Matthew Dellavedova may be the unsung hero for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 104-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets Saturday. Delly didn’t score much (only 7 points on 3-4 shooting), but that’s not why he is getting praise here. It is his career-high 14 assists that allowed the Cavs to make their second half comeback a reality.
Cleveland trailed by as much as 11 points early on in the game, but it was old Steady Delly who kept the team moving right along. The Cavs first lead came early in the 3rd quarter. The two teams would battle back and forth for the entire second half until Cleveland was to get enough of a lead late in the game that it forced Denver to pin their hopes on one inbounds play with seconds remaining. Denver’s Jamal Murray put up a desperation shot as time expired, but missed giving the Cavs their 18th win of the season.
Kevin Love lead the Cavaliers with 27 points courtesy of five made three’s. Love stepped up big time when the Cavs needed him most.
Collin Sexton looked unstoppable yet again. Sexton scored 25 points on 11-17 from the field. A lot of Sexton’s damage came from mid-range, a bit of a lost art in the modern NBA.
Cedi Osman had a surprising performance from deep, making 5 of 6 attempts en route to a 20 point scoring night.
Tristan Thompson grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and added 9 points to his total.
