(On tonight’s game): "We came out at halftime much better defensively. Not great, but much better. We did make a few adjustments on how we wanted to handle pick and roll and it slowed them down a little bit. In the fourth quarter, we really amped up our defensive intensity. Toronto played a good basketball game tonight and they’re a very, very good team and a very, very well-coached team. That was a tough, hard victory. For a few hours we can feel good and then we gotta go back to work.”
(On if LeBron James’ energy impacted the game): "Without question, LeBron was there for us throughout the whole game. His performance was very consistent throughout the game. I think that in the bad moments, (his energy) sort of kept us from losing our way completely. And then in the good moments, he obviously pulled us over the top. But he had a very consistent and outstanding performance pretty much from the get-go tonight."
(On Matthew Dellavedova): "We’ve been waiting for Matty to come back…He’s a big part of what we do because he gives us a steady hand off the bench. He gives us great energy and activity on the defensive end. He plays simple and smart on the offensive end. I think he really helps the guys around him to play properly. Given that this was only his second game back, and he’s been out for four weeks, without question his performance was just outstanding against very, very high-level NBA guards. Not run in the middle guys. We’re talking about high-level guys like Kyle (Lowry), who’s one of the best in the league, and Lou Williams and (Terrence) Ross. We’re talking about some great guards and Delly was there."
(On what his last three tying the franchise record means): “It means I’ve been healthy. My teammates have allowed me to do some pretty good things. For a guy who came into the NBA as a non-shooter, I’ve worked on my game a little bit over the years. It means a lot. It means even more when you’re able to do it and have it mean something to the team, help the team out.”
(On the team’s defense in the fourth quarter): “It was spectacular. We needed every stop. Every stop that we got, we needed. We needed one of those quarters and that’s why we won the game.”
(On what stood out about the game tonight): “I think it was our defensive adjustments, especially there in the fourth quarter. It seemed like both teams were a little slow – them a little bit quicker than us, especially in the first three quarters. We were both on a back-to-back, both fighting to find our second wind. Luckily our big push there in the end was enough to overcome a very good team.”
(On back-to-back games being more of a challenge mentally): “Definitely. A lot of shots were short tonight, a lot of defensive rotations weren’t there. It’s mind and body. We needed to really just get over the top. They were hitting a lot of shots, they made a lot of plays. They’re a very well-coached team and a very good team that can make a lot of stuff happen. We just have a good energy about us right now. If we put together more good minutes than bad, we’re going to win basketball games.”
(On the game tonight): “We just had the resiliency to keep fighting. We kept getting within eight, six…and they kept getting us back, as good teams are supposed to do. I know they had the lead for most of the game, but we bunkered down and went on a 20-6 run, I believe, and kept at it. Delly gave us big minutes, Dion gave us big minutes. Our bench has been playing crazy well since we began this streak. We just have to keep it up. I know we didn’t start the game the way we wanted to, but we had a deep focus and locked in for the fourth quarter.”
(On Matthew Dellavedova’s performance): “He’s incredible. He’s awesome. I don’t know what else to say. We’ve developed such a great relationship. It’s just having my brother back out there and knowing that what you’re going to get from him every night is 150%. He’s an incredible professional, an incredible teammate to have. I know everybody in this locker room appreciates him. Being out there, it makes my job a lot easier. He guards, he does whatever is needed, he spaces out the floor, makes the extra pass, hits the big shots and that’s what we need him to do. I’m just glad that we have him back.”
(On tonight’s game): “We’ve got to get rebounds when it counts. I thought our guys battled, fought and controlled the game for most of the game, but we’ve got to close it out. That’s where we’ve got to get better. We had some crucial turnovers and rebounds that we didn’t get at the end of the game. That’s the name of the game. When you’re playing playoff basketball and you’re trying to be an elite team, you’ve got to be able to make those plays. Tonight we didn’t.”
(On LeBron James): “He is who he is. He’s who we thought he was. It’s not a surprise. He’s one of the best players in the league, or the best player arguably. He did what he was supposed to do.”
