The Cleveland Cavaliers (21 - 9) defeated the Denver Nuggets 93 - 87 on Tuesday to get their road record to .500. Cleveland didn’t play the prettiest game on Tuesday, but they let their defense carry them to a much needed road win. They held the Nuggets to 25 points or under in every single quarter and held them to a 5 - for - 24 mark from long distance. The shooting in genera was bad all - around, as both teams shot under 73 percent from the free - throw line, under 21 percent from three - point range and just over 40 percent from the field. All the starters were horrible as well, as only one starter between the two teams scored more than 14 points. Most people look at the Cavaliers and think of elite offense with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but their defense is no joke. They rank second in the NBA in points allowed and absolutely stifled the Nuggets here. King James was at full force tonight, as he scored 34 points and snatched six boards. Iman Shumpert also had one of his best games of the season, as he scored 16 points off the bench and played some hounding defense. Cleveland will have a few days off until they host the Orlando Magic on Saturday in their next game. Denver played with a lot of energy in this game, but they simply couldn’t shoot a lick. The starters combined for just 35 points and that's an indication of just how bad the injuries are hampering this team right now. With no Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler or Emmanuel Mudiay, the offense is really struggling. Will Barton continues his breakout season though, as he scored another 29 points off the bench while grabbing seven boards. It may be getting to a point where Barton would be better implemented into the starting - five with their recent struggles. Denver will have to travel to Portland on Wednesday to take on the Trail Blazers in the back end of a back - to - back set.
["TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 87 Losses ,has 25 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Cavaliers') has 9 Losses ,has 93 Total points ,has 21 Points in 4th quarter ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'LeBron James') has 1 Blocks ,has 1 3-pointers made ,has 34 Offensive rebounds ,has 6 Personal fouls ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Iman Shumpert') has 1 Blocks ,has 1 3-pointers made ,has 16 Offensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Will Barton') has 29 Blocks ,has 7 3-pointers made ."]