Following a drama-filled January, and in the midst of "trash" trade speculation surrounding Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony, the Cavaliers delivered one of their most impressive wins of the season, showing that "championship DNA" during a 140-135 back-and-forth thrill ride victory.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Members of the Cleveland Cavaliers don't know exactly how to explain it. But the champs continue to play their best when facing adversity, sending another reminder of that Monday against the red-hot Washington Wizards.
Following a drama-filled January, in the midst of "trash" trade speculation surrounding Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony, the Cavaliers delivered an impressive win, showing that "championship DNA" during a 140-135 back-and-forth thrill ride.
Here are five observations:
Love's defense - Love continues to shrug off trade rumors with humorous responses.
"It's good to be wanted," he said before leaving for the four-game roadtrip.
Since being mentioned in the latest Carmelo-to-Cleveland speculation, Love has tallied 62 points on 18-of-33 from the field, including 10-of-17 from 3-point range and 16-of-17 from the free-throw line to go with 28 rebounds.
And while his offensive performance was vital, especially in the fourth quarter as he poured in eight points while Kyrie Irving continued to struggle, Love's defense was the most pleasant surprise.
The Wizards led by three. Their offense was humming in overtime.
That's when Love switched onto Washington All-Star John Wall. It looked like a mismatch the Wizards wanted. Instead, Love moved his feet, just the way he did on his isolation stop against Stephen Curry in the NBA Finals, and forced Wall into a missed step-back jumper.
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On the ensuing possession, following a Kyle Korver 3-pointer to tie the game, the Cavaliers power forward looked to be on an island again. This time against Bradley Beal, who scored a game-high 41 points.
The Wizards shooting guard drove into the lane and took a tough turn-around fadeaway that clanked off the side of the rim.
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Those two defensive stops helped halt Washington's momentum and fueled a 5-0 run.
Seasonal improvement - Love's defense has been questioned since coming to Cleveland. He's often been one of the players opposing offenses will choose to attack.
Is it time to rethink that?
Part of his recent success has to do with his teammates -- having Tristan Thompson anchoring the defense and LeBron James, who is capable of erasing a plethora of mistakes.
However, Love deserves credit for the growth as well.
According to ESPN's defensive real plus minus, which is measured by points allowed per 100 defensive possessions, Love ranks second among all Cavaliers and around 50th overall out of more than 400 players graded.
The on court/off court numbers back it up.
With Love on the court this season, the Cavs are holding opponents to 50.3 effective field goal shooting and an offensive rating of 105.1.
With him off the floor, the opponents' effective field goal shooting goes up to 52.2 percent while the offensive rating climbs to 112.0.
As is the case with other statistics, there are plenty of reasons.
Love typically rests with Thompson and the defense naturally slips without the starting center. Also, Love doesn't play much alongside Channing Frye, who has one of the worst defensive ratings on the team.
But given the criticism he has faced, Love deserves praise for holding opposing players to 45.2 percent from the field.
Irving rises - He had scored 12 points on 5-of-18 from the field, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range in 39 suspect minutes.
Then came overtime, an opportunity to redeem himself, especially after James' fouled out.
Irving awoke.
On the first offensive possession, he dribbled repeatedly, drove into the lane, took a bump and threw up a wild shot. The whistle went his way and he buried both free throws to cut Washington's lead to two, giving him some confidence.
That was just the beginning of his personal run, eventually scoring 11 of the team's 20 overtime points, including another clutch 3-pointer from the right wing, his patented spot.
Even the attempt he missed late, which Thompson kept alive on the glass, led to Irving going to the foul line for two key free throws. He made both, increasing his shooting numbers to 43-of-44 from the stripe during OT in his career.
Irving ended the night with 23 points on 8-of-24, including 2-of-7 from 3. But he saved his best for last.
That's usually the case. Sometimes he can be maddening, ignoring teammates and giving questionable effort on the defensive end. It's not always pretty and his over-dribbling has a tendency to lead to mistakes. It's part of why Irving has become one of the league's most polarizing players.
Then again, that style has birthed a cold-blooded assassin, a player at his best in pressure-packed moments. His one-on-one scoring ability is unmatched and the Wizards learned that even on an off night Irving can strike at any moment.
Tristan's offense - Thompson has become an offensive weapon lately.
The beneficiary of Cleveland's floor spacing and lethal pick-and-roll game, Thompson scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-4 from the free-throw line Monday.
He has now reached double figures in three straight.
The last time he had an offensive stretch like this was last year, as he recorded seven straight double-figure games, a run that went from Feb. 29 until March 13.
Looking for 3's - The Cavs went 19-of-38 from 3-point range. James had a career-high 17 assists. Those two stats are related.
Understanding the Wizards were trying to take driving lanes away, James often searched for the long ball.
That was the idea when the roster was assembled and it's part of the reason why Love has always been an ideal fit as the third member of Cleveland's devastating trio.
Love's floor spacing puts opponents in a bind and his long range shooting was on display against the Wizards, drilling six triples.
James assisted on five of those six makes, including an excellent find late. The made basket gave the Cavs a four-point lead with a little more than a minute remaining.
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In all, eight of James' 17 helpers led to 3-pointers.
