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Feeling confident after a home victory against the defending champion Lakers the previous night, the Memphis Grizzlies were looking to come into Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday and spoil the Cavaliers’ eight-game winning streak.

LeBron James and his ‘crazy court vision’ quickly foiled that plan.

James tied a career high with 15 assists to lead the Cavaliers to a lopsided 105-89 victory over the Grizzlies. In addition to James’ flurry of smooth passes, the game featured a strong defensive effort by the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers.

The Grizzlies were held to just 38 percent shooting in the contest as the Cavs did a superb job of holding two of Memphis’ top three players in check.

Zach Randolph, who will make his first NBA All-Star appearance later this month, came into the game averaging 21 points per game, while teammate O.J. Mayo is currently the Grizzlies third-leading scorer at 18.1 points per game.

The two combined to shoot an ugly 7-29 from the floor against the Cavaliers.

Randolph has done most of his damage this season in the post, but was forced into perimeter jump shots most of the night by Anderson Varejao. Varejao got the assignment on the ninth-year pro for most of the game.

Randolph managed just 1-5 shooting in the paint and also had five turnovers.

“Anderson Varejao’s job was off the charts,” said Cavs coach Mike Brown after the game. ”If he is not on the First Team All-Defense this year, or even get votes for Defensive Player of the Year, I’m going to be floored. He does some amazing things for us that just don’t show up on the stat sheet.”

The eight points scored by Randolph is his lowest output since he scored just five points against the Clippers in late November. Although Randolph missed some shots he normally hits, the defensive prowess of Varejao surely had a lot to do with his offensive struggles.

“He works hard,” said James about his teammate. “He’s always determined to not let his guy score. He loves team concept.”

The Grizzlies have been of the top offensive teams all season, thanks to their bevy of scorers, but the Cavaliers gave them few opportunities for quality shots. Their help-side defense rotated smoothly, forcing Memphis into challenged jumpers rather than shots near the bucket.

They finished with 34 points in the paint, nearly half what the Cavaliers accumulated.

“They’ve got a lot of very good players on that team,” said Brown. ”…For us to play the way we did defensively was extremely, extremely fun to watch.”

An argument could be made that the Cavaliers were even more impressive offensively.

They shot just under 50 percent for the game. That number would be even higher if not for some bad shot selection in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

The Cavs shot 64 percent in the first half, led by a perfect 5-5 half from James that also included seven assists.

James continued his dominance in the second half to finish the game with 22 points, in addition to his 15 assists.

Each of the 25-year-old superstar’s assists was nothing unusual to his game.

Varejao and J.J. Hickson got layups. Jawad Williams and Daniel Gibson got open threes. Zydruas Ilgauskas got mid-range jumpers and Shaquille O’Neal got dunks.

James set his teammates up in places where they could succeed. And they did.

“You don’t get assists if your guys don’t knock down shots,” said James. ”I’m just finding my open man, and everybody, from the first guy to the 15th guy, is knocking down shots when they come into the ballgame.”

Shaquille O’Neal also finished with a double-double as he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

He scored seven-straight Cavalier points midway through the second quarter when James came out of the game to rest.

O’Neal has now scored in double-digits in nine-straight games as the Cavaliers continue to run more of their offense through him with injuries to Mo Williams and Delonte West.

“He’s motivated,” said James. ”When Mo and Delonte went down he decided to step his game up, which we knew he could do.”

O’Neal was also solid defensively, holding center Marc Gasol to 10 points and three rebounds, both well below his season averages.

The Cavalier victory avenges an overtime loss to the Grizzlies in early December in which the Cavs had trouble containing Randolph, who scored 32 points, and the rest of the Memphis team.

“It’s a very explosive team,” said James. ”A team that we gave up over 110 points (to) last time we played them.To come out with the mindset that we did tonight, to get stops and do it consistently, was good.”