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Cavs lead by 29 in easy win over Grizzlies

Mar 26, 2015 - 4:15 AM Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers led by as much as 29 in a 111-89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

Kevin Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds and LeBron James scored 20 for the Cavaliers, who picked up their fourth consecutive win, improving to 8-1 in their last nine.

They remained three games ahead of Chicago for first place in the Central Division and improved to 14-1 in their last 15 games against Western Conference opponents.

Timofey Mozgov had 14 points and J.R. Smith chipped in 13 as all five Cavs starters scored in double digits.

Marc Gasol scored 18 points and Beno Udrih had 15 for the Grizzlies, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Southwest Division leaders clinched a fifth consecutive playoff berth with Monday's win over New York.

"I thought we missed a lot of shots, and they were able to play free and loose, playing from the lead for most of the game," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said.

The Cavs, who clinched a playoff spot last week, led the Grizzlies for the final 41:41 of the game but didn't pull away until a 15-0 run in the third quarter.

James, Smith and Matthew Dellavedova each knocked down 3-pointers during the flurry, which gave the Cavs a 79-53 advantage. The lead reached 29 for the first time on a Dellavedova 3 later in the quarter.

Cleveland was 14-of-34 from beyond the arc and shot 51.2 percent overall. The Cavs held Memphis to 43.5 percent shooting, including 4-of-17 from 3-point range.

"We came to play, obviously," said Cavs coach David Blatt. "We were focused on having a defensive presence and intensity in the first quarter and had that from the get-go. I really like the way we came into the game and how we played."

Irving had eight of his 24 points in the first quarter and the Cavs led by as much as five. He scored 10 in the second, including a three-point play in the final seconds to give Cleveland a 55-42 lead at halftime.

Game Notes

Memphis' Vince Carter was ejected in the third quarter after receiving two technical fouls ... Cleveland outrebounded Memphis 49-32 ... The Cavs beat the Grizzlies 105-91 on Dec. 21 in Cleveland, but Memphis was without Tony Allen and Zach Randolph, who combined to score just 12 points on Wednesday on 5- of-19 shooting ... Memphis hosts Golden State on Friday ... Cleveland finishes a three-game road trip on Friday against Brooklyn.