DENVER – On the Cleveland Cavaliers' third possession of the game against the Denver Nuggets Friday, the ball made it from one side of the court to the other and back to the other side of the court.
The ball ended up in Kevin Love's hands at the top of the three-point line. Kyrie Irving cut to the basket, Love threw him the ball, and Irving quickly dished the ball to Anderson Varejao for an easy layup.
Ball movement and player movement preceded the basket, and with that pass, Irving recorded his first assist after going the six previous quarters with zero assists.
Cleveland found its best offensive flow of the season and ended a two-game losing streak with a 110-101 victory over the Nuggets. If ball movement and player movement were focal points for the Cavaliers, consider the effort a success after a week of heavy criticism.
The 2-3 Cavaliers had seven assists on their first eight baskets against Denver, after recording just six assists on 30 baskets in Wednesday's loss to the Utah Jazz. LeBron James, who played a lot at point guard, had six assists in the first quarter.
BOX SCORE: Cavaliers 110, Nuggets 101
Cleveland, which entered the game last in assists per game, had 25 assists on 40 baskets, and seven players scored in double figures, led by James who had 22 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports 3:24 a.m. EST November 8, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment