LeBron James Reigns Supreme As Cavaliers Demolish Nuggets 124-91

After Cleveland’s embarrassing 21 point loss in Miami on Saturday, LeBron James made sure the Cavs would bounce back in the team’s next game at home against Denver.  James was going to do it by himself if he had to.

LeBron Records 41st Career Triple Double As Cavs Obliterate Nuggets

The King compiled his 41st triple double of his career:  33 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.  LeBron also shot well from the field (8-11)  and game out of the gate with guns blazing, scoring 17 points in the first quarter.  The 33 point victory was a strong bounce back performance following the 122-101 loss to the Heat.

“It was in the back of our minds, for sure,” James said of the devastating loss against his former team. “You just can’t erase a performance like that. No matter if it was our fifth game in seven nights, we just didn’t bring it the way we should and tonight we responded very well.”

With Kyrie Irving playing only 24 minutes and scoring 8 points on 4-12 shooting and Kevin Love out with an illness, the burden fall solely on the four-time MVP, who was able to benefit from strong games from role players J.R. Smith (15 points) and Channing Frye (14 points).

The Nuggets were closing out a five game road trip in which they went 1-4.  Denver was also playing without leading rebounder Kenneth Faried for the third straight game due to back soreness.  Shooting guard Will Barton continued to make his case for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, piling up a team high 27 points on 9-12 shooting (4-5 3pt) in 26 minutes off the bench.  Barton, center Jusuf Nurkic (11 points, 5-7), and shooting guard Mike Miller (who only had 2 shot attempts) were the only Denver players to shoot over 50% in the game.  Outside of those three, the Nuggets combined to shoot 17-60 for 50 points.

The victory was Cleveland’s 50th of the season and they clinched the Central Division for the fifth time in franchise history.  They also remained in first place in the Eastern Conference but the Toronto Raptors have narrowed the Cavs’ lead to just 1.5 games with 12 games left in the season for Cleveland and 13 left for Toronto.  The Cavaliers will look to tighten their grip on the first seed in their next game, which is Wednesday night at home against Milwaukee.

Denver is still in the hunt for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference.  The Nuggets are now 6.5 games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the spot.  Denver will look to bounce back from their shaky road trip when they return home to face the 76ers tomorrow night at 9:00.