CLEVELAND: Well that didn’t take long. And now that the appetizers are out of the way, the Cavaliers can finally worry about Christmas’ main course.
Tristan Thompson scored a season-high 16 points and the Cavaliers absolutely destroyed the weary and wobbling Brooklyn Nets 119-99 Friday on a night they could’ve named the final score. More importantly, it clears the path for Sunday’s highly anticipated meeting with the Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving scored 13 points and passed for 10 assists — the third time in his past four games he has reached double figures in assists. LeBron James scored 19 points and Kevin Love returned with 14 points and 15 rebounds after missing the past two games with a sore knee.
On the day the Cavs learned they’ll be without J.R. Smith for at least three months following his thumb surgery, they didn’t let it dampen their spirits against a team that began the night tied for the worst record in the NBA. Compounding matters was the fact this was the second night of a brutal back-to-back for the Nets after they were blasted in the second half by the Warriors on Thursday.
A team that isn’t very talented to begin with entered Quicken Loans Arena on tired legs. It went about as expected. The Cavs missed seven of their first nine shots and still led 29-15 after the first quarter. It was a 26-point lead at the half and grew to as many as 46 in the second half.
Coach Tyronn Lue emptied his bench with four minutes left in the third and the Cavs ahead by 42.
Lue didn’t want to waste much time talking about the Warriors this week because of so many games in front of Sunday. Not anymore. Now the NBA’s attention turns to Sunday’s first meeting between these two since the Cavs stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to win Game 7 at Oracle Arena and deliver Cleveland its first title in 52 years.
Still, Lue isn’t making too much out of just one game in a season of 82.
“It’s one game. We know they’re a good team, we’re a good team,” Lue said. “They’re tough to prepare for during the regular season anyway and we know that with the way they play, but it’s just one game. We’re not treating it like anything else. You win and it’s one win. It’s not five wins.”
Brook Lopez scored 16 points and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 13 off the bench for the Nets. Former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett scored 11 points in 14 minutes, and former Cavs guard Joe Harris went scoreless in 16 minutes. He missed all four of his attempts, including three 3-pointers.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.