Cavaliers crush Hornets

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

The Cavaliers are back on their game.

LeBron James scored 25 points and Cleveland Cavaliers put on a dominant performance by routing the Charlotte Hornets 129-90 on Friday night for their fifth straight win.

The Cavaliers have been through their share of injuries and controversy this season, which has also featured an eight-game winning streak and a 1-9 stretch that preceded the current run.

“Right now, I feel like this is the team that I envisioned,” James said. “This is the style of basketball I envisioned. Obviously the points we put up I don’t envision that every night, but how we share the ball, how we defend, that should be our staple.”

Charlotte coach Steve Clifford agreed.

“They were great,” he said. “They’re a championship caliber team and they played like it.”

The Cavaliers, with an artful display of shooting and passing, had the home crowd on its feet throughout the game. Cleveland’s 75-40 lead at halftime was its biggest in franchise history and the margin reached 49 points in the fourth quarter.

J.R. Smith scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers, and Kyrie Irving added 18 in Cleveland’s biggest win of the season.

Cavaliers coach David Blatt took a realistic view after the lopsided win in which Cleveland scored a Quicken Loans Arena record for points in a regulation game.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go. I hope we can bring it again Sunday [against Oklahoma City], looking no further than that. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Charlotte had won eight of nine, but was no match for the Cavaliers, who have again looked like title contenders since James returned from an eight-game absence with knee and back injuries.

James added nine assists and six rebounds in a season-low 27 minutes. He was pulled late in the third quarter and didn’t return. James is averaging 29.7 points and is shooting 51 percent in six games since his return.

Al Jefferson led Charlotte with 22 points; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 15.

Cleveland scored 14 straight points as part of a 24-4 run in the first half to put the game away early, leaving the rest of the night for open jumpers, fast breaks and dunks off alley-oop passes.

Leading 14-9, the Cavaliers went on a 14-0 run keyed by 3-pointers from Irving and Smith. James was fouled shooting a 3 and made all three free throws in addition to scoring on a finger roll and hitting a jumper.