WITH numerous injuries to key players, it wasn’t the Memphis Grizzlies who invaded The Q Monday night. It was the Memphis Cubs.

    But those cubs ended up upsetting the Cavaliers, 106-103. The Cavs’ Kyrie Irving missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired. The upset was completed.

    LeBron James finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

    Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Chris “Birdman” Andersen, Brandan Wright and Matt Barnes are out of commission for the time being, and Cleveland (44-18) couldn’t capitalize off of it.

    Memphis trotted out an inferior starting lineup of Mario Chalmers, Tony Allen, P.J. Hairston, JaMychal Green and Ryan Hollins. It’s hardly a lineup that would generate fear, but despite being shorthanded, they came ready to play.

    And just as Cavs coach Tyronn Lue suspected, his team didn’t come out aggressively enough. The Cavs found themselves down early, 11-4, and then trailed by eight after one quarter.

    “It’s always dangerous because we tend to let our guards down [when playing a undermanned team],” Lue said before the game. “We’ve done that a few times this year, and every time their star and key guys sit out, we tend to take a step backwards and kind of relax a little bit.”

    Relaxing continued into the second quarter. Careless passes that were picked off for transition points and lethargic defense allowed Memphis to build a 12-point advantage near the end of the quarter. In the first half, Cleveland turned it over 13 times, resulting in 17 points for Memphis.

    To start the third quarter, Lue decided to shake his starters up and implement a small-ball group by pulling Timofey Mozgov and inserting Matthew Dellavedova. It didn’t work.

    (SD-Agencies)