Comeback Cavs get their eight straight win

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Thanks to a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter and a team showing no signs of quit, the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-7) overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat the Toronto Raptors for the second time in five days, 105-101.

It didn't start out pretty for the Cavaliers. For the first three quarters, they looked like a team that was playing the second night of a back-to-back, letting the Raptors have their way on the offensive end, allowing them to score 88 points and shoot 58.0 percent from the field. Jonas Valanciunas looked like an All-Star in that span, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, while getting everything he put up to go in.

Despite those numbers, the Cavaliers only trailed by seven heading into the final quarter. The defense, which looked sluggish in the first three quarters, turned on a switch and played like the defense we had seen over the last seven games. In that final period, the Cavaliers held the Raptors to 13 points and 30.0 percent from the field and didn't allow them to shoot a free throw all period.

With that increase in their defensive intensity, the Cavaliers were able to tie the game at 97 with 3:50 left in the game after Kyrie Irving found Kevin Love for a 3-pointer. Each team would score again to keep the score tied at 99 with just under two minutes left in the game.

The defense, which brought them back in the game, came up in the final moments to bring them over the top. Irving, who has shown much improvement in his defense this year, forced a steal on Terrance Ross, leading to a LeBron 3-pointer on the other end to give the Cavaliers a 102-99 lead with 48.1 seconds left on the clock. Then, on the next defensive possession, Tristan Thompson was switched onto Kyle Lowry, a mis-match for Thompson by all means. However, Thompson was hearing none of that, sticking with Lowry as he drove baseline, forcing him to fire up a shot that would hit the top of the backboard, giving the Cavaliers the ball back.

Free throws would ice the game for the Cavaliers, giving them their eight straight win, the most they've had since LeBron's first stint in Cleveland, when they won eight straight in March 2010.

Three Things:

1. Gotta love the fight in this team.

Through three quarters, everything was going Toronto's and was looking like the Cavaliers might lose for the first time in two weeks. But, despite trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, there was never a time where LeBron or anyone else showed signs of frustration, with every Toronto run being matched by Cleveland, a reason they only trailed by seven heading into the fourth. After watching four years of teams quit after being down by double-digits, it was good to finally see a team fight back and never think this game was over.

2. Dion Waiters, Part II.

Waiters is known for being very inconsistent, rarely putting back-to-back quality games together, especially this year. So, how did he respond after putting up his best game of the year against the Nets? Well, he put up 18 points on a very efficient 7-of-10 shooting while only turning over the ball one time. No one is asking Waiters to be an All-NBA player, but the production he has put up over the last two games is the player the Cavaliers need him to be, and for him to put up back-to-back very good performances, it's a great sign for Cleveland.

3. Let's talk about the defense.

If you didn't happen to catch the fourth quarter, it's understandable to yell and scream about the Cavaliers defense, because it was bad. But unlike the previous games in which the defense looked as bad as tonight, this time they didn't let it carry into the final quarter. I don't know what was said in the huddle after the third period, but it worked. All those easy buckets that the Raptors were getting in first three quarters vanquished in the final 12 minutes. Although three-fourths of the Cavaliers defense tonight was putrid, it's at least something promising that it was only 36 minutes instead of 48.

Statline of the night:

LeBron James: 35 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 12-of-21 shooting.

What makes LeBron the greatest player in the league is that he does whatever it takes to get his team the win. If his team needs him to be the point guard and find open teammates, he'll do that as he's done over the last seven games. If his team needs him to score, he can do that, as he did tonight. He went into scorer-mode tonight, wielding the Cavaliers to their eight straight win.

What's next:

Dec. 11, on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m.