CLEVELAND: On the night J.R. Smith returned to the lineup and moved up the career list of 3-point shooters, the Cavs’ stars shined the brightest.
Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and passed for 11 assists, LeBron James scored 21 points and Kevin Love had 12 points and 13 rebounds in a complete 104-81 dismantling Friday of a Detroit Pistons team that has lost its way – at least on the road. Smith, meanwhile, passed Dirk Nowitzki for 15th place on the 3-point career list and now has 1,706 for his career.
The Pistons fell to 1-7 on the road and continued their miserable struggles away from the Palace, shooting 31 percent. The Cavs, meanwhile, continue to roll. They have made at least 10 3-pointers in every game this season, an NBA record that is now at 12 games and climbing. Irving’s assists were a season high and one off his career high while Tristan Thompson also matched his season-high with 14 rebounds.
The Cavs led by as many as 32 in what was easily their most lopsided win of the season after the Pistons pushed them hard in last season’s first-round postseason sweep.
Smith returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with a sore ankle. Since the Cavs have four full days off before their next game, it seemed to make sense to hold Smith out of this one, too, before bringing him back fully healthy on Wednesday. Coach Tyronn Lue let him play, however, because he wanted to play.
Smith caught Nowitzki in a hurry, making all three of his 3-pointers in the first quarter. Nowitzki is expected to miss at least the next two games for the Mavericks with a sore Achilles, which could give Smith time to put some distance between them.
“He’s always been a great shooter and I think at times in Denver and New York, maybe he took a lot of tougher shots, one-on-one off the dribble and trying to create his own shot from 3,” Lue said of Smith. “Here with this team, with Kevin and Kyrie and LeBron and the way they demand so much attention, now he’s getting open, easy shots and he’s always been a knockdown shooter. I think now he’s getting easier shots and shots in rhythm and he knows where his shot’s gonna come from.”
There’s only one problem with that. Smith has made it clear he prefers contested shots to open shots. He has referred to open shots as “boring” and prefers the off-balance, falling out of bounds circus shots instead.
“A couple of times we told LeBron to pass it and then go contest him,” Lue joked. “Always those ones where you swing-swing-swing and he’s wide open? No. But then one second on the clock, stepback fadeaway 3 is good. So, you know, that’s just J.R.”
This isn’t the same Pistons team the Cavs faced in the playoffs because they are without Reggie Jackson, who continues to rehab his knee, but the Cavs are rolling when they’re playing with a full roster. They’ll take five days off now before hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.