Cleveland Cavaliers Make History in Win Over Raptors

We are all witnesses! 

If you watched tonight's 114-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors (8-12), not only did you see the Cavaliers win their ninth straight game, but you have just witnessed history! With tonight's win, the Cavaliers become the only team in NBA history to have won nine straight games by 12 or more points. 

"It's absolutely special", said James. "In this league it's very competitive and I know I've been through my fair share of games in this league and it's tough to win by double digits. To do it nine straight times on the road and at home, it's great."

This also comes on a night where two of the Cavs' stars set franchise records. Lebron James passed Mark Price (734) to become the Cavs' all-time steals leader in the opening minute of the game. Zydrunas Ilguaskas also gained his spot as the Cavaliers' career rebounding leader as he past Brad Daugherty's previous record of 5,227.

"I thought it was terrific to be part of Cavaliers history with Lebron breaking the franchise record for steals and for Z breaking the franchise record for rebounds", said head coach Mike Brown. "It's very nice and special and I'm just happy that I can always have a part of that."

Lebron opened up tonight's game with back-to-back dunks on the first two plays of the game. Cleveland led by as many as 13 points in the first and were up 29-19 by the end of the quarter.

Toronto fought back in the second and cut the lead to as low as four points. Cleveland was hit with three technical fouls in the quarter, which gave the Raptors some momentum and they took advantage of it. The Cavs were only leading 56-51 before Lebron dropped a deep three to beat the buzzer, which gave the Cavs a 59-51 lead at the half.

The Cavs were having problems defensively in the first half, which allowed Toronto to get back in the game. They went into the locker room at the half looking to turn things around in the third quarter.

"We handled it like a championship team," said Mo Williams. "At halftime, we came in, we watched film, and we talked about it. We said, let's be quiet and let our defense do the talking. You saw it, we went on that 23-2 run."  

Their dominating 23-2 run left the Raptors searching for answers. The Cavs were playing great team defense and it led to easy baskets on the offensive end. They outscored the Raptors 31-16 in the third and walked away with another easy victory. With tonight's win, their overall record improves to 18-3 and they still remain undefeated at home with a record of 12-0. 

Once again, Lebron James didn't even have to play in the fourth quarter. He hasn't played in the fourth quarter in six of his past eight games. With most of the starters being able to rest down the stretch, the bench bunch has been taking caring of business. Their confidence levels are getting higher and they are improving every game, which is the most important thing for Mike Brown. Darnell Jackson has really been showing potential and is starting to log in more minutes.

"Darnell has been playing hard," said Brown. "He's been playing well in practice and both Darnell and J.J. have bright futures here with us."

Lebron led the Cavs in scoring with 31-points in just 30 minutes. He also added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Wally Szczerbiak followed behind him with a season-high, 16-points. Both Mo Williams and Ilguaskas added 13-points.

The guard tandem of Mo Williams and Delonte West has been more than great. Tonight, the two combined for 17-assists and committed just one turnover. These numbers are phenomenal coming from your back court and they continue to get the job done at both ends of the floor.

The only bad news for Cleveland tonight is that guard Daniel Gibson left the game in the second quarter after spraining his left toe. Although Gibson didn't travel with the team to Philadelphia, the injury doesn't appear to be too serious and hopefully he will return to the Cavaliers lineup shortly.

The Cavs will travel to Philadelphia tomorrow night to take on the 76ers (9-12). They will play the Sixers again on Friday night at home and they will cap off their fourth game in five nights on Saturday when they fly to Atlanta to take on the Hawks (12-8).