OKLAHOMA CITY: Kyrie Irving was sick, Iman Shumpert and Mo Williams were injured, Matthew Dellavedova was on a minutes restriction and J.R. Smith was in foul trouble.
Left with few other alternatives, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue went big Sunday — really big.
Fortunately for the Cavs, Kevin Love responded big — really big.
Love scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in one of his finest performances with this franchise and the Cavs handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their worst loss of the season, 115-92, despite severe limitations in their backcourt.
LeBron James had 25 points and 11 assists on a day he spent considerable time running the offense. The Cavs closed the first half with a lineup of James, Richard Jefferson, James Jones, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson — the first time all season those five shared the floor together.
Lue stayed big for parts of the second half, and the Cavs outscored the Thunder 68-45.
“It kind of gave them some problems,” Lue said. “They didn’t know what to do. Sometimes you have to do that.”
It has only been two games since the All-Star break, but Lue has been pleased with the Cavs’ physicality in both. They limited the Thunder to 41-percent shooting, including 36 percent in the second half. With all of their problems in the backcourt, Love attacked the Thunder in the post, particularly in pick-and-roll situations.
The Thunder kept switching Kevin Durant onto Love, and the Cavs took full advantage. Love has talked since arriving about playing inside-out and this may have been the best example. He didn’t make a 3-pointer (0-of-4), but he shot 11-of-12 from the free-throw line and was aggressive around the paint all day.
“They were able to get out to my 3-point shots and then bit on the pump fake,” Love said. “I was aggressive, especially when we were in the bonus and I just tried to get to the free-throw line. I was able to get in a good rhythm, get to the line and if you can do that, the hoop seems to just get a little bigger.”
Irving left the game in the first quarter with flu-like symptoms and did not return. He was so ill Sunday morning, Lue said he didn’t participate in the team walkthrough. He wanted to try to play, but Lue had to switch him off Russell Westbrook within the first couple of possessions. By the end of the first quarter, Irving was done for the day.
Shumpert remains sidelined with a sore left shoulder and Williams is out with a sore left knee that has lingered long enough that he will visit with noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews during the team’s off day Tuesday. When Smith picked up his third foul in the second quarter, it left Lue scrambling for a lineup.
Ultimately the Cavs discovered a big rotation that gave the Thunder problems at both ends.
“Coach Lue’s been harping on defensively we need to get back to what we need to do,” James said.
“What better way to test that out versus an OKC team at home, or Golden State or San Antonio, these guys that move the ball, share the ball and play well, so efficiently offensively. It’s a good test for our defense tonight and we passed that.”
The Cavs swept the season series against the Thunder and essentially won both games without Shumpert or Irving. In their last two games against the San Antonio Spurs and Thunder, the Cavs won by a total of 37 points.
“When we play teams that are great teams, we always seem to rise for the challenge,” Lue said. “[Sunday] was another chance for us to be good and be great and we did that.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.