CLEVELAND _ Having suffered their most embarrassing loss of the season to the Brooklyn Nets _ one that left even the New York tabloid headline writers incredulous _ the Cavaliers seemingly had easy motivation Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
Then again, on the night before Thanksgiving, maybe family, feasts and football were more on their minds.
The Cavs' shot selection was poor, their play sloppy, their attention to detail lacking. LeBron James even missed a spectacular fast-break dunk in the first quarter.
But James shook the Cavs out of their lethargy with a 23-point fourth quarter as the Cavs pulled away for a 119-109 triumph over the Nets.
James scored 18 consecutive points and finished with a game-high 33, along with six rebounds and five assists, before Cavs coach Tyronn Lue pulled his starters with 28.2 seconds left.
James headed to the locker room with 9:30 remaining in the third quarter, bleeding from a collision with Tyler Zeller. James returned at the 4:33 mark after getting stitches for a facial laceration, the area covered by a piece of tape above his lip.
It didn't keep James from hitting his 1,500th career 3-pointer with 9:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. He flirted with a season-low in scoring, with 10 points through three quarters, before turning it on in the final 4:25.
From that point on, James poured in 18 points. For the game, he hit 11-of-17 field goals, 4-of-7 3-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Nets with 20 points and former Cavs guard Joe Harris added 18 points, one of his career high. He hit 7-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Kevin Love and Dwyane Wade scored 18 points each for the Cavs, with Wade contributing four rebounds and five assists and Love 10 rebounds and three assists. Love went 1-for-7 from the field in the first quarter and finished 7-of-18.
Jae Crowder turned in his second consecutive solid game with 14 points, hitting 4-of-5 field goals and all three 3-point attempts, and Kyle Korver scored 12.
The game matched two teams seemingly going in opposite directions.
The Cavs (11-7) are on a roll despite missing three key rotation players _ Derrick Rose (sprained left ankle), Tristan Thompson (strained left calf) and Iman Shumpert (sore left knee). Since a four-game losing streak, with started with their five-point loss Oct. 25 in Brooklyn, the Cavs are 8-2 and had scored at least 110 points in nine of 10 games.
The Nets (6-11) have lost four of their last five. They were without center Trevor Booker, sidelined with a sprained left ankle, and former Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell, still out after surgery on his left knee.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson knew the Cavs had changed since the first meeting.
"They're getting back to who they are," Atkinson said before the game. "Tons of talent, tons of shooting and obviously LeBron has really taken another step. This is a different team that we played the first time, that's for sure."
The Cavs entered the game ranked third in the league in scoring at 110.9 points per game, while the Nets were fourth at 110.6.
After James' shocking miss on a showboating dunk after his steal with 3:40 left in the first quarter, the Cavs seemed to lose focus. James clanked a 3 from the corner, Love lost the ball under the basket and Wade missed two free throws. A driving layup by Wade accounted for the only Cavs' points as the Nets ended the quarter on a 7-2 run.
The Nets opened the second quarter with 3-pointers by Tyler Zeller and Sean Kilpatrick to take a 23-20 lead as the Cavs blew a nine-point first-quarter advantage.
The second unit helped the Cavs build a 31-25 lead in the second quarter, but the Nets fought back and led 46-45 at the break.
