Dec 23 vs Timberwolves

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Wrap-Up – With a marquee matchup in Miami looming on Christmas Day, there was a concern that the Cavaliers might look past the young, struggling Timberwolves. But after two-and-a-half quarters, the Wine and Gold picked it up on both ends of the floor and pulled away to close the homestand in style – topping Minnesota, 125-104, on Tuesday at The Q.

Three Cavalier starters notched 20-plus points and the bench came up big again, as Cleveland won its ninth home game in the last ten outings, including a 4-1 mark on the homestand.

Kyrie Irving led everyone with 29 points, going 12-for-19 from the floor and adding four assists and three steals. LeBron James followed up with an economical 8-for-16 shooting night, tallying 24 points to go with four boards, three assists, three blocks and a steal. Kevin Love battled through a third-quarter thumb injury, returning to double-up against his former squad with 20 points and 10 boards.

One starter who wasn’t so lucky was Anderson Varejao, who came down awkwardly under the Cavs basket and had to be helped off the floor and into the team’s locker room. He was diagnosed with a foot/ankle injury and didn’t return to action. He’ll be further evaluated in Cleveland on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers second unit had another strong outing, led by Dion Waiters, who followed up a 21-point effort in Sunday’s win over Memphis with a 19-point outing on Tuesday – going 5-for-12 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, adding four assists, three steals and a pair of boards. Shawn Marion added 11 points in his third game in a reserve role.

Cleveland shot 52 percent from the floor and an even 50 percent from long-distance. They topped the T-Wolves in the paint and on the fast break. One of the highlights for Minnesota was the performance of Andrew Wiggins, who the Cavs selected with the top overall pick this past June, but traded – along with Anthony Bennett -- for Kevin Love during the offseason. Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting, going 3-of-3 from long-distance. Bennett went scoreless in 11 minutes off the bench.

Irving leads scoring attack with 29 points.

Watch full final game highlights from Tuesday's victory.

Turning Point – When Thaddeus Young split a pair of free throws with 3:32 to play in the third quarter, the scrappy T-Wolves closed Cleveland’s edge to 80-78. But the Cavs clamped down defensively and the combination of Kevin Love, Dion Waiters and LeBron James keyed a 16-1 run to end the period. In  that stretch, Love canned four straight free throws, LeBron drilled a long three-pointer and Waiters scored the last five points of the period to put the Win e and Gold in the driver’s seat headed into the fourth.

On the evening, the Cavaliers closed the second and third quarters on a combined 28-7 score.

By the Numbers – .737 … Shawn Marion’s field goal percentage (14-of-19) since being moved to the second unit before the Brooklyn game on December 19.

Quotable – Mike Miller, on how he felt facing off against his former team …

”I didn’t really feel much of anything, to be honest with you. It felt like just another game. It was a game that we felt that we needed to win. It was our last game at home before we went to South Florida before Christmas.”

Up Next – After wrapping up the five-game homestand, the Cavaliers head south for holidays, taking on Dwyane Wade and the Heat in a nationally-televised Christmas Day game. The following night it’s a trip to the Magic Kingdom to face off against a Magic team they trounced by 32 points in late November. On Sunday, it’s another afternoon affair as the Cavs take on Stan Van Gundy’s struggling Pistons. Two nights later, it’s the Wine and Gold’s third matchup against Atlanta already this season – but on Tuesday night the Cavaliers travel to the dirty south for the meeting.

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Cavs Hold Off Wolves, Close Homestand in Style

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(On the 4-1 homestand): "I thought we  had a pretty good homestand of course except for the one game. Not easy to win  every game in the NBA. The guys responded very well to the moment but that’s  just a small piece to the season. Obviously, right now we’re doing a good job  scoring the basketball. Our defense has definitely picked up, but we still have  a long way to go."

(On if he thinks his team plays down to the  competition): "First of all, I thought Minnesota came and competed so our competition  was good. But we were not as locked in taking care of the basketball in the  first half as we needed to be and also rebounding the basketball in the first  half. I think they had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half and obviously  only five in the second. The game became a lot easier for us because we were  running the ball well and we were moving the ball well. You gotta be locked in  at all times and if not, most of the time, because teams are going to go after  you. I thought Minnesota came with great energy and really played us tough."

