Cavs Run Past Sonics

For maybe the first time this season, the Cavs dominated an opponent from start to finish.

The Cavs turned up the defensive intensity and the result was an easy win against Seattle 95-79. The Cavs outscored the Sonics in each of the first 3 quarters and built a 20 point lead in the early part of the 4th quarter. This allowed LeBron and the starting group to get a little more rest than usual, as they have to play in Atlanta tonight.

Daniel Gibson shot the lights out, connecting on 5 of 8 three pointers, and all the Cavs seemed to get in on the defensive lock down. Larry Hughes made a nice steal leading to a thunderous LeBron dunk late in the third quarter. Andy was his usual hustling self, and even made a few baskets just outside the paint (if I hadn’t seen it myself I might not believe it.) Z never really got going, but with the pace was quicker with the steals and defensive pressure. The Cavs finished with 15 steals. Now honestly, the Sonics are to blame for a good portion of those. They did not handle the ball well. (There’s an understatement.)

Kevin Durant started slow, but showed promise, scoring 24 before leaving the game with a ankle sprain. He came down on Sasha’s foot I believe and that ended his night. He didn’t do anything extraordinary to impress me during the game, just played solid and knocked down some shots.

The Cavs have ten games left in January, tonight in Atlanta, Friday at home against the Bobcats, and they start a strange west coast trip next week. The trip is strange because after going to Memphis, San Antonio and Miami they come home for 2 games before heading to California for 3.

Looking down the road, you might want to circle Tuesday Feb. 5 on your calendar. That’s when the Celtics come back to town, and I’m certain they’ll be looking to avenge the loss that Cleveland handed them the last time they were here. That was their second of only three losses on the year.