CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers ended a five-game skid and extended a five-game streak.
And they did it with defense in the second half.
Cleveland, which had lost five games in a row to Denver, recorded its sixth straight victoryl Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, defeating the Nuggets 110-99 in front of a sellout crowd and national television audience on TNT.
After giving up 61 points in the first half, including 36 in the first period, the Cavaliers held the Nuggets to 38 points after intermission. Denver shot 59.5 percent from the field in the first half (22-of-37), but just 36.1 percent in the second (13-of-36).
That effort delighted defensive-minded coach Mike Brown, who said he was “embarrassed” by his team’s performance on that end of the court over the first two periods.
“The difference in the ballgame is that, in the second half, we took on the challenge,” Brown said.
Offense was never an issue, as LeBron James and Co. did anything and everything against the Nuggets, who were figuratively and literally defenseless.
In winning for just the third time in 11 career games against the Nuggets, James put up 22 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in 38 minutes.
He had plenty of help on this night, as five Cavaliers reached double figures in the scoring column. Mo Williams led the way with 24, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson exploded out of his slump to put up 15 on 7-of-11 shooting, Ben Wallace shocked the Western world with 11 before bruising his knee late in the third quarter and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 10.
“We knew we had the ability to score,” Brown said. “The first team that decided to defend just a little bit in the second half was going to win.”
Denver (4-4), which lost for the first time in four games with Chauncey Billups in uniform, also had five players in double figures — Billups (26), Carmelo Anthony (18), J.R. Smith (18), Kenyon Martin (12) and Nene (12) — but was no match for the Cavaliers (7-2) once it lost its shooting touch.
“We took a shot to our ego. We took a shot to our heart,” Williams said of Cleveland’s first-half performance. “It was as ugly as it looked. It shows the character of this team to step up.”
The Nuggets left The Q dejected, rejected and even ejected, as Martin picked up his first technical with 1:26 to go in the game and his second, which calls for an automatic heave-ho, with 55 seconds remaining.
Down three after giving up 61 points in the first half, the Cavaliers improved their defense tremendously in the third period, when they outscored Denver 30-20 to go up 88-81.
As unbelievable as it may seem, Wallace was the offensive star in the third quarter, when he poured in eight points — or just seven fewer than he scored in the first eight games of the season. More unbelievable still, “Big Ben” was 4-of-4 from the field and — gasp! — 3-of-3 at the line.
The first half, which ended with the Nuggets up 61-58, resembled an And1 mix tape, as there were dunks and 3-pointers galore.
Brown was none too pleased, but he tried just about every option save for Eric Snow, who was in attendance and looked about 20 pounds heavier as he and the Cavaliers await a ruling on who is responsible for the remaining $7.3 million of his contract.
Billups alone had 16 points in the first period, including four 3-pointers, as Denver shot 73.7 percent from the floor to take a 36-33 lead.
The Cavaliers were only down three because they shot 62.5 percent behind four dunks by James — the first off a Wallace steal, the second off a Delonte West lob, the third off a Williams pass after a backdoor cut and the fourth with his left hand off a Wally Szczerbiak pass.
So efficient were both teams’ offenses — and so nonexistent was their defense — that even Wallace got in on the scoring, as he put in a nifty reverse layup, then banked in a free throw that might still be in flight were it not for the backboard.
The defense improved slightly in the second period, but the Nuggets were still up three at intermission thanks to their 59.5 percent shooting in the first half. The Cavaliers were even better at 61.4 percent and committed just three turnovers, but they also went to the line just four times and were outrebounded 18-12.
Gibson went 3-of-3 from the field in his first stint, but also picked up three fouls in five minutes.
On the positive side, at least Gibson attempted to guard someone. Billups repeatedly went around Cleveland guards or shot 3-pointers over them, while Anthony Carter juked Szczerbiak so bad about 17 feet from the basket that the Cavaliers swingman was still in his defensive stance when the Denver guard completed his drive.
All that changed in the second half, allowing the Cavaliers to end a bad streak and continue a good one.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavaliers 110, Nuggets 99

DENVER (99): Anthony 5-12 7-8 18, Martin 5-11 2-2 12, Nene 3-7 6-6 12, Billups 9-13 4-4 26, Jones 3-5 0-1 6, Smith 7-11 2-3 18, Balkman 0-3 0-0 0, Kleiza 2-6 0-0 5, Carter 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 35-73 21-24 99.
CLEVELAND (110): James 10-20 2-4 22, Wallace 4-4 3-3 11, Ilgauskas 5-8 0-0 10, M.Williams 10-21 1-1 24, West 3-7 0-0 8, Gibson 7-11 0-0 15, Szczerbiak 4-6 2-2 10, Varejao 2-2 2-2 6, Hickson 2-3 0-0 4, Pavlovic 0-0 0-0 0, Kinsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 47-82 10-12 110.
Denver             36    25    20    18    —    99
Cleveland        33    25    30    22    —    110
3-Point Goals—Denver 8-19 (Billups 4-6, Smith 2-4, Anthony 1-3, Kleiza 1-4, Carter 0-2), Cleveland 6-16 (M.Williams 3-9, West 2-4, Gibson 1-2, Szczerbiak 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Denver 39 (Martin 10), Cleveland 39 (James, Varejao 8). Assists—Denver 16 (Billups 6), Cleveland 30 (James 11). Total Fouls—Denver 18, Cleveland 20. Technical—Martin. Flagrant Foul—Martin. Ejected—Martin. A—20,562 (20,562).

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland vs. Utah
WHEN: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Q
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio; WTAM 1100-AM

 

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