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Wrap-Up -- For much of the young season, LeBron James – who leads the Cavaliers with a career-best 9.1 assists per contest – has been content to facilitate the offense while still scoring the basketball when the game dictated.
But on Saturday night, James illustrated why he’s one of the rarest athletes to ever play the sport.
After passing Elvin Hayes to move into the 9th spot on the league’s all-time scoring list on Friday night, LeBron became the first frontcourt player to top the 7,000-assist mark on Saturday – and did so as only the King can: going off for a season-high 44 points, adding 10 assists, nine boards, three steals and a block, willing the Wine and Gold past a stubborn Hornets squad, 116-105, on Saturday night at The Q.
And as the closing seconds wound down on the Cavs fourth consecutive win, Cleveland’s four-time MVP casually spun the ball on his finger at halfcourt until the final buzzer sounded.
The Cavaliers thumped Miami on Friday night – winning their second straight outing by at least 30 points. And when the Cavaliers shot 68 percent in the first half and took a 15-point edge at halftime, it looked like Saturday’s contest would be more of the same.
But the Hornets chipped away at Cleveland’s second-half edge and got to within three by the midway point of the third quarter. But the Cavs increased their lead to 11 to end the third and in the fourth, it was all LeBron – who finished with 17 of his 44 in the fourth, going 6-of-9 in the quarter and 17-for-24 overall on the night. His five three pointers were also a season-high.
Kevin Love followed up with 22 points – his fourth straight topping the 20-point plateau – going 7-for-12 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the stripe to go with six boards and three steals.
Iman Shumpert continued his career season, one that’s seen him hit career highs from the floor, from three-point range and at the stripe – finishing with 16 points off the bench, going 5-of-8 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. In 32 action-packed minutes, Shump added five boards, two assists and a steal – posting a game-high +22 in the win.
Tristan Thompson grabbed double-digit boards for the third time in his last four outings – doubling up for the sixth time this season with 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting to go with a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Wine and Gold shoot 58% from the floor to grab their fourth straight victory.
Kyrie Irving rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, but had his streak of topping the 20-point mark snapped at a career-best 12 games – finishing with 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting.
One game removed from shooting 55 percent from the floor against New York, the Cavaliers hit a new high-water mark on Saturday night, shooting a season-best 58 percent, canning 13 more three-pointers and topping the 110-point mark for the 11th time this season – and improving to 11-0 when they do so.
Turning Point -- It didn’t take Steve Clifford’s squad long to cut into Cleveland’s halftime lead, jumping out to a 14-3 run to start the second stanza.
The Cavaliers went on a mini-run of their own to extend their lead back to 11 – 83-72 – on LeBron’s triple late in the third. But once again, the Hornets went on a roll to cut it to four – 84-80 – with just under two minutes to play in the period.
But Cleveland would proceed to close the quarter on an 8-1 run – set up by free throw makes by Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson and capped by Kyrie Irving’s three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, setting the stage for LeBron’s dominant fourth period.
By the Numbers – .961 … LeBron James’ winning percentage against Charlotte over his past 26 head-to-head matchups, improving to 25-1 over that span with Saturday night’s victory.
Quotable – Kyrie Irving, on LeBron James’ three-point shooting in Saturday’s win …
”I like when he shoots them. I love them. Regardless of if they go in or not, I still love when he’s like that. But on nights like this it just makes him a lot harder to guard. I’m always amazed to see some teams decide they’ve got to live with something and they start going under his screens. I think that when he’s knocking those things down, he’s impossible to guard.”.”
Up Next -- After pulling away from the Hornets to earn their fourth straight win, the Cavaliers get ready for a home-and-home back to back against Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies (who knocked off Golden State on Saturday night) – facing them at home on Tuesday night before a trip to the Grindhouse on Wednesday. After a couple days off, the Wine and Gold welcome Luke Walton’s new-look Lakers to The Q for a Saturday night affair.