Cavs Bounce Back to Defeat Spurs, 101-81

The Cavaliers have not had a three game losing streak all season, and they were not about to let that happen on Sunday afternoon. After an embarrassing 29 point loss to the Orlando Magic (57-19) on Friday night, and a loss to the Washington Wizards (18-60) on Thursday, Lebron James and the gang came out looking rejuvenated against the Spurs. 

For James, it seems as if he took this game a little more personally than others. He scored 18 of his game-high 38 points in the first quarter. He scored 14 straight points in a four minute span. 

"Lebron, early on, got in a nice rhythm and we just kept going to him," said head coach Mike Brown. "Then they started double-teaming him and he started finding guys on the weak side of the floor and guys made shots."

Although Lebron dominated the first quarter, his team led by just one point going into the second, 28-27. 

Mike Brown switched up his rotation in the second quarter and kept Mo Williams and Delonte West on the floor to open the quarter. This proved to be a great move as Mo and Delonte sparked a 12-2 run to extend the lead to 11, 40-29.  

"We feel the combination of Delonte and Mo with the second unit can be very good," said Brown. "You've got two guys who can go and get it off the dribble and you don't have to force feed either one of them, because you know you always have the other one to go if need be."

The Spurs only scored 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 42-55 at halftime. 

San Antonio battle backed in the third and started looking like the 49-27 team that they are. They cut the lead to five, 62-57, before Mo Williams knocked down a 3-pointer and a jumper to lift the Cavs' lead back to 10.

Cleveland never let up from there as they outscored the Spurs 34-24 the rest of the way, running away with the 101-81 victory. 

"It was very important that we did what we had to do," said Mo Williams. "We played well on both ends of the court. The Last two games were a wakeup call. You don't want it to be that bad, but it was bad enough for us to get back to what we have been doing." 

There was no doubt about them playing well on both ends of the court. They held the Spurs to just 81 points and 39% shooting from the floor. They also held Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli for a combined 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Tony Parker led the way for the Spurs (as he has all season) with 24 points and four assists. Former Cav Drew Gooden followed with 15 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.

On the flip side, Lebron James poured in 38 points with seven rebounds and six assists. He shot 14-0f-21 from the floor (2-5 from three) and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Mo Williams and Delonte West proved they can be a deadly back court. They scored 22 points each and made a combined six three's on 19-of-30 shooting. They gave the Spurs all kinds of problems that they had no answer for. 

The Cavs will be off until Wednesday night when they will host the Washington Wizards for the second time in a week. Washington defeated Cleveland, 109-101, last Thursday and there is definitely some bad blood between the two teams. 

"We should have a little chip on our shoulder from the loss a few nights ago," said James.

Cleveland is currently one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the best record in the league, and they have five games left in the season (three against playoff teams).