In smashing the New York Knicks with casual ferocity, LeBron James turned a personal grudge into a springboard for his team.James started out by setting up his fellow Cleveland Cavaliers in the 126-94 steamrolling, seemingly content to delegate retribution for Phil Jackson's "posse" comments to Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com last month.A refresher in brief of Jackson talking about James in Miami: "You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland."At no point before the game did James indicate he was out for revenge, but his focus in the early going was undeniableand on-brand.James sought out Kevin Love for early looks that led to a 16-point first quarter for the power forward. Perhaps by design or perhaps by dint of basketball karma, James' facilitation empowered Love, who returned the favor with several sweet outlet passes to his teammates in that first period:It was almost as if James was satisfied sticking it to the Knicks by proxy.Until this happened:James' burst contributed to a 15-point halftime lead that effectively ended the game, prompting the kind of measured analysis you'd expect from a contest decided early.This example comes from Scott Cacciola of theNew York Times:And here's Tracy Morgan at halftime, helping buoy the Knicks' spirits with some positive talk:According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, James may have been eyeballing Jackson as his Cavs ran roughshod over the Knicks:But, to be fair, it was always going to be tough to determine whether James was bringing anything extra for New York, seeing as his last two meetings with the team resulted in his notching triple-doubles. In this one, he managed 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 32 minutes. Cacciola didn't tweet about the other two, but James actually missedthree shots, finishing 7-of-10.In the end, James sat back and enjoyed himself, resting as Kyrie Irving goofed around:This wasn't exactly a case of revenge being a dish best served cold. It was more like revenge being a dish best served when outsourced to teammates because you can't be bothered to take the target seriously...and then maybe you throw in some personal tidbits of vengeance just for show. Basically, James succeeded in sonning Jackson and the Knicks by letting them know he didn't even need to try all that hard to embarrass them.And, as retribution goes, that's pretty badass.There's a related element of Cleveland's coasting here. If you wanted to get critical, you could cite this as another example of the disinterest that sometimes comes back to bite great teams. But on the other hand, demoralizing an opponent with this level of dismissiveness sends a pretty strong message about Cleveland's potency:In the end, all this does is underscore James' uniqueness and the Cavs' prime position in the East. LBJ showed flashes of his own extra gear, but mostly smoked the Knicks by getting the best out of his teammates.And, I guess, the bigger lesson is pretty clear: Don't give James a reason to care.The Clippers Aren't a ThreatHey, so does anyone want to guess what happened in the latest installment of the hammer vs. nail rivalry between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers'If your answer includes the term "predictable pounding," well done.The Dubs drove the Clips into the hardwood, producing ample frustration and grievance airing (which is the nicest way I can describe whining) from Doc Rivers and his charges. The final score of 115-98 was a result of Golden State neutering the pet plays in L.A.'s offensestoning Blake Griffin post-ups and never leaving J.J. Redick as he sprinted around the perimeter.Draymond Green shut Griffin down, holding him to 5-of-20 shooting while scoring 22 points of his own. And Redick managed only two points on four shots in 22 minutes.That Golden State managed all this while getting Kevin Durant's worst shooting performance of the season (5-of-17) and an 0-of-8 night from three by Stephen Curry only adds to the increasing one-sidedness of this West Coast series.The Warriors have now won seven in a row against the Clips.If there's a team in the West that can challenge Golden State, it sure isn't Los Angeles. We've seen enough to know that for sure now.Drummond's Numbers Need to Start Meaning SomethingThe Charlotte Hornets handed the Detroit Pistons an 87-77 defeat in an ugly slog that saw both teams finish the first half with fewer than 40 points. The Pistons got 26 points and 20 rebounds from Andre Drummond, but the board-hoarding big man also turned in several shaky defensive plays, according to Mike Prada of SBNation:To be fair, there aren't many who can handle Kemba Walkerwho led the Hornets with 25 pointsin the pick-and-roll. Just ask John Leuer and Reggie Jackson:This was a big one for the Pistons, who had a three-game winning streak snapped by the Orlando Magic on Sunday and have now lost two of their last three. Another slip and they'll have undone all the good work of that solid stretch.The overall inconsistency is a solid parallel to Drummond's own play. With him on the floor this season, for example, Detroit's defensive rating is about a dozen pointsworse than when he sits. The points and rebounds are nice, but the meaningful production had better show up soon.High Flying Is Better with High FashionOn a scale of one to 10, I'm giving this an eight, which is really just one scoring unit for every inch above the knee Jaylen Brown's shorts leave uncovered.It's been an up-and-down rookie season for Brown so farone defined by occasional athletic bursts and stretches where he can't hit a shot or disappears altogether. The overall outlook remains bright, and first-year players with expectations like Brown's are always going to hit bumps in the road.Experience will help, but based on this checklist from Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, Brown might just be suffering the effects of an incomplete look:Let's get the Celtics equipment manager on this, please.Oh, and Boston hammered the Orlando Magic, 117-87, despite playing without Isaiah Thomas, who missed the game with a sore groin. Brown finished with 13 points, one of seven Celtics in double figures.Hey Nuggets, Figure It OutThere are nuanced and complicated issues in managing an NBA roster. Those of us outside the locker room know next to nothing about the egos, interpersonal dynamics and ultra-mega-super advanced proprietary metrics that say who should play with whom and when.But sometimes things are kick-you-in-the-face simple.This is one of them, as the Denver Nuggets continued to devote too many minutes to a starting lineup and player groupings that, objectively, do not work.Here's Adam Mares of Denver Stiffs with an early observation and some simple information:Gosh, I sure hope the Nuggets didn't cost themselves a game by trusting that lineup. Surely they could withstand the lowly Brooklyn Nets regardless of their personnel decisions...except they couldn't. Denver lost, 116-111, as all five starters finished with negative plus-minus figures.Kenneth Faried played just 12 minutes, but made no positive impact. Fellow starter Jusuf Nurkic was a minus-22. Emmanuel Mudiay was a minus-26.Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic, Wilson Chandler, Jameer Nelson and Jamal Murray were all on the positive side. Each finished withat least a plus-eight.You can't put your faith in single-game plus-minus numbers, but you have to acknowledge them when they reflect the season-long stats. All year, Denver has been awesome with Jokic in one-big lineups. Toss Gallo and Chandler out there with him, and the Nuggets produce net ratings that make them look like the Warriors.Denver cannot (CANNOT!) keep trotting out two-big combos with zero spacingespecially when they involve Mudiay and triple-especially when they involve Faried.Sort this out, Nuggets. You've got too much talent to lose like this.Ten Seconds From PerfectionIf not for a blown 13-point halftime lead against the San Antonio Spurs last time out, wed be talking about a Milwaukee Bucks team with a six-game winning streak. We (and they) will have to settle for five out of six after the Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-107, behind Giannis Antetokounmpos triple-double Wednesday.Antetokounmpo finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, four blocks and two steals. And because its fun to do this with the Greek Freaks numbers: He joins LeBron James as the only 22-or-younger player to ever amass those totals in a single game since 1983-84 (which is when the NBA started tracking steals).There doesnt seem to be any way to stop the guyunless you know how to count to 10. In which case, you can prevent him from making free throws. In a true rarity, Antetokounmpo got dinged for taking more than the allowed 10 seconds at the stripe.I guess hes not perfect after all.Wednesday's Final ScoresBrooklyn Nets 116, Denver Nuggets 111Charlotte Hornets 87, Detroit Pistons 77Boston Celtics 117, Orlando Magic 87Atlanta Hawks 103, Miami Heat 95Milwaukee Bucks 115, Portland Trail Blazers 107Houston Rockets 134, Los Angeles Lakers 95Cleveland Cavaliers 126, New York Knicks 94Indiana Pacers 109, Phoenix Suns 94Sacramento Kings 120, Dallas Mavericks 89Golden State Warriors 115, Los Angeles Clippers 98Follow Grant on Twitter@gt_hughesandFacebook.Stats courtesy ofNBA.comandBasketball-Reference.comunless otherwise indicated. Accurate through games played Dec. 7.
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