The Cleveland Cavaliers try to go above .500 this evening when they host the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs moved to the break-even mark on Monday, as rookie Kyrie Irving had 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds, helping Cleveland rally past the Charlotte Bobcats, 102-94. Antawn Jamison added 20 points, seven boards and five assists for the Cavaliers, who trailed by 14 in the third quarter and won . "I said if we're going to win this game guys we're going to have to guard. If we guard, we'll win the game," Cleveland head coach Byron Scott said. "We'll have an opportunity to score, but we have to do a better job of defending. In the second half they only got 37 points. We did a great job in the second half of defending."
Anderson Varejao and Omri Casspi each added 14 points for Cleveland, which went 3-4 on a seven-game road trip. Varejao also pulled down 12 rebounds.
Irving, the top overall pick in this past year's draft, has been the driving force for the Cavs of late, scoring 22.6 points on 55.0 percent shooting in his last five.
Tonight will be the Cavs first game at home since January 3. They are 2-1 in their arena this season.
Golden State, meanwhile, snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up its first road win of the season on Sunday, as David Lee scored 24 points and Monta Ellis had 22, helping the Warriors to a 99-91 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Brandon Rush added 12 points, Dorell Wright had 11 and Ekpe Udoh and Nate Robinson both finished with 10 for the Warriors, who won for only the second time in nine tries overall.
"We defended, we didn't make excuses, and we didn't get frustrated," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. "It was just a great performance overall. I think the guys felt challenged."
Lee has scored at least 20 points in four straight games, his longest such streak with Golden State. He ranks seventh in the NBA in rebounding (10.5) and ninth in minutes (37.5).
The Warriors, who will wrap up a four-game road trip in New Jersey on Wednesday, haven't won two straight on the road since Nov. 8-10, 2010.
Cleveland has won seven of the last 10 overall in this series.