The Cleveland Cavaliers jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter (which was a welcome surprise), thanks to good defense and being able to score in transition. Those two areas have provided spotty production, at best, this season on a broad scale. The Denver Nuggets were held to just 15 points in the first quarter. The Nuggets quickly turned it around, though, as they scored 35 and 33 points in the second and third quarters as Denver ran away with this one in the end.
In postgame availability with the media, Tristan Thompson laid out just how much the Cavs need to do to be successful and sounded pretty discouraged, quite frankly.