Cavaliers out hustled by young Hornets falling in 119-111
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-12, 9-7 home) returned to Rocket Arena after a week’s absence on Sunday night to take on the Charlotte Hornets (8-18, 3-10 road). The Cavs came back from a 19 point deficit to defeat the Washington Wizards 130-126.
The Cavs lead the all-time series with the Hornets 79-51 and are 49-16 at Rocket Arena. On Sunday night the Cavs lacked heart and hustle and were outplayed, falling to the Hornets 119-111.
Jarrett Allen returned to the Cavs lineup after missing several games with a finger injury and got the Cavs on the board first when he was fouled by Kon Knueppel and drained both free throws to give the Cavs a 2-0 lead with 11:06 remaining in the opening quarter. The Hornets took their first lead of the game with 8:30 left in the quarter when Sion James hit a three pointer and the Hornets led 9-7. After James hit his second three of the early moments and gave Charlotte a 12-9 lead, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson took a timeout with 7:42 left on the first quarter clock. The Cavs tied the game 15-15 with 5:44 left when Donovan Mitchell drained a three, but it didn’t last long as the Hornets hit two consecutive threes, the second by the Brandon Miller to give the Hornets a 21-15 lead with 5:07 left in the opening quarter. The first quarter was very similar to a lot of the Cavs’ first 26 games as the energy was not there and with 2:25 left on the clock in the opening quarter the Cavs were already down 31-22. As time ran out in the first quarter, the lackluster Cavs trailed the Hornets 33-29. Another common theme in the opening quarter was the Hornets outrebounding the Cavs 11-5. In less than one season the Cavs have gone from being one of the top rebounding teams in the NBA to one of the worst. Knueppel led all scorers with nine first quarter points. Mitchell and Nae’Qwan Tomlin paced the Cavs with seven apiece.
As the third quarter commenced the Hornets lead grew to 39-32 and then 42-33 when Josh Green drained a three. Less than a minute later the Charlotte lead was at 11 points and Atkinson called another timeout. The second quarter was a display of some really bad basketball. The Hornets are not a good team, and the Cavs looked just as bad. The Cavs have played some of the worst defense in the NBA in the last few weeks. As the second quarter came to a close the Hornets led the Cavs 57-47. Two key factors in the opening half. The Cavs turned the ball over eight times resulting in 15 Hornets points. The biggest factor was the hustle factor as the Hornets outrebounded the Cavs 26-19 in the first 24 minutes. Knueppel led all scorers with 12 points at the break and Mitchell and Jaylon Tyson paced the Cavs with nine points apiece.
With 11:10 left in the third the Cavs cut the Hornet’s lead to under double digits when Darius Garland hit Dean Wade who drained a three but with the Cavs matador defense the Hornets Miles Bridges hit a three at the other end and the Charlotte lead was 62-50 with 10:48 left in the quarter. With 8:25 left in the quarter, the Hornets were charged with their second delay of game which resulted in a technical foul, Mitchell shot the technical free throw, made it, and cut the Charlotte lead to 64-58. Bad shot selection and shotty defense resulted in the Hornets lead building back to 12 at 72-60 with 6:50 left in the third period resulting in another Cavs timeout. Directly after the timeout the Cavs turned the ball over and the Hornets turned it into three points to extend their lead to 75-60 with 6:40 left in the third period. With :10.0 left in the quarter the Cavs cut the Hornets lead to 88-79 and that’s where the score stood when time ran out in the third. The Cavs were still getting outrebounded 36-30. Knueppel led everyone in scoring with 19 through three quarters. Mitchell and Garland were pacing the Cavs with 15 apiece with 12 minutes left.
The Cavs cut the Hornets lead to 88-81 with 11:20 left in regulation when Tyrese Proctor hit Thomas Bryant in the paint. Then with 10:43 left Garland cut the Hornets lead to 88-84 when he drained a three near the top of the arc. After Hornet lead spiked to nine the Cavs cut it back to seven with 9:06 left when De’Andre Hunter hit two free throws. With 8:18 left Cleveland cut the lead five points, but the defense once again failed at the other end and the Charlotte lead was back to eight points. The Cavs then scored on two consecutive possessions and cut the Hornets lead to 96-92 with 7:22 left and Hornets coach Charles Lee called a timeout. The Cavs closed the gap two points at 98-96 with 6:24 left and then with 6:05 remaining Mitchell hit Wade at the top of the arc, and the Cavs had a 99-98 lead. The Hornets quickly took the lead back on a three by Miller. With the Cavs down 104-101 and 4:13 left, Garland slipped and turned the ball over. The concerning part was that when Garland returned to his feet he looked to be limping in pain as he went to the bench as a timeout had been called. With 2:56 left Garland was fouled and hit both free throws and cut the Charlotte lead to 106-105. Knueppel when right down and scored in the paint, but Wade then scored at the other end with 2:10 left and the Charlotte lead was back at one point. With just under two minutes on the clock Garland blocked James and the Hornets turned the ball over. The Cavs could not take advantage. With :21.0 the Lonzo Ball stole the ball and Garland hit Tyson in the paint and the second-year man from Cal put the Cavs on top 109-108. After a Hornets timeout out the Cavs stopped them defensively. Tyson was then fouled with :13.2 left. He hit both free throws and the Cavs led 111-108. With :04.7 left Miller drained a three and the game was tied 111-111, the Cavs took a timeout. After the timeout the Cavs inbounded the ball, Mitchell shot a jumper and missed, and the game was headed to overtime.
The Hornets got on the board early in the overtime when Miller scored. The Hornets took a 115-111 lead with 2:57 remaining when Bridges scored in the paint. The Cavs did not score in overtime and looked like a group that really is not invested in winning at this point as they went 0-10 from the field in the extra period falling 119-111.
With the loss the Cavs have dropped as many games at home as the entire 2024-25 season and are only six games behind their entire loss total of 18 from last season.
Once again, the Cavs were outrebounded tonight, 53-46 that Hornets outworked the Cavs on the boards. Another key stat that is glaring is that the Cavs turned the ball over 14 times, four less than the Hornets and the Hornets turned those into 26 points while the Cavs only managed to turn the Hornets 18 turnovers into 18 points. The Hornets outscored the Cavs 20-7 on second chance points. They outscored the Cavs 14-8 on fast break points. There is a common theme here and it’s all about hustle. The Cavs seem to be lacking hustle and heart at this point. The four days off to practice that the team had last week didn’t seem to change much. Yes, the Cavs were without Evan Mobley, who is out two to four weeks, but the results were pretty much the same when he was on the floor.
Knueppel led all scorers with 29 points. Garland has 26 points for the Cavs in another disappointing loss in a season of disappointing losses for a team that won 64 games a season ago.
The Cavs will be back in action on Wednesday night at 8 pm in Chicago at the United Center.
POSTED 12/14/2025 18:44
Lake County Sentinel
This Space could be yours
Thousands of People Will See it
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
email us for more info at:
Cavs center Jarrett Allen misses a free throw in the Cavs 119-111 overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday evening at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer
