Dec 25 vs Heat

clejgabriele

Wrap-Up – Procrastinating is as much a part of the holidays as candy canes and carols. And in the Cavaliers’ Christmas Day matchup in Miami, it was a case of too little, too late – as the Wine and Gold dug themselves a first half hole they couldn’t get out of. Cleveland took a very brief lead in the fourth quarter, but the Heat controlled most of the game en route to the frustrating 101-91 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena.

LeBron James, in his highly-publicized return to South Beach, led the Cavaliers with 30 points – going 9-of-16 from the floor with a team leading eight assists. But James, who admitted to having butterflies before the game, was 10-of-18 from the stripe, including 2-of-5 in the fourth quarter. LeBron battled his close friend, Dwyane Wade, all evening – with the Miami star posting 31 points of his own. The two longtime contemporaries and competitors took time to talk at the scorer’s table before the start of the second half and after the affair wrapped up.

Kyrie Irving followed up with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding four boards, three assists and a steal. Kevin Love – who got the start at center with Anderson Varejao lost for the season after tearing his Achilles’ tendon – rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 14 points, going 5-for-14 from the floor to go with five boards, three assists and a block.

Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson were both solid off the bench. Waiters finished with eight points, six boards, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Thompson added six points and led both teams with nine boards in the loss.

The Heat scored 62 points in the first half and shot 56 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, one in which they held the Wine and Gold to just 17 points. Miami outscored Cleveland in the paint, 44-28, and on second-chance points, 16-2. The Cavs nearly doubled the Heat’s trips to the line, 33-17, but shot only 64 percent when they got there.

Watch full final game highlights from Thursday's game.

Turning Point – Going with a small lineup to close the third quarter, the Cavaliers – who once trailed by 17 – were able to get to within three heading into the fourth. To start the final quarter, Kyrie and LeBron scored back-to-back buckets to give Cleveland a 78-77 lead. But after tying the game at 80-apiece, the Cavs went cold and went six minutes without a field goal. Cleveland made one more late push, cutting the deficit to just three on Mike Miller’s trey with 3:09 remaining. But Miami went on an 11-3 run to put the game on ice.

By the Numbers – 347 … games in which LeBron James has topped the 30-point plateau in his career. Including his Christmas Day effort, James is averaging 29.0 points per game as a Cavalier against the Heat and has now notched a dozen 30-point games versus Miami. He also extended his consecutive streak of scoring in double-figures to 599 straight games – third in NBA history behind only Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Quotable – Coach David Blatt, on his squad’s loss in Miami …

”I thought in the beginning we were too much in a hurry and we didn’t play with the kind of discipline on defense we have been playing with. That hurt us. Our emotions were all over the place. But I don’t blame that on our loss.”

Up Next – With the Christmas Day game in the books, the Cavaliers complete their Sunshine State back-to-back on Friday night in Orlando as they take on the Magic. On Sunday afternoon, the Cavs take on the struggling Detroit Pistons for the first time this season in a 4:30 affair at The Q. On Tuesday night, it’s an early-season rubber match with the Hawks – who have lost by 33 points and won by 32 at The Q so far this season – down in Atlanta. The following day, it’s a New Year’s Eve matchup with the Greek Freak and his Milwaukee Bucks on the corner of Huron and Ontario.

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Too Much Heat on Christmas Day

clenadams

(On the game): “I thought we (Cleveland Cavaliers) started a little too over anxious and that was reflected in our lack of discipline. When we calmed down we started to play properly and the tone of the game changed. Obviously they (Miami HEAT) made a pretty good run in the third quarter but again we found our way and played with much better discipline. There were plays that they made, but we missed.”

(On the Cleveland Cavaliers): “I thought in the beginning we were too much in a hurry and we didn’t play with the kind of discipline on defense we have been playing with. That hurt us. Our emotions were all over the place. I don’t blame that on our loss.”

“We tried some things differently tonight. At the end of the day when you lose a guy (Anderson Varejao), you have to try and figure it out.”

(On LeBron James return to Miami): “He was an enormous figure here. He was a part of a great run and he was obviously an MVP player during the NBA Championship seasons. So there is going to be emotions, feelings and excitement. You can’t just look past that. That is going to happen. You just have to try and roll with it. I thought he handled it well. I just feel we all could have played better.”

