Lamond Murray scored a season-high 33 points and Wesley Person added 24 as the Cavaliers handed the Nuggets their sixth straight road loss, 109-99.
Since Gund Arena opened, the Cavs have dominated the series, winning seven straight since April 2, 1995.
 Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas rises above Scott Williams. David Liam Kyle |
Murray, whose previous season high was 27 points at Memphis on Nov. 17, combined for 24 in the second and third periods. He helped Cleveland finish off Denver by extending a 16-point halftime lead to 90-71 entering the fourth quarter.
"I was shooting the ball good and getting open shots," Murray said. "I tried to mix it up, went to the basket and got to the free-throw line."
Murray had little difficulty in driving the lane and making open shots. The Cavaliers also had few problems passing through Denver's defense as Andre Miller, the NBA assists leader, had 13 of Cleveland's 30 on the night.
Person connected on 8-of-9 shots, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, as Cleveland shot 49 percent (41-of-83). The Cavs also made 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.
While Person and Murray were rolling, the continued solid play of center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was instrumental in putting the game out of reach. Ilgauskas had just 10 points in 15 minutes, but all of them came during Cleveland's second-quarter surge.
The Cavs outscored the Nuggets, 35-15, in the period, then shot 70 percent (12-of-17) in the third quarter.
"In the first half, we weren't very physical," Denver coach Dan Issel said. "We let them bring the ballgame to us and we only had 15 points in the second quarter. That's going to kill you in a high-scoring game like this was."
Voshon Lenard scored 17 for the Nuggets, who shot just 39.5 percent (34-of-86). Leading scorer Nick Van Exel was held to a season-low 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Afterwards, Van Exel expressed growing frustration with the direction of the team.
"I'm just tired of this," he said. "I'm tired of all this losing, tired of all these trades being made in four years. I'm just tired of everything right now. I think it's time for me to move on somewhere else other than here because I'm sick of it."
"I talked to Kiki (general manager Kiki Vandeweghe) earlier in the season and he said he'd do whatever. I've just got to keep playing. I'm going to do that, but I just need a change. But as long as I'm putting on this uniform, I'll keep playing hard."
Without injured forward Antonio McDyess, Van Exel has been forced to carry much of Denver's scoring load. He is averaging 25.9 points per game but has had two of his lowest offensive outputs in the last three games.
The Cavs double-teamed Van Exel nearly every time he touched the ball.
"We read the pick-and-roll," Murray said. "We know he likes to come off the pick-and-roll. He didn't shoot the ball well tonight and we tried to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible. He may have been a little tired. They've been on the road and in back-to-back games."
Cleveland has won six of its last seven home games since dropping its first five by a combined 102 points.
"Earlier in the season we weren't as aggressive as we needed to be at home," Murray said. "We have to take care of the home-court first and then go on the road."
The Nuggets completed an 0-4 road trip and have lost eight of their last nine games. They have dropped five in a row on the road since winning in Seattle on November 17.