12-23-16 vs. Nets

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Breaking Down The 'W' - December 23, 2016

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Wrap-Up -- If the Cavaliers – who’ve seen their starters log some major mid-week minutes – were looking for a perfect tune-up for their biggest regular season game of the year, they couldn’t have picked a better foe than the struggling Nets.

The Wine and Gold jumped on Brooklyn – losers of seven of their previous eight outings – right from the opening tip and didn’t let up, clobbering the Nets, 119-99, with a date against the Western Conference rivals looming on the other side of Christmas Eve.

In just three quarters of action, three Cavaliers notched double-doubles and LeBron James – who led both squads in scoring – wasn’t one of them.

LeBron had his streak of nine straight games of at least 20 points snapped on Friday, but he gladly traded that for a fourth quarter off – finishing with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting, adding six assists, five boards and a three steals.

Tristan Thompson followed up with his eighth double-double of the season on Friday – netting 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting to go with 11 boards, six of which he snagged off the offensive glass. The Wine and Gold are a perfect 8-0 this season when Tristan doubles up.

Kevin Love, who’s tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with 16 double-doubles, led both teams with 15 rebounds to go with 14 points in Friday’s win.

Kyrie Irving handed out double-digit assists for the third time in his last four outings – averaging exactly 10.0 helpers per over that span – finishing with 10 assists to go with 13 points while tying a career-high with six steals – as many as Brooklyn had as a team and half of Cleveland’s 12 on the night.

Earlier in the day, the Cavaliers got the bad news that J.R. Smith would likely miss the next three months following successful surgery to repair a compound fracture of his right thumb.

Knowing they’ll be counted to pick up Swish’s slack, the Cavaliers bench performed well in the blowout victory.

Mike Dunleavy had his best game as a Cavalier – finishing with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long-distance. Channing Frye posted his 12th game this season of double-figure scoring off the bench, adding 12 points and six boards. And rookie Kay Felder notched double-figures for the second time in his last three outings, chipping in with 11 points in just 16 minutes of work.

Seven Cavaliers score in double-figures as the Wine and Gold improve to 22-6.

The Cavaliers topped the 110-point mark for the 15th time this season, their 11th time doing so at The Q. For the Nets, they surrendered triple-figures on the road for the 24th straight occasion – something that hasn’t been done in over 20 years.

Turning Point -- Friday’s affair got away from Brooklyn early as the Cavaliers, looking to keep their starters’ minutes down, were ready to pounce from the opening tip.

Kevin Love – who missed the previous two games with a bruised left knee – opened the scoring with a three-pointer and by the four-minute mark of the first period, Cleveland had improved its edge to double-figures, closing the quarter up two touchdowns, 29-15.

The Cavs kept it on the Nets from that point forward, improving their halftime advantage to 26 and leading by 41 – 98-57 – after three quarters. By the time the third quarter ended, Tyronn Lue had emptied his bench in preparation for Sunday afternoon.

By the Numbers – 23.3 | 5.5 | 10.0 | 2.5 … points, rebounds, assists and steals that Kyrie Irving is averaging during the Wine and Gold’s four-game win streak.

Quotable – LeBron James, on whether the Cavs are ready for the Warriors …

”We will be ready with the game plan that our coaching staff gives us. Are we ready to set ourselves up for a seven-game series between us and the Warriors? Hell no. Our starting two-guard is out four months. We have no sense of entitlement of thinking we can even get to a seven-game series versus them, so we’re not ready for that. We’ll be as well prepared as you can be for a regular season game.”

Up Next -- After brushing aside the struggling Nets on Friday night at The Q – having now won nine of their last 10 – the Cavaliers are primed and ready for their marquee Christmas Day matchup with the Warriors. Immediately following the game, the Wine and Gold travel to Detroit for a meeting with the Pistons the following night. Tyronn Lue’s squad then wraps up the calendar year – taking on the Celtics in a nationally-televised meeting on Thursday before a New Year’s Eve tilt against Kemba Walker and the Hornets in Charlotte.