(On the injury during the game): “Going after that long pass from Kevin (Love), I tweaked my hamstring and the back of my knee a little bit.  Our training staff is very, very good and allowed me to go back into the game.”

(On how emotional the night was): “Oh, very (emotional).  It is tough to play under these circumstances.  You are so used to playing just regular season games and then you have to play one like this, my first home game when I went back home, my first home game.  Very difficult.  We are just trying to come out here and win, but they just played a great game.”

(On the video tribute to him during the game): “It is cool.  A lot of emotions come back.  I spent four years here with those guys.  Some guys (are) still here, some guys are not here.  We put in a lot of hard work and dedication just to be the best we could.”

(On what he made of the fans response during his introduction): “I didn’t make much of it.  I think these fans are great.  I always talked about them and always said that.  They always showed their loyalty."

It didn’t surprise me because I really didn’t have a clue either way.  I just tried to be focused on the game as much as I could.”

(On if he could share some of the conversations with Dwyane Wade): “No.  Of course not.  You guys know our relationship, so fill in the blanks.”

(On the first game without Anderson Varejao): “You can’t replace a guy like that.  You just can’t.  He is an interior defender for us, he’s a rebounder, he’s active.  You can’t replace a guy like that.  Guys just have to step up and try to do a little bit more than they were doing before.  You can’t replace him.”

(On parallels between his start with the HEAT and now with the Cavaliers): “It is a little bit different.  My start in Miami was a little different because we were first coming together, but we were still veterans.  We were a veteran group.  We got some younger guys here.  Also when I first came here we had some guys that had won already too, so that helped a lot.  Every game for us is an adjustment and is a learning experience.  We need to continue to get better going forward.  Like I said, we’re not that good right now.  We’ve won some really good games, we’ve lost some games.  We’re not that good right now, but once we get there we’ll see.”*

(On the game): “We have games like this where the lapses are longer than when we are playing good basketball throughout a game. We just need to sustain 48 solid minutes, and if we do that then we’re a better team. I’ve had some success playing that position [center]. It’s just something that I got thrown into today. It didn’t necessarily work out in my favor, but it’s something that we’ll toy with. I’m sure we’ll throw Tristan [Thompson] in there [playing center]. We’ll be trying to find a long-term solution because Andy [Anderson Varejao] won’t be coming back this year. We need to find a different way.”

(On defensive issues): “I don’t know [why], trust probably? I think that’s what I’m guessing.” Most people would say just trusting each other out there, knowing the different assignments and exactly what we want to do, and sustaining it. We need to pick ourselves back up and the good thing is that we have another game tomorrow [at Orlando Magic]. Today was a bad one.”

(On the Game): “It was good to see us respond after a real tough loss the other night against Philadelphia. I told the guys in the locker room (after the game) that our performance really was a response from yesterday. Everyone came in without their heads down, and really just trying to find solutions. It’s tough to do in this league; sometimes you can feel sorry for yourselves. It was encouraging to see the guys come together. The natural reaction as a team is to come in yesterday with your heads down and it would’ve been easier for all of us to have skipped the day and hid under a rock. But we have to get to work, this league reveals your character but also you develop character in this league.”

(On LeBron James and Dwyane Wade competing against each other): “Couple of the best in this generation, it’s spectacular, I wish I could sit back and enjoy it as a fan. It’s just fantastic basketball but my stomach is in knots and I’m not able to have that type of perspective. For however long these two play, you’re going to get your money’s worth.”

(On Luol Deng and Danny Granger’s play): “They both contributed in a big time way, but they’re different players, different players than LeBron. They can’t fill those type of shoes, their games are different.”

“Luol was fantastic, with his energy, his endurance. He got us into relief baskets on the offensive end. Either with his screens, coming off screens, and constant energy at the end of the possessions saved us or bailed us out. I can think of four or five (possessions) off the top of my head where we got caught to the last five or six seconds of the clock and he was able to generate some offense.”

“Danny has been very patient with this and we did not want to fast-track it. Right now it’s just about his game conditioning and his game rhythm, but he’s healthy and he’s stronger than he’s been the last few years.”

(On LeBron James): “It was an incredible run, he (LeBron James) was a major part of it, and none of us have forgotten his contributions. We will all look back on it, I will look back on it with an incredible pride and perspective knowing that I coached one of the all-time greats.”

