Tuesday night the NBA saw the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Orlando Magic in their Quicken Loans Arena. It was a sellout crowd of 21 thousand Cavaliers fans who wanted to see their team win for the third straight time. And so it was.
Tight game through the first two quarters
The Magic were not impressed by the defending NBA champions, as they started off the game well. They scored 31 points in the first quarter and at halftime, they were up two points 55-53. But in the second half, it was all Cavaliers. The Cavs scored 43 points in a huge third quarter as they held the Magic to only 35% shooting from the field in that period.
Cavaliers went 9-13 from beyond the arc and outrebounded the Magic 14-5 in that third quarter. They were up by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter. The final score was 122-102 for the home team.
Kevin Love led all scores in this one, finishing the game with a big double-double. He scored 28 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. He was able to connect on five of his nine attempted three-pointers. Kyrie Irving added 24 points and eight assists while LeBron James finished with another triple-double. He had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in this one. This was his 12th triple-double of the season and 54th of his career.
This game also marked James' 788th straight time that he scored at least 10 points in a game, the second-longest streak of that kind in NBA history.
Michael Jordan is first with 866 straight games with at least 10 points.
Evan Fournier finished the game with 21 points for Orlando while Mario Hezonja had 13 points off the bench.
Race for the number one spot in the East continues
After losing five of their previous seven, Cleveland is now on a roll with three straight wins.
This was Cleveland's 50th win of the season and 17th straight against Orlando. The Magic haven't beaten the Cavaliers since November 23, 2012.
Cavaliers are now tied with the Boston Celtics for the number one spot in the Eastern Conference. They will face each other on Wednesday night in Boston in a crucial game for that number one seed in the playoffs.