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Cavs Crush Nets in Warm-Up for Warriors

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#CavsNets Game Photos - December 23, 2016

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Everybody in the basketball universe knows about the Cavaliers huge Finals rematch with the Warriors set for Christmas Day. But before the Wine and Gold get to that eagerly-anticipated contest, they’ll have to take on the struggling Nets in a Friday night tune-up at The Q.

The Cavs are coming off a midweek back-to-back sweep against the Bucks – dropping them on Tuesday night in Milwaukee before knocking them off the following night at The Q, winning their eighth game in their last nine outings in the process.

The Nets, on the other hand, have lost seven of their last eight – including a 16-point loss to the Warriors on Thursday night. Brooklyn goes from the frying pan to the fire on Friday – taking on the World Champs one night after taking on the runners-up.

Cleveland has taken seven of their last nine meetings with the Nets, including six straight at The Q – holding them to under 95 points in each of those six wins and beating them by an average of 14 points in the process.

Despite the Cavaliers returning to their winning ways on the heels of a three-game mini-funk, the news hasn’t been all good.

Not long after Cleveland lost Chris Andersen for the season after injuring his knee in practice, J.R. Smith – who was already having a strange season – fractured his right thumb on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, had successful surgery and will miss at least the next three months. Swish’s teammates got a pair of wins without him, but with teams like Golden State rolling in and a West Coast trip on the horizon, the Cavaliers will have to piece something together.

Luckily for them, DeAndre Liggins has been a revelation on the defensive end and Iman Shumpert has had a career season offensively. Odds are the Cavs brass will still pull something off, but even without Kevin Love in the lineup, Tyronn Lue’s resilient bunch has won with its next-man-up.

Liggs will likely get the start at the 2 again on Friday and, speaking of revelations, will take on third-year pro Sean Kilpatrick, who’s been much better at home than away from the Barclays Center, but still comes in averaging 15.7 ppg on the season, already having posted seven 20-point games this year after doing so only twice in 2015-16.

As the Cavaliers gear up for their collision course against Golden State on Sunday, their best player is playing his basketball – and that’s a pretty big statement.

As the Wine and Gold has heated up over their last nine – (the only game they dropped was the Big Three-free decision in Memphis) – LeBron James has been the tip of the spear, averaging 29.9 points on 55 percent shooting from the floor, including 42 percent (21-of-50) from long-range to go with 7.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.7 steals per.

James, who’s 9-for-16 from three-point range over his last two outings, shot 62 percent from the floor against the Nets last year, including a March 24 win in which the King drained his first 10 attempts before finishing 13-of-16 from the floor.

Brooklyn counters with Bojan Bogdanovic, the only Net to start all 28 games for them all season. The improving third-year Croat has averaged 20.0 points per over his last three home games and has gone for double-figures in four of his last six meetings against the Cavs.

Though the franchise in general has struggled since relocating to Brooklyn, one consistent bright spot is their prized big man, Brook Lopez.

Now in his ninth season, the former Stanford standout is having another All-Star-type campaign – leading the Nets in scoring and blocks. Lopez led both squads in Brooklyn’s loss to Golden State – finishing with 28 points on 9-for-16 shooting – canning four three-pointers, one more than Steph Curry – in doing so.

Lopez – who’s sixth in the NBA in blocked shots at 1.8 bpg – has scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games, but he’s not one of the better rebounding bigs in the league, averaging just 5.3 boards per contest. On Friday, he’ll tangle with one of the best.

Tristan Thompson – who’ll need just two more appearances to reach 400 straight – is coming off a 15-rebound night, grabbing nine of those off the offensive glass. Coming into tonight’s game, Tristan ranks 5th in the league in offensive boards per game (3.6) and 14th overall – averaging a career-best 10.3 rpg in 27 starts this year.

Already one of the Association’s top point guards heading into this season, Kyrie Irving has somehow taken his game to another level.