(On the game): “This was a good win after having such a bad loss.  It was a great environment, our fans were great tonight.  I thought our team has played one of their best games that they have played in a while.”

(On going head-to-head with LeBron James): “It was great.  Coming into the league, I haven’t really had a rival opponent and the closest thing I had to that was the years we had when we were going against each other when he was in Cleveland the first time.  All four years was amazing and we won’t take anything away from that.  It was good to see him on the other side of the coin too because he is going to bring out the best in you.  It was good.”

(On Luol Deng): “He was the player of this game.  Every minute that you are on the floor and to guard LeBron James is no easy task, but then to shoot 11-of-16, score 25 points, get eight rebounds and eight assists is an unbelievable game.  I am sure he has had some other ones in his past, but that is his best one in a Miami HEAT uniform by far.  We appreciate what he brought today.  That was a tough one on him.”

(On Danny Granger): “Danny (Granger) is getting more comfortable with himself and I think the guys are getting more comfortable with him being on the floor.  He can shoot the ball, he made a big three for us tonight and then at the end on the switch, we went to him in the post and he made a big play to kind of push the game.  He can help us big time.”

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Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Miami Heat - Dec. 25

Listen to Radio Play-by-Play announcer John Michael's Call of the Game during the Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat game on December 25, 2014. LeBron James throws the hammer down to give the Cavs a 78-77 lead.

Escucha a la voz en espanol de los Cavaliers Rafa "El Alcalde" con la narracian de la jugada del partido entre Los Cavaliers de Cleveland vs. El Heat de MIami en el American Airlines Arena en Miami, Florida  el 25 de Diciembre del 2014.  Los Cavs perdieron 101 - 91 frente al Heat pero dieron pelea en la segunda mitad incluyendo este triple de Dion Waiters que arranco la remolcada de Los Cavs.

call-of-the-game-cavs-at-miami-heat-dec-25

Call of the Game: Cavs at Miami Heat - Dec. 25

cleveland-cavaliers-at-miami-heat-december-25-2014

Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat - December 25, 2014

After a 4-1 homestand, the Cavaliers will spend their Christmas on the road today when they face the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena. Tipoff is at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Cleveland is 6-4 all-time on Christmas Day. The last time the Cavs played on Christmas was a 102-87 road win over the Lakers in 2009.

The Cavaliers improved to 12-3 in their last 15 games overall after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-104 on Tuesday night. Cleveland had five players score in double figures in the win (Irving – 29, James – 24, Love – 20, Waiters – 19 and Marion – 11).

Since their 12-3 mark began on Nov. 24, the Cavs are allowing 97.1 ppg, which is the 4th-lowest in the NBA over that stretch. Offensively, the Cavs are averaging 105.1 ppg (8th), while shooting .486 from the field, the 2nd-highest in the league since Nov. 24.

The Cavs have won 10 of the last 11 games against the Eastern Conference and are 13-4 against the East in 2014, including 5-1 on the road. Their .765 win percentage against the East is the 2nd-highest among all Eastern Conference teams.

Miami (13-16) has dropped three out of their last four games including Tuesday night's 91-87 loss to the Sixers in Philadelphia.

The Heat have been banged up as of late and have started 13 different line-ups in their 28 games, including 11 in their last 16.

Prior to his calf injury, forward Chris Bosh was averaging 21.6 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game.

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

Get into the conversation with other die-hards.

Probable Starters/Status Update*presented by Cleveland Clinic

Status Update: Anderson Varejao, (Torn Left Achilles Tendon, Out)

Heat: PG - Mario Chalmers, SG - Dwyane Wade, SF - Luol Deng PF - Shawne Williams, C - Chris Anderson

Status Update: (Heat) - Chris Bosh, (Strained Left Calf, Out), Josh McRoberts, (Right Meniscus Tear, Out), Justin Hamilton, (Concussion, Out)

This is the first of four regular season meetings between the two teams.

The Wine and Gold trail the all-time series against the Heat 39-55 (26-21 Home, 13-34 Road).

TV: ABC, Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega, AM 1590 WAKR (Akron)

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 remain in the Sunshine State as they take on the Orlando Magic on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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GameDay Preview: Cavaliers at Miami Heat

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