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Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets - Dec.19

(On allowing 58 points over the final three quarters): "I thought that we played three great quarters of defense. A 16-point quarter, a 22-point quarter, a 20-point quarter, and that kind of defense is certainly going to help you win games, particularly tight games like this one."

(On how his team would have played without Mike Miller tonight): “Don’t even want to think about it…We took (him) out a couple of extra games from when we originally anticipated for the good health of Mike and of course to remain true to the rules as far as concussion recovery. So we went a couple of extra days. He actually got in a couple of extra days of practice during that time and he came out ready. He came out blazing and certainly picked us up tonight.”

(On Mike Miller’s play tonight): "Mike for his whole career has been a floor spacer…I just thought he played right as he always does. I thought the shots that he took were very good looks and he made them."

(On inserting his second unit in the early fourth quarter): "Sometimes in a game you just have a feel for things and you go with your gut. That’s what we did and fortunately it paid off."

(On if he anticipated Mike Miller playing 33 minutes tonight): "Honestly, no. He had it going and again, that’s one of those feel things. When the fire’s hot, you want to let it burn. And it was burning tonight so we let him go out a little bit longer. Remember, Mike was playing pretty good before he got hurt. He was in really good shape and during this period of time that he’s been recovering from the concussion, he’s been able to work on his conditioning as well without over-stressing himself. He felt good.”

(On the change in shooting percentage throughout the game): “33 points in the first quarter is a little too high for us. We just made a conscious effort to lock down on the defensive end, pick up our energy a little bit more. The bench came in and gave us life. We withheld the lead.”

(On getting a win despite a tough shooting night): We just got stops when we needed (them). At the end of the day, it’s a team game. Everybody needs to take advantage of their opportunity. Mike Miller was huge for us tonight on both ends of the floor – just being out there, just being a veteran as he is. LeBron did a great job of leading us in every single huddle. Coach Blatt did a heck of a job as well having us execute, especially in the third and fourth quarter. But, if we could grow on something, the final three minutes that we had, including myself, we just need to execute a lot better and stay in front of my man.”

(On Mike Miller tonight): “He’s a guy that spaces the floor, a professional guy. You know you can always count on him, even when he doesn’t make shots. Obviously his ability to shoot the ball just gives us so much more of a dynamic out there and we needed it. He kept us afloat tonight, his ability to shoot the ball.”

(On the change in defense after the first quarter): “We just tried to be aggressive. We were very passive to start the game, allowed them to get in their comfort zone, they made some shots. The last three quarters we just tried to put more pressure on the ball, get some deflections and get some stops. We were able to accomplish that.”

(On how it felt to get back out on the floor): “It felt good coming out. Obviously getting the opportunity to get out there with that starting group makes it a little easier for open shots. (I’m) just happy to help and be a part of it.”

(On if he expected to play a lot of minutes): “No. I told him I was ready to play, I’ve been ready. I’ve been a little cautious, but like I said, with the concussion protocols and things like that we took it slow. It gave me an opportunity to get in shape. The last couple days I’ve been working pretty hard and we’ll see how we feel tomorrow.”

(On his team tonight): “We never really got way down. It was a nip-and-tuck ball game. We played in the game. We never got out of the game and we made them have to earn the victory right down to the wire.”

(On his team containing LeBron and Kyrie): “Did we contain LeBron and Kyrie? We had that conversation before the game. LeBron is LeBron. He made the big shot in the corner and he drove to the basket and got a layup. Kyrie made a big drive to the basket down the stretch, which kept them comfortably ahead four or five points versus them missing (shots), us going down and maybe getting a lead on them. They never let us do that.”

(On Mike Miller): “Mike’s a great shooter. They put him in the starting lineup and changed up some things from the last few games, and he came ready. He shot the ball great. He got them off to a good start and he continued to make big threes throughout the course of the game.”

(On his team’s potential game-tying play in the last few seconds): “I thought that we executed pretty well. I thought I was wide open when I came up, and I think Kevin Love stayed. I thought he was going away, but I had two (defenders) on me so I just tried to make the next pass. The pass that I was trying to make to KG (Kevin Garnett), I think LeBron tipped it. We gave ourselves a chance. But in the fourth quarter, starting with me, turnovers killed us.”

(On his team staying positive): “It’s just what we do. We can’t get down on ourselves. Obviously we know and understand that we’re still in the hunt for something, so we try to keep working and hopefully things will come together for us.”

CAVALIERS NOTES:

  • The Cleveland Cavaliers moved to 13-4 against the Eastern Conference, after they topped the Brooklyn Nets 95-91 on Friday night. The Cavs have now won 10 of their last 13 games overall, including seven of their last eight games inside the Q (all against the East). During that previous eight home games, the Wine and Gold have outscored its opponents by an average of 7.6 points per game (104.3 to 96.6), while shooting .473 from the field and dishing out 25.3 assists.
  • The Cavaliers shot well from the free throw line, going 24-29 (.828) overall. It was their ninth outing in which the team shot .800 or better from the charity stripe this season.
  • Cleveland bested Brooklyn in the battle of the boards, as it out-rebounded the Nets 44-37. The Cavs also limited the Nets to a season-low four offensive rebounds. Cleveland is now 11-4 when it beats its opponent on the glass. In two games against Brooklyn this season, the Wine and Gold are averaging 49.5 boards to the Nets 35.0.
  • Defensively, the Cavaliers were able to hold the Nets to 91 points on the night. In the final three quarters, Cleveland held Brooklyn to 58 points on only .404 (23-57) shooting from the floor.
  • Mike Miller got his first start of the season and turned in his best performance of the year. Miller scored a season-high 21 points on 7-8 (.875) shooting from three-point range in 34 minutes. It is Miller’s highest career three-point percentage when hitting at least seven triples in a single game. The last Cavalier to make at least seven three-pointers and only miss one triple was Daniel Gibson (7-8 vs. Utah on 12/20/10), while the last NBA player to do it was Kevin Love (8-9 vs. SAS on 12/13/13).
  • A three-point make with 3:59 left to play in the first quarter moved LeBron James ahead of Charles Barkley (23,757) for 23rd all-time on the NBA career scoring list. The next member on the scoring list is Allen Iverson at 22nd with 24,368. James rounded out the night with 22 points, a game-high nine assists, four rebounds and a game-high tying two steals in 40 minutes of play.
  • Kevin Love grabbed a game-high 14 boards (season-high five offensive) on the night, while adding six points and a season-high three blocks in 40 minutes of action. It was Love’s 15th double-digit rebounding effort of the year.
  • Tristan Thompson posted a near double-double with nine points on 3-5 (.600) shooting from the floor and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. Thompson is now averaging 10.9 points on .623 shooting, 9.6 rebounds (4.9 offensive) in 28.8 minutes off the pine in his last eight outings.
  • Kyrie Irving finished the night with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes.