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Cavaliers Set Numerous Franchise Records In Win On Sunday

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have been awesome all season long as the All-Star break is fast approaching. Their 40-9 record is the best in the NBA and gives them a 5.5-game lead over the second place Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. On Sunday, the Cavaliers played a undermanned Dallas Mavericks team and set numerous franchise records in what is their 55th season of existence.

This was Dallas’ first game since the surprising Luka Doncic trade. Anthony Davis (and Kyrie Irving) did not play, and the Mavericks were completely outclassed by Cleveland. It was somewhat ironic that Nico Harrison, the Mavericks general manager made post-trade comments that ‘defense wins championships’, and then they played next to none for much of Sunday. The game was essentially over from the get-go as they allowed Cleveland to rewrite their record books.

Cavaliers Set Numerous Franchise Records In Win On Sunday

First Quarter Dominance

The Mavericks might as well have waved the white flag after the first 12 minutes. The score after one quarter was Cleveland 50, Dallas 19. If you do the math, that means the Mavericks were outscored by more than 2.5 points per minute. The 50 points are the most that the Cavaliers have scored in a quarter in franchise history.

In that first quarter, the Cavaliers shot 18-25 from the field, 9-11 from three-point territory, and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Four players on Cleveland scored at least eight in the frame led by Darius Garland who had 13 points on perfect shooting (5-5 from field, 3-3 on three-pointers).

Continued Into The Second Quarter

The Cavaliers eased up a little bit on Dallas in the second stanza. They scored 41 points, rather than 50. That gave them 91 points in the first half, which is another franchise record established on Sunday. According to ESPN, that is also tied for the third-most that a team has scored by halftime in NBA history.

After shooting 81.8% in the opening quarter, Cleveland ‘cooled’ down to 60% in the second (but 63.6% from three-point range). The Cavaliers assisted on 13 of their 15 made field goals in the 12 minutes prior to halftime.

The Cavaliers rank second in the NBA averaging 122.2 points per game. That certainly are a high-scoring team, but they took it to another level on Sunday, particularly in the first half.

Three-Pointers Galore From Cleveland

A third team record by Cleveland on Sunday was courtesy of their three-point prowess. They connected on 26 three-pointers in the contest, the most the franchise has ever recorded. It was an incredibly accurate outing for the Cavaliers as they went 26-45 from beyond the arc, good for 57.8% accuracy. It has been a strength for the squad all season as they rank second in threes made per game and first in three-point percentage.

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The team had eight players make multiple three-pointers against Dallas. They were led by Sam Merrill, who made nine three-pointers in 23 minutes off the bench. He became the fourth player in Cavaliers history to make at least nine in one game. The 28-year-old certainly broke out of a mini-slump from deep, as he made just 25.5% of his three-point tries over his last 12 games.

Photo credit: © Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The post Cavaliers Set Numerous Franchise Records In Win On Sunday appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.