L&E Cosmetic : 2015 NBA scores: Rejuvenated LeBron leads Cavaliers past Thunder

Monday, January 26, 2015

2015 NBA scores: Rejuvenated LeBron leads Cavaliers past Thunder

LeBron has the Cavaliers back on track, Atlanta's 16th straight victory and the rest of the action from Sunday in the NBA.

A rejuvenated LeBron James delivered his latest strong performance Sunday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers topped the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-98, for their sixth straight victory. The team has now won six of seven since James returned a couple weeks ago, and appears to be back on track following some major midseason hiccups.

Nobody expected the Cavaliers to thrive without LeBron in the lineup, but uninspired performances like a 95-92 loss to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers in early January were cause for concern. This was still a team with Love and Kyrie Irving, after all, and yet the group couldn't survive even a few games without the four-time MVP leading the way.

By the time James returned on Jan. 13, the Cavaliers were in a tailspin and looking totally lost without their star player. The struggles led to rumblings that coach David Blatt had lost most of the locker room, and Blatt did little to help the situation when he essentially took a shot at Kevin Love.

LeBron didn't always look his superhuman self this season, but his two-week absence proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered. The 30-year-old has come back looking revitalized over the past half-dozen games, and didn't slow down even when facing the likes of Kevin Durant and OKC.

James finished with 34 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the victory Sunday. He shot 11-of-25 from the field, committing just two turnovers and going 10-of-13 from the free throw line.

One of James' most dominant stretches came early in the second quarter, with Oklahoma City leading and the Cavaliers in need of a spark. LeBron gave the team just that, scoring nine points during the first three-plus minutes of the period to lead a 12-5 run and gave the team a one-point lead. As narrow as that advantage was, Cleveland wouldn't give it up the remainder of the game. Irving capped the win with a three-pointer off a LeBron assist with 37 seconds left in regulation.

Even if a less-than-100 percent LeBron was still pretty spectacular, his play since taking a break shows the toll those various back and knee issues were taking early in the season:

LeBron	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	FG%
Before break	29	25.2	5.3	7.6	1.3	.488
After break	7	30.3	6.9	6.3	2.1	.514

One aspect of James' game that's seen significant improvement is his ability to draw fouls. Over the first 29 games, James averaged 7.9 free throws per game, and since returning, that number is up to 10.6 per game. Even though he's only hitting 68 percent of those charity stripe shots, it's a positive sign that he's showing a willingness to attack the rim and absorb contract more frequently.

James has also starting limiting his turnovers after some early sloppiness this month. The All-Star forward has committed just four turnovers over his past two games -- a big improvement from the prior three games, which saw him commit an ugly 22 turnovers.

So the overall picture with LeBron is looking increasingly bright, and over the past couple weeks, we've seen how much that can impact the Cavaliers' fortunes. It was tough for the team to weather those few weeks without the superstar, but it's undeniable that he looks like a new player after some much-needed time off.

That transformation has extended to the whole team, which has now beat the likes of the Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls and Thunder over the past two weeks. The Cavaliers may not be a major contender in the East just yet, but there are signs of an awakening threat out in Cleveland.

3 other things we learned

The Atlanta Hawks weren't going to stumble against Minnesota . If Atlanta is going to lose soon, it's not going to happen to a team like the league-worst Minnesota Timberwolves. The Hawks had little trouble earning a 112-100 win Sunday night, improving to 37-8 with their 16th consecutive victory. Paul Millsap led the way with 22 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Al Horford added 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. As a whole, the Hawks shot 56 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers. The Timberwolves had a solid night led by Thaddeus Young's 26 points, but never cut the deficit to fewer than six points in the fourth quarter. Minnesota is now 7-36 this season.

Hassan Whiteside keeps showing he's for real. The Miami Heat earned an impressive 96-84 win over the Bulls on Sunday, but the big story was the record-breaking performance of Hassan Whiteside. The ex-journeyman continued his incredible emergence, recording 14 points, 13 rebounds and a franchise-record 12 blocks in 25 minutes of action. We've already dug into Whiteside's surprising breakout before, but he continues to surpass our rising expectations and prove he deserves major minutes in South Beach. This month, Whiteside is averaging 12.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and four blocks in just 21.8 minutes per contest.

New Orleans Pelicans still alive for 8th seed in West. Sunday was a good one for New Orleans, which got a big 109-106 win against the Dallas Mavericks and some positive results elsewhere in the league. The Phoenix Suns and Thunder also lost, giving the Pelicans a boost in the race for the No. 8 seed in the West. The Pelicans are currently two games behind Phoenix and one game ahead of OKC, but would be in much more dire shape if not for the victory over Dallas. Anthony Davis was his usual stellar self Sunday, going off for 28 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, while Tyreke Evans had a huge game with 24 points and 12 assists.

Inconsistency remains the problem for New Orleans. This month, the team has impressive victories over Houston, Memphis, Detroit, Toronto and Dallas, but has also managed to lose games to Charlotte, Boston, Philadelphia and New York. It's just a hard team to grasp.

Play of the Night

John Wall leads the NBA in assists, so it shouldn't exactly be surprising when he sets up Marcin Gortat for an easy layup. Doing it with a between-the-legs bounce pass, on the other hand, is close to just showing off. The Washington Wizards have quite the point guard orchestrating their offense.