Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James' third straight double-double helped the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-87 win over the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena.
James, who scored 22 points on just 38 percent shooting in Cleveland's 91-78 loss to the Wizards last Friday, poured in 29 points on 7-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in the Cavs' second straight win.
Kevin Love netted 21 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting and Kyrie Irving dropped in 18 with five assists for Cleveland, which committed 19 turnovers in the loss to the Wizards compared to just 10 on Wednesday.
"Defensive presence and taking care of the basketball," Cavs coach David Blatt attributed to the win. "We really want to play with pace. We're really a better team when the ball is moving. That's what we want to do."
Rasual Butler led the Wizards with 23 points off the bench, while Paul Pierce supplied 15 and Marcin Gortat added 12 in the setback, Washington's second straight.
"We didn't do a good job of keeping them out of transition, limiting our turnovers and on top of that we fouled way too much," said Pierce.
Cleveland wasted no time avenging last week's loss, embarking on a 20-3 run with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first to gain control. James scored seven points and assisted on three baskets during the surge, capping it with a 3- pointer for a 30-12 lead.
Butler and John Wall responded with back-to-back 3s before James split a pair of free throws to give the Cavs a 31-18 advantage after 12 minutes.
Washington remained within 10 points for several minutes in the second quarter until Cleveland's 11-2 run, which Shawn Marion capped with a pair of free throws, made it a 19-point spread. The Wizards, however, scored the final seven points of the half as Butler's trey just before the buzzer helped them cut the deficit to 58-46 at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, Washington cut its deficit to nine, but the Cavs answered with an 8-1 run that Irving and Love closed with respective 3s. The Cavs brought an 81-67 lead into the fourth where they blew the game open.
Butler's layup opened the scoring in the quarter, then Cleveland ripped off eight straight points, pushing the margin to 20 after Love's bank shot. The Cavs led by as many as 29 in the frame and cruised to the finish.
Game Notes
Cleveland scored 24 points off 18 turnovers ... The Cavs had a 17-2 edge on the fastbreak ... Dion Waiters scored 15 points with six assists off the bench for Cleveland ... Wall had six points with seven assists and a team-high four rebounds ... Bradley Beal, making his first start of the season for Washington, had 10 points ... James, who went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, is seven 3-pointers away from passing Mark Price (802) for the franchise record.
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