LeBron James scored 22 points, handed out 15
assists and grabbed six rebounds, leading the Cavaliers to their ninth
straight win, a 105-89 drubbing of the surprising Grizzlies.
Shaquille O'Neal recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Daniel Gibson and
Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the balanced
Cleveland attack. J.J. Hickson donated 15 points and eight boards in the win.
The Cavs have won seven straight at Quicken Loans Arena and hammered a Memphis
team coming off an impressive 95-93 home win over the Lakers on Monday.
Back-to-back victories was never in the cards for the young club Tuesday, as
All-Star forward Zach Randolph was held to eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
"They dominated the whole game," Randolph said of the Cavs. "It's just one of
those games where you have to come back and get ready to play [the next
game]."
Rudy Gay netted 15 points, while Jamaal Tinsley had 12 in the loss, the
Grizzlies' third in four games following a 7-1 stretch.
The Cavs, who tied a team-record with 46 first-quarter points in a rout over
the Clippers on Sunday, again got out to a fast start with a 28-16 lead after
12 minutes of action.
O'Neal had six straight points past the midway point of the second to extend
the margin to 43-26, and the hosts held a healthy 55-37 lead at intermission.
James threw an alley-oop to Hickson near the seven-minute mark of the third
for a 68-47 cushion, and the 86-62 score at the end of the third allowed
Cleveland to cruise in the fourth.
"Tonight was a really good defensive performance," James said. "We came out
with the mindset to get stops consistently, and to do it the whole game was
good."
Game Notes
The Cavaliers, who improved to 20-3 at home, signed guard Cedric Jackson to a
second 10-day contract on Tuesday...Cavs guard Delonte West (finger) did not
play for the sixth straight game...The Grizzlies are 8-16 away from FedEx
Forum this season...O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol each scored 10 points for
Memphis, though Mayo did it on a subpar 4-of-15 effort from the field.
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