What did Cavaliers coach Mike Brown think of his big men in Wednesday’s big 98-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at The Q?
“They were monsters tonight,” Brown said as Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson and Andrew Bynum combined for 49 points and 41 rebounds as the Cavs won two straight games for the first time this season to improve to 6-12, 5-3 at home.
“They were monsters in the pick-and-roll,” Brown continued. “They were monsters on the glass. They were monsters around the rim. That type of effort was awesome. It was awesome to watch.”
Varejao finished with a season-high 18 points and tied his season high with 13 rebounds. Thompson had 17 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Bynum contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds. Kyrie Irving also had 23 points as the Cavs registered their biggest margin of victory this season.
“Their bigs just beat up on our bigs is what it came down to,” Denver coach Brian Shaw said as the Nuggets snapped their seven-game winning streak and slipped to 11-7. “Andrew Bynum, Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson inside just wore us down.”
Thompson shrugged off all compliments.
“It’s just our roles as bigs,” said Thompson, who became the first Cav to grab 20 or more rebounds since Varejao got 22 at Memphis on Nov. 26, 2012. “We’ve got to come out every night and rebound, defend and play hard. The type of team we played tonight, they get up and down so there’s a lot of shots. My teammates boxed out and us bigs went to go get it.”
Thanks to Varejao and Thompson, the Cavs held a commanding 58-43 edge on the boards, including a 38-28 edge on the defensive end.
“To get 34 rebounds between two guys is an absolutely amazing night for our bigs,” Brown said.
Randy Foye had 16 points and former Cav J.J. Hickson added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, playing the second night of a back-to-back and their third game on a six-game East Coast trip.
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