Cleveland Cavaliers Get Bounce-Back Win Against Hornets

After a tough loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 114-103.

Redemption is a dish best served cold.

It was definitely cold in Cleveland and the Cleveland Cavaliers were out for payback against the Charlotte Hornets after losing to them 106-97 on Feb. 3.  After a bad loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, the Cavaliers needed to come out strong against the Hornets and prove that Monday’s loss was a mistake, even though it had been a rather interesting day.

LeBron James had complained of tired legs that afternoon, and according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, coach Tyronn Lue said he “should of went with his gut,” and sat James down for the game. Kyrie Irving also cleared up his “flu”story.

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He admitted the reason he only played nine minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday was due to restlessness and bed bugs at his hotel the night before. The Cavaliers ended up winning the game by 23 points.

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However, they suffered a letdown on Monday. With James second worst game of the season (12 points), and little defense from the rest of his teammates, it was a tough game for the Cavaliers. Reggie Jackson had his own three-point contest and won it by going 3-for-5 (60 percent) on wide open shots.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had the biggest steal of the game when he jumped a pass by James and went for the open layup which destroyed any chance of a comeback for them.

It was a much different story on Wednesday against the Hornets. The Cavaliers started slow against them, but in the middle of the second quarter, they showed why they are the superior team. James look re-energized and played a much better game with 23 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot 49.5 percent and 40.6 percent from three-point range.

Those numbers are similar to the ones they had in the loss, but they played better defense in this one.

Although this was a huge bounce-back win, the biggest story was the production of Channing Frye. He made his debut on Monday and played tentatively as he was adjusting to the system of Lue. He only scored two points and went 0-for-2 from three-point range.

What a difference a couple of days make. Frye scored 15 points and went 4-of-8  (50 percent) from three-point range. He also added six rebounds.

Just as I predicted in my last article, Frye got open looks of the pick and pop from Irving–and scored. It didn’t only benefit him, but J.R. Smith loved it as well because it was leaving him wide open.

Frye added much needed scoring off the bench to a team that has struggled in games with it. The Cavaliers made the trade for that reason and they are hoping it continues for the rest of season. It also gives them another offensive option when Kevin Love struggles as he did on Wednesday.

Love only scored eight points on 4-of-11 (36 percent) shooting and went 0-for-3 from three-point range. He only had two rebounds.  His defensive struggles with Marvin Williams and Frank Kaminsky continued.

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The Cavaliers proved that once again that they are the better team to an inferior team within the conference, but losses like Monday say otherwise. Will they win the games that they are supposed too? The rest of the season will give us the answer.