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WRAP-UP
The past couple seasons of Cavaliers basketball as been about all the young dudes. But every now and again, the 2016 NBA Championship alum like to remind us what makes them so special.
Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova – three key components from that title-winning squad with a little knowledge about knocking off Western Conference heavyweights – all came up huge as the Wine & Gold snapped their four-game skein and completed the season sweep of the Nuggets in a 104-102 thriller on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Love scored nine of the Cavs’ final 12 points – including the baseline jumper that put Cleveland ahead to stay with 4:03 to play – Dellavedova piled up a career-high 14 assists and hit a monster three with 3:28 to play that gave the Cavs a two-possession lead, and Thompson – after missing two free throws with 20 seconds remaining, snuffed Jamal Murray on the defensive end and grabbed the defensive rebound at the buzzer.
The shorthanded Cavaliers – still missing starters Andre Drummond and Darius Garland – didn’t lead at all in the first half. But once they grabbed the lead back just after intermission, they kept Denver at bay through most of the second stanza.
Denver clawed its way back and reclaimed the lead on Will Barton’s step-back jumper with just over eight minutes to play. But the Cavaliers stayed attached, overcame the Nuggets on Love’s clutch bucket and held off a late charge for the win.
Love led both teams with 27 points, going 9-of-17 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from deep to go with six boards and three assists.
Collin Sexton continued his torrid pace – following up his career-high against Boston with a 25-point showing on Saturday, going 11-of-19 from the field, adding six boards, five assists and a pair of steals.
Cedi Osman drilled his first five three-pointers and went 7-of-12 from the floor overall, including 5-of-6 from long-distance to go with three boards and a pair of steals.
Thompson grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go with nine points, five assists and a pair of blocked shots – including a huge swat against Nikola Jokic with 3:31 remaining that preserved Cleveland’s one-point edge.
Overall, Tristan held Denver’s All-Star big man – the team’s leading scorer, rebounder and assist man – to just eight points, eight boards and eight helpers on the night.
HIGHLIGHT
Early in the game, Collin Sexton got out on the break and had one man to beat. Sexton busted out a smooth Euro Step move to allude him and score at the rim.
TURNING POINT
The third quarter has not been the Cavaliers friend on many occasions this season. But Cleveland came out of the locker room on a mission Saturday.
The Nuggets led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter and by three at half. The Cavaliers took the lead in short order after intermission, extending their edge to six points on Cedi Osman’s triple with 7:29 to play in the period.
Denver would eventually re-take the lead in the fourth quarter, but J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad had plenty left in the tank to rally late for the unlikely season sweep.
BY THE NUMBERS
6.2 … assists that Matthew Dellavedova is averaging over his last six games – including a nine-dime night against Utah last week and a career-best 14 in Saturday’s win over the Nuggets.
Over that stretch, Delly – who’s struggled offensively this season – is shooting .452 from the floor, including .429 (6-of-14) from three-point range. Excluding an 0-for-8 clunker against Boston, those numbers jump to .609 and .667.
Delly’s 14 assists were the most by a Cavalier since LeBron James handed out 14 in a meeting against Washington in April 2018.
QUOTABLE
Matthew Dellavedova, on if he’s felt the need to prove himself this year …
”I always feel like I have to prove myself. I proved myself to get here. I proved myself to stay here. And I don’t think that ever goes away.”
CALLS OF THE GAME
Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and 87.7 La Mega's Rafa Hernandez-Brito.
UP NEXT
The Wine & Gold close out their five-game homestand on Sunday night when they welcome DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
From there, they play 13 of their final 18 games on the road – beginning with a Tuesday night matchup in the Windy City. From there, it’s a weekend back-to-back against the Hornets in Charlotte on Friday followed by a meeting with the Hawks in Atlanta on Saturday. Cleveland stays on the road the following week – traveling to Houston, Orlando and Indiana.