Th
e Cleveland Cavaliers finally earned a huge victory on Saturday night over the Atlanta Hawks, who came in hot on a four-game winning streak. It was the first time this season the Cavs seemed to steamroll an opponent, which many say will be the first of many.
In the 127-94 win, Cleveland set franchise records, including an NBA record. They were on fire from three-point range. And when I say fire, I mean it.
The Cavs came out firing on all cylinders. They knocked down their first nine shots from distance in the first quarter, which was an NBA record. Cleveland did not stop there, putting in two more threes in the second quarter to make it 11 consecutive made threes to start the game.
Led by Lebron James with four three-pointers made (three in the first few minutes of the game), Kyrie Irving and rookie Joe Harris also made four each, with Kevin Love adding three from long range to help set a new Cavaliers franchise record of 19 threes made in a game. They finished 19-of-31 from behind the arc, beating the previous record of 17 made threes.
It was the first time in the young season that the Cavs played well on both ends of the court. On offense, coach David Blatt finally got his wish. The ball movement was fluid, passing up good shots for great shots, which has been the motto for Cleveland this year. They ended the game with 38 assists, getting a team-high eight from sixth man Dion Waiters.
After t
allying zero assists in the last-second loss to Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz, point guard Kyrie Irving has 25 assists to only two turnovers in his last four games, courtesy of ESPN.com. It looks like Irving is buying in to James’ philosophy to pass the ball and get your teammates involved as much as possible, and it’s working well for him and the Cavs as a whole.
Defensively, there were stretches during the game when Atlanta (5-4), although down by 30 points, were hitting shots with ease, getting into the lane and knocking down mid-range jumpers with no defender in sight. However, we can forgive them of those mistakes because they had such a large lead through the entire game.
They held Atlanta to 43 points in the first half, and they finished the game with 94 total, Cleveland’s lowest point total allowed this season. Perhaps the bigger accomplishment, although partly due to the game being out of reach for the Hawks, the Cavs held three-point specialist Kyle Korver shotless in the game.
It was easily their best defensive effort on the year, and with the ball movement and offense that Coach Blatt runs, there could be more games throughout the campaign with similar results for Cleveland.
The real tests will come over the next week or so for Cleveland. The Cavs face the defending champion Spurs (5-4) at home on Wednesday, followed by a back-to-back when they travel to Washington (7-2) to take on the Wizards on Friday, then return home to host the first place Toronto Raptors (8-2) on Saturday.
SACRAMENTO EXTENDS RUDY GAY 
Rudy Gay seems to have found a home in Sacramento. The Kings and Gay reached a deal on Sunday that will keep him in Sacramento until at least the 2016-17 season. The extension is worth $40 million over three years.
The deal was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. However, Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports gives some more details:
The deal has a player option for the 2017-18 season, meaning Gay can become a free agent again when the league’s salary cap — which is projected to be $66.5 million next season — is expected to rise to perhaps $90 million as the NBA’s nine-year, $24 billion television rights deal with ESPN and Turner takes effect, starting in the 2016-17 season.
Gay, the former Memphis Grizzlies star who was roundly chastised for his inefficient play in recent years, has had a revival of sorts since being traded to Sacramento in Dec. 2013. He averaged 20.1 points (48.2% shooting), 5.5 rebounds and 3.1` assists in 55 games with the Kings last season, and is averaging 22.5 points (44.8% shooting), 6.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists so far this season.
The Kings now have their core of Gay, who’s still only 28, and DeMarcus Cousins, 24, locked up for the next three years.
On a better note for Sactown, they’re off to a surprising start in the tough Western Conference, going 6-4 through their first ten games. Their six wins have not been easy, either. They’ve earned every bit of each win, coming against some of the league’s best in the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.
In two of their losses, the Kings held double-digit leads against two very good teams in the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies, but couldn’t hold them off long enough as they wound up losing from furious comebacks from Dallas and Memphis.
MINNESOTA POSSIBLY SHOPPING COREY BREWER
There have been rumblings out of Minnesota that they’re interested in trading guard/forward Corey Brewer, who was originally drafted and spent the first three plus years of his career in Minnesota. After a couple of stints with Dallas and Denver, Brewer found his way back the team that drafted him in 2013-14.
Rumors have it that they’re looking to trade Brewer to a contender, and a couple of teams are interested in the seven-year NBA veteran. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets are possible landing spots:
Story posting now: ESPN sources say Wolves in active trade discussions on veteran swingman Corey Brewer with contenders Cavs and Rockets
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 16, 2014
He follows it up with how the trade could work and what Cleveland/Houston would have to give up:
Both Cavs/Rockets have trade exception big enough to absorb Corey Brewer’s contract so might only have to surrender draft pick(s) to get him
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 16, 2014
Brewer is playing significantly lower minutes this season compared to last season, mostly due to the arrival of the highly touted rookie Andrew Wiggins, the first overall draft pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
It appears that the Timberwolves want to give the majority of the minutes to their young, unproven players like Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Zach LaVine, who have both just recently posted their first career starts.
Minnesota wants their young core to mesh and mold on the court this season rather than learning from the bench. They will face their bumps and rookie walls together so that they can gel that much quicker, if everything works out that way.
With little expectations and pressure on the young rebuilding Wolves to succeed right away, Wiggins and company will have the freedom to play through their struggles.
AARON GORDON OUT INDEFINITELY WITH FOOT FRACTURE
Orlando Magic rookie forward Aaron Gordon will be out indefinitely due to a fracture in his left foot. Gordon, who is just 19, fractured a metatarsal bone on the outside of his left foot in the Magic’s Saturday night loss to the Washington Wizards.
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports gave details on the future of Gordon:
Magic rookie F Aaron Gordon, who fractured his left foot, is expected to see a foot specialist in Charlotte this week to get full analysis,
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) November 16, 2014
The Magic will know the timetable for his return after Gordon is evaluated further. The rookie, who was the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, has averaged almost six points and three rebounds in 15 minutes per game, and has appeared in all 11 of Orlando’s games this season.
Stats are courtesy of NBA.com.