Final Score: Cleveland Cavaliers beat Brooklyn Nets 95-91

The Cleveland Cavaliers, coming off a blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks, beat the Brooklyn Nets by a final score of 95-91 on Friday night. The Cavs were sparked by a returning Mike Miller's 3-point shooting, as Miller was 7-8 from deep and finished with 21 points in his first start of the season. LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 22 points, while Joe Johnson led all scorers with 26 points. Former Cavaliers Jarrett Jack and Sergey Karasev had 13 points and 12 points, respectively, for Brooklyn.

However, wasn't an easy win for the Cavs. The Nets shot over 70 percent for much of the first quarter and the Cavs had to mount a comeback on both ends to close the gap. Miller's 3-point shooting, plus the Nets reverting to the mean and finishing the game shooting 47.5 percent shooting from the field, did the trick.

Other Notes

• Dion Waiters only played six minutes against the Nets, all in the first half. Little used James Jones took what were likely Waiters' normal minutes in the second half. While Jones' singular skill - 3-point shooting - makes him an interesting and useful fit within the Cavs' roster, Waiters as a more diverse skill set.
• In theory, Waiters, along with Tristan Thompson, probably loses minutes if Miller starts at shooting guard and Marion comes off the bench. But if Marion is going to play the four like he did tonight, Waiters fits in next to Matthew Dellavedova nicely as a creator. And while he isn't exactly good at defense, he's better than Jones. This, to me, is worth monitoring moving forward.
• LeBron Jams is now 23rd all-time in scoring. And he'll probably keep rising over the course of the season.

LeBron passes Barkley for No. 23 in all-time scoring. He'll likely also pass Iverson, Ray Allen (if he stays retired) & Ewing this season

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 20, 2014

• James, Irving and Kevin Love all played 40 minutes. Marion and Anderson Varejao only played 17 minutes. Tristan Thompson was the only reserve to play more than 20 minutes. If this the starting lineup moving forward, I think there's some kinks to be worked out here. Increasing Marion's minutes, as well as Dellavedova and Waiters', could limit heavy minute totals for James, Irving and Love.