NBA Game Summary - Memphis at Cleveland
Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James scored 25 points and handed out 11 assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 105-91 win over the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies Sunday.
Dion Waiters scored 21 off the bench for Cleveland, including 13 in the final quarter to keep the game out of reach.
The Cavs shot 60.5 percent from the field while making 7-of-14 from long distance. Anderson Varejao chipped in 18 points and Kyrie Irving added 17 points with 12 assists in Cleveland's second straight win.
Memphis was without Tony Allen for the third straight game and Zach Randolph missed the contest with a sore right knee. In their absence, Marc Gasol scored 23 points, pulled down 11 boards and added five assists for the Grizzlies, losers of two straight.
"We have enough talent in this locker room not just to win tonight, but to win the same amount of games that we've won so far," said Gasol. "I have a lot of faith in the people and the personnel that we have. It was not about not having those two outstanding players tonight."
The Grizzlies were just 1-of-16 (6.3 percent) from beyond the arc and never led.
Gasol's big third quarter tried to get Memphis back into the game. He totaled 13 points, including the Grizzlies' final six of the quarter, and seven boards. However, Shawn Marion's long-distance shot with four seconds remaining in the period extended Cleveland's lead back to 77-70 after three.
James and Irving scored Cleveland's first six points of the final quarter, but it was Waiters who took over the game and finished Memphis off.
Five minutes into the fourth, Waiters hit a triple that extended the Cavs advantage to double digits, where it would remain for the rest of the game. That started a personal 8-0 run for Waiters.
"I was there to knock shots down," said Waiters. "We moved the ball tremendously tonight. We have to play like that all the time."
Cleveland's defense limited Memphis to four points in the final three minutes of the game.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a sizable early lead with an 11-0 run to move ahead of the Grizzlies 16-4. James' 3-pointer extended the lead to double digits for the first time, and Varejao chipped in four points.
Memphis scored the final nine points of the first quarter to trail just 22-19 after one. Nick Calathes appeared to tie the game as the buzzer sounded, but replay indicated his 3-pointer was not released until time expired.
The Grizzlies were unable to get closer than three points in the second quarter. Their defense could not stop the potent Cavs, who shot 64.9 percent from the field in the first half.
The Cavs accumulated 19 assists on 24 made shots before the break. James led Cleveland with nine assists, and he also scored Cleveland's last six points of the half to give the Cavaliers a 52-41 lead at halftime.