LeBron James could sense the Cleveland Cavaliers were starting to click the last time they lost, but a streak like this?
He was not about to say he saw that coming.
Dwyane Wade and Kevin Love on Monday each scored 24 points and James had 23 as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls 113-91 for their 12th straight win.
Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA Today
Backed by a trio of stars, the Cavaliers matched their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015 season. They dropped a tight game at Houston on Nov. 9 and have not lost since.
The streak started with wins at Dallas, New York and Charlotte.
“I’m not Nostradamus so I did not see the streak, but in the Houston game, I’d seen the way we played in that game and I’d seen that if we could build off that game, then we can kind of turn the things around,” James said. “That was a great road trip for us.”
Wade made nine of 13 shots in his first game in Chicago since agreeing to a buyout with his hometown team in late September.
Love grabbed 13 rebounds and made eight of 13 from the field.
James finished nine of 15 with seven rebounds and six assists.
The Cavaliers shot just under 52 percent.
Kris Dunn led Chicago with 15 points. Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday scored 14 apiece as the Bulls fell to 3-19 with their ninth straight loss.
“When the lights turn on, for whatever reason, when things get tough, we stop doing the things that make us a solid team, that make us a team that gets a good shot,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We stop running the offense, and go back and try to get it all on our own. We can’t do that. We have to keep playing together on both sides of the ball... Everybody has to be on the same page out there and we had too many breakdowns again.”
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