Masters of Magic: Cavs make it 13 straight wins over Orlando

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson, right, from Canada, put pressure on Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in Cleveland. They came up 2 game short in the NBA Finals without Irving (played hobbled in 1 game) or Love (didn’t play at all).

The Cavaliers came out ready to win, leading the Magic 29-13 after the end of the first quarter. “It was so fun to be out there”.

Irving finished the game 10-for-16 from the field, 2-for-5 on 3-pointers and 3-for-3 at the line while committing just one turnover. In addition to Melbourne-born All-Star Kyrie Irving, Maryborough native Matthew Dellavedova has made a deep impression among many with his relentless, tough-minded style of play. If he continues to play the way he’s been playing but also continues to progress in his game over the years, he can do something that’s very special around this league.

“I know in my head what he can become in this league”, James said of Irving.

“Honestly, I just told him, ‘Man, it’s good to have you back and looking at full strength, ‘” Blatt said. “It felt like he was himself tonight”, Coach David Blatt said. Love was given some wide open looks that just didn’t fall most of the night. J.R. Smith’s 3-pointer in the third quarter moved him past Nick Van Exel (1,528) for 22nd place all-time. In his fourth game back, Irving hit a crucial late 3 against Phoenix, passing the clutch test. In his fifth game back, he dove for a loose ball and banged his knee on the hardwood, passing the physical test. In his sixth game back, he broke out his entire bag of tricks, passing the confidence test. It would seem there are only more positivities in store. He scored 14 points during the opening quarter, when the Celtics shot 56 percent and took a 15-point lead and had 17 when Boston led by 14 at halftime.

Smith, whose acquisition from New Orleans triggered Philadelphia’s turnaround, notched eight of his points in the final 4:38, when the Sixers salted the game away. Defense has been the name of the game for Cleveland having only allowed an average of 88 points against them over their last 10 games. “They’re a real good team and they’re the Eastern Conference champs for a reason, so they’re the team to beat”.

MIAMI – Chris Bosh scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade added 27 points to lead the Miami to the overtime win.

James Jones, who joined Richard Jefferson and Jared Cunningham to complete Cleveland’s talented mop-up duty lineup, had 10 points.

NOTES: Toronto F DeMarre Carroll did not play in Monday’s game because of swelling in his knee.

“We tried everybody and everything, couldn’t get him stopped”, coach Dwane Casey said. “It’s a concern, but we’ve got to look at the long term with him and get him right”.

On a second night of a back-to-back, Raptors lose big in measuring stick game against the Cavs. Until we get back to that, I don’t care if it’s back-to-back, or once a week, whatever it is, we’re going to struggle.