Cavs Cruise Past Nets 116-108

The Cleveland Cavaliers started off their six game road trip with a standard 116-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Kyrie Irving returned from missing the past three games due to hamstring tightness and had to shake off a bit of rust.

Irving shot 5-for-17 in the first half, but settled in and made 5 of his next nine shots in the second half, finishing with 32 points.

LeBron James scored a game-high 36, grabbing nine boards and passing for six assists.

It was the first time this season those two both scored 30 or more in the same game.

Kevin Love put up 17 points and 13 rebounds, returning to action after missing Wednesday’s game due to food poisoning, which also caused him to exit Monday’s game early.

The Big Three combined to score 85 points and the Cavs are 11-0 this season when that trio scores 80 or more.

Our Role Player of the Game goes to Tristan Thompson, who delivered his usual 10 points and 9 rebounds.

He started the game 0-for-8 from the free throw line, but when the Cavs were leading by 20 points, Brooklyn employed the hack-a-Tristan strategy.

Thompson put an end to that quickly, knocking down all of his next four free throw attempts.

The Cavaliers (27-8) are back in action on Sunday night at Phoenix to start a five game slate against all Western Conference opponents. Tip-off is set for 8:30 pm ET.