Cavs prove all you need is Love

By Associated Press in Cleveland | China Daily | Updated: 2015-11-21 08:31

The Cleveland Cavaliers are apparently good listeners.

After LeBron James and coach David Blatt questioned their toughness following two straight losses, the Cavaliers looked more like the best team in the Eastern Conference on Thursday night.

James scored 27 points, while Kevin Love chipped in with 22 points and 15 rebounds in his best two-way game of the season en route to a 115-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

"This is how we need to play," James said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts. I think we answered the call on what we talked about. We're just trying to get better."

Blatt gave credit to the players.

"It's not about what I said, it's about what they did," the coach said.

"I thought those guys came with a real purpose tonight. You saw it on them. You saw it in their approach. We were sharp and we were aggressive. We were physical and we were pretty tough."

J.R. Smith added 18 points to help the Cavaliers improve to an East-best 9-3.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 33 points for Milwaukee, and the Bucks rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second quarter to cut the lead to 84-79 late in the third.

Anderson Varejao, who came off the bench to score nine points, helped Cleveland build the lead to 97-84. James scored six points and Love had a three-point play in that stretch.

James set the tone early when he tore a rebound away from Antetokounmpo and hit an easy basket.

Cleveland used a 27-11 run to take a 63-42 lead late in the second quarter.

The Bucks cut into the lead throughout the third quarter, but the Cavs regrouped behind the pinpoint shooting of James and Love.