Cavs subjugate the Kings with a dominating first half romp

Cavs dominate Kings with hot start

The Cleveland Cavaliers have now won three straight, and seven of their previous nine contests by double-digits, after dominating the Sacramento Kings. Leaning on a monster first-half performance, the Cavs cruised to the 117-103 blowout victory at home.

Just as in the rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves just a day ago, Cleveland jumped the gun on their opponents to build a 29-point cushion by halftime after dumping 81 huge points on the Kings in front of a sold-out Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse crowd.

Seven Cavaliers players once again finished in double-figures in another balanced offensive attack, improbably led by the defensive-minded Isaac Okoro’s 20 points off an uber-efficient 78 percent shooting from the field.

All-Star candidate Jarrett Allen continues building his resume with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots, while rookie Evan Mobley notched a career rebounding night with a double-double of 15 and 15 as the Cavs never relinquished the lead throughout the night.

On the flip side, one of the Cavs’ rumored interests Buddy Hield led all scorers in the game with 21 points off the bench for Sacramento with an efficient shooting night, including nailing 40 percent of his attempts from deep.

Cavs will look to extend the win streak at home

A lot of the team’s successes rests on the broad shoulders of Cleveland’s Tower City frontcourt, on rising star Darius Garland, and the veteran bench mob, who have been just as crucial in the resurgence.

Against the Kings, the triumvirate of Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, and Cedi Osman brought the spark for the second unit, leading to the huge first-half scoring outburst even as the starters checked out of the game. Osman had 18, while Rubio and Love combined for 26 points as the trio drained nine of their 18 shot attempts from beyond the arc.

With a third of the season through, we now have enough sample size to determine that the young team’s early-season success was not a fluke. The Cavs are truly excelling ahead of schedule, and the front office’s publicized quest to hunt for a postseason berth this early is legitimate.

The rest of the NBA world is beginning to take notice as well, with a probability report from stats site Basketball Reference predicting the Cavs would secure a playoffs spot and finish near–or even on top of the Eastern Conference.

If the hot streak is to continue, Cleveland could really benefit by holding the fort in the final two matches of three-game homestand against the Miami Heat (Dec. 13) and the Houston Rockets (Dec. 15).