooting 53.8% from the field and 48.1% from behind the arc.
Leading the way for the wine and gold wasn’t LeBron James or Kyrie Irving. Surprisingly it was JR Smith. Smith has been on a hot streak the past few games scoring 24 points against the Raptors and 25 points against the Wizards. He continued his streaky shooting by scoring team high 27 points on 10/12 shooting (5/6 3p)— all in 19 minutes which was the third lowest time played on the team. Smith also had two steals.
Helping carry the scoring load for the Cavaliers was Iman Shumpert who contributed 23 points on 9/19 shooting (3/6 3p) off the bench and Kevin Love who had 20 points on 4/11 shooting (10-11 FT) to go along with nine boards.
Since James had a relatively quiet night shooting the ball, 13 points on 5/12 shooting, he found other ways to get involved. James grabbed a team high 12 rebounds, swatted two shots and dished out eight assists.
He also did this on the fast break…
Overall there wasn’t much to takeaway from this lopsided victory but here are some things I found.
The Cavaliers Offense Is Starting To Become Scary Because Of Kyrie Irving
Tonights game against the Timberwolves was the third straight game where they scored over 120 points. They’ve had to rely on their defense for most of the season to win games but once the ball dropped in New York City to bring in the New Year, the Cavaliers offense has gone into search & destroy mode. They haven’t scored under 100 points in 2016, and probably will keep this trend going with the 76ers next.
The main component to their success has to be the full return of Kyrie Irving. When Irving first returned to action, he was on a minutes restriction that didn’t allow him to get into the rhythm he normally gets into as the game goes on. As his minutes have increased, the Cavaliers scoring success has increased. Their game against the Raptors was Irving’s first real game back and he scored 26 points while the Cavs scored 122. He then carried them over the Wizards by scoring 32 points while the Cavs scored 121. Irving only scored 13 points tonight and shot 5/12 from the field but his presence on the court alone opens up more open shots for other players.
It’s no coincidence a player like Smith, who struggled for a good part of the year, is having his best shooting stretch of the season during the same time Irving is back to his normal self.
Andrew Wiggins Loves Playing Against The Cavaliers
Cavalier for a day, Andrew Wiggins, is an absolute monster. Wiggins got his revenge against the Cavaliers once again, scoring a game high 35 points on 12/19 shooting in 39 minutes.
In his two previous games against the Cavs, Wiggins dropped 27 points and 33 points. Something about playing against the team who traded him before he played in his first NBA game must really get him going.
Wiggins will be a top player in this league sooner than some people have expected. It’s a real shame that we couldn’t have somehow kept him in Cleveland. Watching him play alongside James would have been really fun to watch.
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LeBron Can Relax
LeBron had a good bottom line but was able to relax most of the night. He put forth inconsistent effort but not in a bad way. He was able to expend energy judicially instead of going all out all the time. He made some good defensive plays, rebounded the ball well and didn’t make many mistakes.
LeBron being rested will be huge as the team powers through this long road trip. With Kyrie, JR, Shump and Love all having good games, LeBron was able to stay fresh on the court.
Good days are here for the Cavs.
Next Opponent:
The Cavaliers will continue their road trip and travel to Philly for another matchup with the 76ers on January 10th at 6:00 pm ET.