Cavs swat Hornets in Charlotte

In a 95-90 loss to Cleveland, the Charlotte Hornets’ failure came down to an inability to rebound the ball.

Whatever happened after the game, this much is certain: there were some harsh truths doled out by James and some of his veteran teammates to the team’s younger players.

He shrugged off the streak afterward. “Obviously the way we’ve been playing, a lot is predicated on my health and being able to lead these guys out on the floor and not from the sidelines”. “They did it tonight, to their credit”.

Asked if they can fix it as a group, James said, “We have to. We’ve been together a little bit, not a long time, but we answered it”.

Kevin Love, who did not play at all in the fourth quarter, had a double-double by halftime and finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds for Cleveland.

Whatever is bothering the Cavs (if any) will need to be weeded out soon.

Smith was fouled intentionally and added two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game. Charlotte struggled in the fourth, scoring just 14 points on 7-of-24 shooting from the field.

Blatt praised the Cavs defense. “I think in the National Football League when you talk about great quarterbacks, they don’t really compare great quarterbacks”. That was the key to the win. They’ve brought in and did what they had to do for us to be a contending team.

Before the media was granted postgame locker room access, the players addressed a lack of toughness, heart and defensive awareness displayed in the fourth quarter Wednesday. “That’s a credit to our players”. With the win, Charlotte improves to 9-6 on the season and a dominant 7-1 at home. Guard Jeremy Lamb and center Al Jefferson scored 11 apiece, and forward Marvin Williams scored 10. “We did some good things. It’s early in the season, but we’ll be all right”. We will watch the film. We have to hold each other more accountable, we have to play better, and we will.

With Mo Williams missing his third straight game due to lower right leg soreness and ankle inflammation and Kyrie Irving having been sidelined all season while recovering from surgery to fix a fractured kneecap, Matthew Dellavedova started at point guard against the Magic despite soreness in his left leg. Cam Newton, coach Ron Rivera and several other members of the Carolina Panthers came out to see the Cavs and F LeBron James….

The last time James lost to a Charlotte team was February 19, 2010, during his first stint with the Cavaliers.

LeBron James seethes, because his team has only won 73 percent of its games. After defending James on one leg in the Atlanta Hawks’ Eastern Conference final loss to the Cavs a year ago (he suffered a knee sprain in Game 1), Carroll should be highly motivated to try to limit James in whatever way he can; even if that task is like fighting a forest fire with a water gun. He passed Reggie Miller for 18th on the National Basketball Association career scoring list Wednesday….

Cavaliers next face a trip to Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

Next UpThe Hornets will take on the Milwaukee Bucks at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29 in Charlotte.