LeBron James drains all hope of a Nets win

B-

Final: 11/22/2017

L 109 119

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Photo courtesy YES Network

LeBron James is very good at basketball, even with a pretty bad missed dunk.

After getting his lip busted open, getting stitches and missing most of the third quarter, James dropped 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers defeated the Nets 119-109 for their sixth straight win. 

The Nets were able to remain competitive throughout most of the game, keeping within five points of the Cavaliers. Brooklyn made up for a low-scoring first quarter with a 29-point second quarter and 31-point third quarter.

After three quarters, the score was knotted up at 77. Brooklyn was the team to jump ahead first, building a lead as large as seven points. 

Whenever Brooklyn made a basket though, Cleveland answered. Before James went on his tear, Jae Crowder, Kevin Love and Kyle Korver stepped up to not let the Nets break away.

James went on to score 18 of Cleveland’s last 19 points of the game to secure the victory. It went from what seemed to be a slow night for James to a 33-point night, just like that.

Draining 4-7 threes and with the Nets going cold, Brooklyn had no shot. The Nets made 14-plus threes for the fourth straight game, but Cleveland matched that number tonight. 

Spencer Dinwiddie impressed down the stretch, using his shooter’s touch and finding Rondae Hollis-Jefferson wide open in the paint. Jarrett Allen had a nice night, and Tyler Zeller made his first career three-pointer, but when James is on, there’s not much an opposing team can do. 

With the loss, the Nets drop to 6-11, while the Cavaliers rise to 11-7. Brooklyn now gets to enjoy some turkey on Thursday before a Black Friday matinee matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May you have as many dishes as Dinwiddie had assists tonight (10, for those keeping score). 

Joe Harris

B+

The stats: 18 PTS, 7-10 FG, 4-7 3FG, 0-2 FT, 5 REB, 4 AST, 3 TOV, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 29 MIN

Joe Harris is moving his bid up from eighth man of the season to seventh man of the season, at least.

Harris is contributing consistently off the bench, making his threes and even dishing the ball.

The play that impressed me the most tonight happened in the fourth quarter when Harris got an offensive rebound and drove baseline for the left-handed layup.

That play showed confidence, and when he plays that way, Harris is real fun to watch. 

Caris LeVert

C+

The stats: 9 PTS, 4-9 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 7 REB, 5 AST, 3 TOV, 1 STL, 23 MIN

The bench put in some meaningful minutes for Brooklyn today, and Caris LeVert was right in the mix. He was active defensively with his seven rebounds, tied for the team-high with Tyler Zeller.

He’s still got areas of his game to work on, but tonight was a positive for LeVert. 

Jarrett Allen

B+

The stats: 6 PTS, 3-3 FG, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 TOV, 1 BLK, 19 MIN

Headband-less Jarrett Allen was a really good version of Jarrett Allen. He put in a strong 19 minutes, made his shots and had one emphatic block.

His time on the court coincided with Brooklyn’s run to its highest lead too. The rookie’s got a lot to give.