LeBron questions Curry’s status as NBA’s top point guard

The Cavaliers carried some motivation from a 97-85 thumping at the hands of Washington at The Q on December 1, their lone home loss on the season.

Irving talked for weeks about knocking the rust off. That process looks almost complete. Much better than an All-Star. “I’m not going to put too much pressure on him right now, but I know what he can become in this league and tonight he showed it”.

Tristan Thompson (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Kevin Love (14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals) held down the interior, and James (20 points, seven assists, three steals, two rebounds) got to take the entire fourth quarter off as the Cavs cruised to their fourth straight win, improving their East-leading record to 23-9 and looking like a very different, and very frightening, team with its full roster available.

“They play as hard and as together as anyone in the league, except for San Antonio”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “But until we turn it on defensively, we’re kidding ourselves”.

Guard Kyle Lowry had 23 points and 10 assists and guard DeMar DeRozan had 19 points for the Raptors, who twice rallied from big deficits before the Cavs pulled away for good in the fourth. In that game the Cavs were led by LeBron James who scored 24 pts and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Nene’s presence was felt instantly when he was inserted with 2 minutes 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter to an applause from the crowd.

J.R. Smith thrives when there are open shots and the offense doesn’t get stuck, finishing with 24 points on 8-of-14 from beyond the arc. Things changed dramatically, in large part to Irving, who continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery.

“We stopped moving the ball”, coach Randy Wittman said after the Wizards fell to 5-14 when they fail to total 25 assists. Wall had told CSNmidatlantic.com last month “it’s a joke” that Irving was No. 2 among all Eastern Conference guards in the first All-Star balloting returns after playing in only two games, while Wall was fifth, trailing Irving by almost 35,000 votes.

Russell Westbrook added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder.

The Pistons, winning despite a season-low five rebounds by foul-ridden center Andre Drummond, trailed 73-60 with 3:18 left in the third quarter. As with most elite players, the decision on whether to ride a hot hand should come down to matchup and opportunity and DFSers shouldn’t be surprised if the hot streak comes to an abrupt end at any moment.

NEW ORLEANS – Raymond Felton scored 22 points in a game Dallas chose to rest four starters, and the Mavericks defeated New Orleans. He’ll match up with former Cavalier Ramon Sessions, who’s been just as good in a reserve role – coming into tonight’s game averaging 12.3 points over his last six. “That’s what I’ve tried to do”, Irving said. Am I the only one who was surprised to see him guarding the 4th or 5th option on the court? “To do what he’s doing nine or 10 months to get back and still be able to come out there and shake and bake like he’s doing it’s remarkable”. But James believes Irving should be an All-Star regardless of the season’s sample size.

The most daunting trip on the Cavaliers’ schedule, at least according to David Blatt, was the recently-completed West Coast trip that included a Christmas Day game and four games in five nights. “And I think that was an example of that”.