Cavaliers 101, Magic 93

[February 20, 2014]  CLEVELAND — Cavaliers 101, Magic 93: Kyrie Irving recorded 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds as Cleveland held off a rally from visiting Orlando to extend its season-high winning streak to six.

Luol Deng contributed 17 points and Tyler Zeller had 16 for the Cavaliers, who saw a 21-point lead in the second half trimmed to two before finishing strong. Tristan Thompson added 16 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-double and 26th of the season for Cleveland.

Arron Afflalo led the way with 23 points while Nikola Vucevic registered 20 points and 12 rebounds as Orlando lost its third straight contest. Tobias Harris had 19 points and Kyle O’Quinn added 10 points and eight boards off the bench for the Magic, who have dropped six in a row to the Cavaliers – three this season.

A three-point play by Irving built Cleveland’s lead to 82-74 with a little over eight minutes remaining, but Orlando pulled within 89-87 after Afflalo’s three-point play with 2:07 to go. Zeller followed with a three-point play of his own and Deng’s 3-pointer from the left corner pushed the Cavaliers lead to 97-89 with 35.5 seconds left.

Irving scored 15 in the first half and the Cavaliers held Orlando to three field goals in the first quarter to build a 55-36 advantage at intermission. Harris scored 12, including two straight 3-pointers, in the third quarter as the Magic scored 27 of the last 37 points to trail by only 72-68 going into the final 12 minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cleveland G Dion Waiters, the team’s third-leading scorer, was held out after suffering a hyperextended left knee in Tuesday’s 114-85 victory at Philadelphia and Cavaliers C Anderson Varejao missed his fourth straight with a sore back. … Orlando F Glen Davis left the game in the first quarter with a sore right Achilles and did not return. He did not score in six minutes. … The six-game winning streak is Cleveland’s longest since winning eight in a row March 8-24, 2010.

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