(On Andrew Wiggins): "Andrew  really played a good game. I told you before Andrew is a guy with such great  potential and abilities. Obviously, he was going to be hyped coming into this  game and he played his best game of the season without question. I think Andrew  is a great kid and is going to be a great basketball player. I’m not used to  being happy for other guys when they play well against us but given the fact  that we won convincingly and that Andrew played well, I’m happy for him."

(On Dion Waiters): “I really liked  what Dion did. He did struggle in the beginning and the fact that he came out  and then gave us another good game was very important. That kind of consistency  of performance, effort and approach is great for Dion and great for us. I  thought he really, really did a nice job working his way into the game, not  losing his way and then giving us a great performance.”

(On what happened to his thumb): “It scared me  initially. I had jammed it pretty bad during the Brooklyn game and in practice  put it in tape the next day, so I was fortunate that I was able to, I guess,  get shots up and some practice time with the tape on. We came back here and it  seems to be just a mild, little thing. I shook it off and went back in there  and played.”

(On playing Minnesota for the first time): “I didn’t really  feel much of anything, to be honest with you. It felt like just another game.  It was a game that we felt that we needed to win. It was our last game at home  before we went to South Florida before Christmas. We wanted to get four out of  five at home. We wish we could have got them all, but we have to win the games  here and have some sort of home court advantage, so we’re happy we did that  tonight.”

(On  the game tonight): “They’re an athletic team. They get on a break. We kind of expected the pace  that it was at. Guys were just being athletic and being young and getting up  and down the floor. On the defensive end we just have to buckle down. Whoever  is going to get stops first is going to win the game. They were scoring and we  were scoring in the first half. Coming out of the locker room we just had to  make a conscious effort to get stops.”

(On  Andrew Wiggins): “He’s a great, young player. He’s going to be one of the greatest guys in our  league pretty soon. He brought it for a full 48 (minutes). We kind of knew that  going in. He took the challenge personally against all of us and he was getting  to a spot where he was knocking down shots at the free throw line – everything  that we know he’s capable of doing. He just has to do it more consistently. I’m  a big fan and it was great that we got to play against him finally.”

(On the run at the end of the third  quarter): “We got stops, were more physical. When we get stops, we’re very good  offensively. We get rebounds, it allowed us to open up.”

(On thoughts about going back to Miami): “To say I haven’t  thought about going back, I’d be lying to you guys. It’s going to be great to  be back in that building around those unbelievable fans. The memories will  definitely come back, being a part of the organization for the four years I was  there. When it gets down to it, I’m excited about it. I’m going to relive a lot  of the moments in my head and go from there.”

(On tonight’s game): “The score is  probably not an indication of how well we actually played. We went to our bench  and we got too many empty minutes. Sometimes it was when our starters went to  the bench and came back, and we didn’t play at the intensity we needed to for a  couple of minutes. So they (the Cavs) went on with what they can do. They went  on some runs and we weren’t able to withstand some of them.”

(On the Cavs’ 19-1 run): “We struggled  playing from behind because we have a lot of young guys that aren’t used to  doing that. So they have a tendency to get a little bit too anxious, and then  we take one or two bad shots and that leads to fast break opportunities. That’s  what makes it difficult.”

(On Andrew Wiggins guarding LeBron James): “He did a lot.  LeBron is a tough cover. We all know how great he really is. So he really took  the game over in that stretch there (the Cavs’ 19-1 run). You could kind of  sense that we were a little bit back on our heels and we played a little bit  out of character for a while.”

(On tonight’s game): “I think we played  well. We’re the younger team. A game is full of runs. They went on a run that  really separated the game at the end.”

(On guarding LeBron James): “I’m a competitor,  so it was fun for me. I’m sure it was fun for him and fun for the fans to see.  You’ve got to work for your shots and play hard. He’s one of the best players  in the league, so I think I learned a lot. He can score in a lot of different  ways and impact the game a lot of different ways.”