(On the Cavs’ team effort): “I thought we had (LeBron) under control most of the night. But with that said, it wasn’t him that got the key rebounds down the stretch – that was (Matthew) Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson and different people on the boards. We’ve got to come up with two-handed rebounds, man rebounds, and physical rebounds…whatever it takes to get those 50-50 balls in crunch time.”
(On his team missing key rebounds tonight): “You see what happens. We let a wide-open three by LeBron. When all is said and done, they went up by three and that was the game.”
(On the Cavs’ spacing defensively): “It was tough, but as a point guard and as a playmaker I’ve got to get the shot off and take advantage of the opportunity.”
(On the Cavs’ improvement over the last month): “It’s just chemistry. It’s going to come together. They’ve got three All-Stars, so at the end of the day they’ve got guys who know how to play. Dion (Waiters) is playing better off the bench, (Anderson) Varejao is playing well and Tristan (Thompson) is really giving them a big boost.”
(On tonight’s loss): “It’s on us. (It was) little things. Guys were spaced close to each other and we took some tough shots that we missed. It’s just execution on the floor that we usually do, and it wasn’t there tonight.”
Did they seem like a different team than two weeks ago?
They are starting to pick it up. They are definitely starting to play better and move the ball better than they did.
CAVALIERS NOTES:
- The Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to eight games (longest since March 2010/also eight games) after they came from behind to defeat the Toronto Raptors 105-101 tonight. It marked the 13th time this season the Cavs have reached the century mark (12-1 in those games). The Cavs have now won 11 straight contests when scoring 100-plus points. During the current winning streak, the Cavs are averaging 106.1 points on .501 shooting and 24.3 assists, while holding opponents to 91.6 points on .436 shooting.
- The Cavaliers are now 11-3 against the Eastern Conference and 7-3 against teams with a record above .500.
- With the Cavs trailing 95-85 with 8:37 left to play in the fourth quarter, Cleveland surged back with a 20-6 run over the rest of the game to grab the victory. The Wine and Gold trailed the Raptors by as many as 14 points in the game, which is the second-biggest deficit the Cavaliers have overcome in a victory this season. The Wine and Gold have now been victorious in five contests where they faced double-digit deficits (trailed 12 pts vs. NOP 11/10, 19 pts at BOS 11/14, 11 pts vs MIL 12/2 and 11 pts at NYK 12/4).
- Overall, Cleveland shot 39-79 (.494) from the floor and 18-21 (.857) from the charity stripe. The Wine and Gold also dished out 27 assists (fourth highest total of season) and turned the ball over only 12 times. The Cavaliers are now 7-0 when recording 25 or more assists.
- In the second half, the Cavs defense held the Raptors to 38 points on 16-42 (.381) shooting from the floor and 3-15 (.200) from three-point range. In the fourth quarter alone, Cleveland held Toronto to 13 points on 6-20 (.300) shooting from the field and 1-6 (.167) behind the arc. The Cavaliers allowed just six points in the final eight minutes of the game.
- LeBron James hit the go-ahead triple with 48.1 remaining in the game that gave the Cavs the lead and also tied him with Mark Price for the franchise’s all-time lead in career three-point field goals made with 802. On the night, James scored a game-high 35 points on 12-21 (.571) shooting, 2-5 (.400) from behind the arc and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line, while adding four assists, two steals and two blocks in 42 minutes. It is James’ sixth game this season in which he has scored 30 or more points.
- Dion Waiters scored in double-digits off the bench for the second straight outing as he finished with 18 points on 7-10 (.700) shooting, 3-5 (.600) from three point land and two assists in 24 minutes of action. Waiters is averaging 22.0 points on .581 (18-31) shooting and 3.0 assists in 27.0 minutes over his last two games.
- Kyrie Irving earned his second double-double of the season (14th of career) after recording 13 points, a season and team-high 10 assists and a pair of steals in 42 minutes.
- Kevin Love notched a near double-double with 17 points, a team-high nine rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes of play. Tonight was Love’s sixth straight game with nine or more rebounds.
- In 34 minutes off the bench, Tristan Thompson shot 3-5 (.600) from the floor to scoring eight points, while also grabbing eight rebounds (four offensive). Over the last three games, he is averaging 14.3 points on .680 (17-25) shooting, 11.3 rebounds and 1.0 block in 31.7 minutes per game.