For much of the season – until Number 23’s recent scoring surge – Kyrie led the team in scoring, and he’s been as consistent as any Cavalier this season, notching at least 20 points in 22 of his 25 outings. But the three-time All-Star can roll out of bed and score points; it’s been his assist numbers that have been so impressive of late. On Tuesday night, Kyrie handed out a career-high 13 helpers – (the fourth time in his career he’s dished out at least 10 assists while scoring 30-plus points)  -- and is averaging 10.0 over his last three games.

But Irving has struggled against Brooklyn over the last few meetings, averaging just 10.9 points on 33 percent shooting over the last three contests.

He’ll have his hands full on Friday night with Jeremy Lin, who’s been good since returning from a hamstring injury – averaging nearly 14 points on 51 percent shooting in five games back.

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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers vs. Nets

The Cavaliers continue their three-game homestand on Friday night when they face the Brooklyn Nets. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

The Wine and Gold are an Eastern Conference-best 21-6 this season having won three straight games including eight of their last nine.

CAVS TO DON WHITE JERSEYS
        From where to catch all the action to Friday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.

Get into the conversation with other die-hards.

During their current three-game winning streak, the Cavs have scored at least 110 points in each contest, including their 113-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night at The Q. Cleveland is 14-0 when they reach 110 points this season.

Cleveland's offensive efficiency is predicated on their ability to spread out the defense as a result of their superb outside shooting. Cleveland has knocked down at least 15 three-pointers in three straight games and rank 1st in the NBA in three-point percentage (.407) and 2nd in three-pointers made (366).

The Wine and Gold hope to keep their sharp shooting rolling as they welcome the Nets into The Q for the first time this season. The Cavs have been dominate at home this season posting a 14-2 record.

Cleveland has been just as dominate against the Atlanta Division going a perfect 8-0 so far this season (3-0 vs. TOR, 2-0 vs. PHI, 2-0 vs. NYK, 1-0 vs. BOS.

Brooklyn is near the bottom of the division with their 7-21 record and things don't get any easier when they travel to Cleveland on Friday. The Nets will come to the North Coast on Friday having lost 10 straight road games.

Despite their woes, Brooklyn can always rely on their big man, Brook Lopez, to give them production. The nine-year center from Stanford is averaging a team-high 20.3 points and ranks sixth in the NBA with 1.8 blocks per game.

Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega

Programming Note:On Friday, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Canadiens game (7:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Nets game (7:30 p.m.). To view TV listings, CLICK HERE.

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

Status Update: (Cavs) - Kevin Love, (Left Knee Contusion, Probable), J.R. Smith, (Right Thumb Fracture, Out), Mo Williams, (NWT), Chris Andersen, (Right Knee ACL Tear, Out)

Status Update: (Nets) - Isaiah Whitehead, (Left Foot Soreness, Out)

The Cavs have won seven of the last nine contests against Brooklyn, as well as each of the last six at Quicken Loans Arena.

Over those six straight home wins over Brooklyn, the Cavs’ defense has held the Nets to under 95 points in each outing for a combined average of 89.5 points (.413 FG%, .298 3FG%). Offensively, Cleveland has outscored the Nets by 14.0 points (103.5-895) and has 26.0 assist on 38.3 field goals during that stretch.

This is first of three regular season meetings between the two teams in 2016-17 (January 6th in Brooklyn &amp; January 27 in Cleveland).

After Friday's contest, it is the eagerly-anticipated Christmas Day matchup with the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. from The Q. The Cavs then travel to Detroit the following day, take on the Boston Celtics at The Q on Thursday and wrap up the year 2016 two nights later in Charlotte. GET TICKETS | VIEW FULL SCHEDULE

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#CavsNets Game Preview - December 23, 2016

On December 23, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Canadiens game (7:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Nets game (7:30 p.m.). Please refer to these programming details, available online HERE.

Cavaliers Live Pregame Show begins at 7:00 p.m. | Tipoff at 7:30 p.m.

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#CavsNets Programming Note - December 23, 2016

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12‑23‑16 vs. Nets