The Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 3-0 on the season with a 105-99 win at home on Saturday night over the Orlando Magic (0-3).
Cleveland was in control comfortably most of the night, leading 80-62 after three quarters, but the Magic fought back in the fourth to make it interesting.
Orlando went on a 26-9 run to cut the deficit to three with 3:11 to play, but it never got any closer than that, as J.R. Smith caught fire from three-point range, hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the final three minutes of the game. Smith finished with 16 points on the night, going 4-for-10 from three-point range.
LeBron James scored 23 points, passed for nine assists, and grabbed six rebounds in 31 minutes of action. James passed Brad Daugherty in the record books for the franchise record in career rebounds, as he now has 4,021 in less than 10 seasons with the Cavaliers.
Kyrie Irving put up 20 points, while Kevin Love added 19.
Rookie Kay Felder made his NBA debut, scoring two points in five minutes of action.
Evan Fournier led the Magic with 22 points.
Role Player of the Game
Our RPOG for Oct. 29 goes to Tristan Thompson.
The center only scored two points, but hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds, filling in his role exceptionally.
Thompson has posted back-to-back games with double-digit rebounding totals and is averaging 9.3 boards per game in the first three games of the season.
The Cavs are back in action on Tuesday night, when they host the Houston Rockets.
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