(On whether tonight’s game was more  emotional than usual): “Yeah. Before the game even started when we were in  the locker room, it was just a different atmosphere. Emotions were a lot higher  than they usually are. I think it’s obvious this is a motivation game for me.”

(On returning to play in Cleveland): “It felt good  seeing a lot of old faces and a lot of people that helped me out along the way.  It’s always good to say what’s up and see how they’re doing.”

(On Andrew Wiggins’ play tonight): “He did alright.  He did more than alright. He canceled all the noise and just went out there and  played.”

(On tonight’s game): “I wish I could  have done a lot more. But with the way things rolled, Wiggins had the hot hand  so everybody fed him.”

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Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves - Dec. 23

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Listen to Radio Play-by-Play announcer John Michael's Call of the Game during the Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game on December 23, 2014. LeBron takes a feed from Dion Waiters and throws the hammer down.

Escucha a la voz en español de los Cavaliers Rafa "El Alcalde" con la narración de la jugada del partido entre Los Cavaliers de Cleveland vs. Los Timberwolves de Minnesota en El Quicken Loans Arena  el 23 de Diciembre del 2014.  Los Cavs derrotaron a Los Timberwolves 125-104 en un a noche de gran ofensiva para los Cavs. Kyrie fue el lider anotador con 29 pero este triple de tres cuartos de cancha de Lebron empezó a sellar la victoria para los Cavaliers al final del tercer cuarto.

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Call of the Game: Cavs vs. Minnesota Timberwolves - Dec. 23

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Cavs vs. Minnesota Timberwolves  - December 23, 2014

The Cleveland Cavaliers will wrap up their five-game homestand tonight when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first time this season. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Cleveland (16-10) improved to 11-3 in their last 14 games overall after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies, 105-91, in a Sunday matinee matchup. Cleveland led wire-to-wire as the defense is now 8-1 this season when holding opponents to 91 points or less. Since Nov. 24, the Cavs are allowing 96.6 points per game, which ranks 4th in the NBA over that stretch.

Coming into today’s contest, Cleveland is 8-1 in the last nine games at Quicken Loans Arena. Over that stretch, the Wine and Gold have outscored its opponents by an average of 8.3 points per game (104.3 to 96.0), while shooting .499 from the field and dishing out 25.6 assists (only 12.7 turnovers).

Minnesota (5-21) has hit the injury bug this season and enters tonight's contest on a five-game losing streak.

Thaddeus Young leads the Timberwolves in scoring with 14.4 points per game.

WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega, AM 1590 WAKR (Akron)

There’s no shortage of story lines in tonight’s matchup.

Get into the conversation with other die-hards.

Probable Starters/Status Update*presented by Cleveland Clinic

Timberwolves: PG - Zach LaVine, SG - Andrew Wiggins, SF - Shabazz Muhammad PF - Thaddeus Young, C - Gorgui Dieng

Status Update: (Timberwolves) - Kevin Martin, (Fractured Right Wrist, Out), Nikola Pekovic, (Sore Right Foot, Out), Ricky Rubio, (Sprained Left Ankle, Out)

The Cavs are 5-2 in their last seven home games against the Wolves, which includes a 93-92 victory in their last meeting at The Q on Nov. 4, 2013.

In that contest, Cleveland swatted 12 shots and held the Wolves to 34-94 (.362) shooting from the field, including 5-28 (.179) from the three-point line. Minnesota shot just 21-70 (.300) from the field through the first three quarters.

The Wine and Gold lead the all-time series against the Timberwolves 29-18 (15-8 Home, 14-10 Road).

TV: FOX Sports Ohio, NBATV, Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega, AM 1590 WAKR (Akron)

Tune into #CavsLive on FOX Sports Ohio starting at 6:30 p.m.

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike, @chones22 and @ElalcaldeRafa on Twitter.

After tonight’s game, the Wine &amp; Gold will head to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat for a Christmas Day matchup at 5:00 p.m. ET.

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GameDay Preview: Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

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