Cavs End Losing Streak, Dominate Orlando Magic

(Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

Now that's more like it. 

After losing the previous four games, the Cleveland Cavaliers (6-7) easily dispatched the Orlando Magic (6-10) by a final score of 106-74.

Coming into the night, several players, including LeBron James and Kevin Love, called this game a "must-win," something you usually don't hear great players say this early in the season.  Whether or not that label means anything in November is debatable but there is no question that the Cavs players backed up their words.

Cleveland came out of the locker room locked in, dominating from the opening tip.  James started particularly fast, scoring 11 points in the first six minutes of the game.  In the first quarter, James had 16 points and four assists, pacing the Cavs to a 10-point lead after one.

The Cavs would not look back from there, increasing their lead to 18, 23 and 32 at halftime, the end of the third quarter and the end of the game, respectively.  James finished the game with 29 points, four boards and 11 assists in only three quarters of play.

While the Cleveland offense was on full display tonight, the defense also deserves credit for the win.  Orlando shot 36.3 percent from the floor and were only 5-17 on 3-point attempts.  Coming into this game, the Magic were fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 38.8 percent.  The Magic also committed 18 turnovers.

Three Things

1. Offense Finds Balance

For the first time in a long time, the Cavs offense looked like the complete unit we all expected to see.  The level of offensive chemistry visible tonight was much more consistent than in recent games, with the Cavs assisting on 30 of their 42 made field goals.  James led that charge with the 11 assists mentioned above, Kevin Love chipped in five dimes and Kyrie Irving had four.  Other than LeBron, none of the other players had eye-popping numbers, but great individual performances weren't needed.  Seven different players for Cleveland attempted at least seven shots, and the team shot 51.9 percent from the field.  Love, who has spoken recently about getting more shots in the paint, attempted only one of his 11 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

2. Defense Steps Up

What a difference two days makes.  On Saturday versus Toronto, the Cavaliers were outscored 89-59 in the final three quarters.  On Monday, the roles were reversed and the Cleveland defense was the unit blanketing the opposition.  The Magic were forced into 18 turnovers, which turned into 25 Cavalier points.  The Cavaliers allowed 42 points in the paint, not a bad number at all considering how porous the interior defense has been this season.  Young Magic center Nikola Vucevic had a good game with 18 points and 13 rebounds, but he was the only Orlando player who was able to operate at a high level near the rim.  Veteran center Brendan Haywood had three blocks in only 6 minutes played, and the Cavs had nine blocks as a team.

3. Blatt Able to Experiment with Lineups

One of the other positives that can be taken away from this game is that coach David Blatt was able to rest his star players while seeing what other players work well together.  James, Irving and Love played only 31, 31 and 32 minutes respectively, which is good news for those three, who continue to be near the top of the list for most minutes played per game.  Twelve different players played against the Magic; Mike Miller being the only active player who did not leave the bench.  Little-used center Lou Amundson, who had played only 14 minutes total this season entering tonight played 16 minutes.  Joe Harris, once thought to be in line for a promotion to the starting lineup, played only 10 minutes.  Nights like these will be vitally important for a team full of new players to get experience playing with each other, and the sooner that chemistry can be established the better. 

Statline of the Night:  LeBron James.  29 points, 11 assists, three steals, 9-11 FTs

James said before this game that he needed to step up in order for this team to get where they want to be and he certainly delivered.  This was a vintage LeBron performance, who did all of his work in the first three quarters.

What's Next: Nov. 26, home against the Washington Wizards. 7 p.m.