Cavaliers hold off Kings 123-118
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (26-20, 15-11 home) got back on track Wednesday night in Charlotte as they defeated the Hornets in a low scoring affair 94-87. Tonight, the Cavs welcomed the Sacramento Kings (12-34, 3-18 road) to Rocket Arena. The King had lost three straight and were 4-6 in their last 10 games.
The meeting was the first of the season between the two clubs. Entering the contest, the Kings led the all-time series 65-62, but the Cavs led at home 40-25 (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena).
The Cavs jumped out to a 9-0 lead with 9:59 left in the opening quarter. Kings coach Doug Christie had seen enough and called a very early timeout. Apparently, the timeout didn’t do a whole lot of good as the Cavs outscored the Kings 7-2 in the next 1:27 to take a 16-2 lead and Christie spent another timeout. The second timeout did the trick as the Kings outscored the Cavs 16-9 in the next 4:35 to cut the Cleveland lead to 25-18. Cavs bench boss Kenny Atkinson took a timeout. Then with 1:42 remaining Domantas Sabonis drained a three and the Kings cut the Cavs lead to 29-28. At the other end Jarrett Allen was fouled and hit both free throws and the Cavs lead was back at three. The Kings once again cut the lead to one after Dennis Schroder was fouled and hit both free throws with 1:13 left. After the Cavs failed to score at the other end Malik Monk drained a three and the Kings led 33-31. The Kings once again took the lead 35-33 with :30.9 left on the first quarter clock. As time ran out in the opening quarter the game was tied 35-35. Evan Mobley led all scorers with 13 first quarter points. Schroder had 12 for the Kings. Both teams shot over 50% with the Cavs shooting 56% (14 of 25) and the Kings an even 50% (12 of 24). The Kings were on fire from three-point range as they shot 63% (5 of 8) while the Cavs shoot a miserable 25% (2 of 8). The Cavs did outrebound the Kings 12-6.
With 10:10 left in the second quarter the Kings took a 43-38 lead when Precious Achiuwa scored in the paint. With 8:49 on the clock in the second quarter Donovan Mitchell was fouled. He hit all three free throws and tied the game 44-44. The Kings regained the lead 47-46 with 8:00 left when Zach LaVine drained a three. On the other end Mitchell said, I can do that too and gave the Cavs a 49-47 lead with 7:49 left.” The game continued to be a back and forth affair for the remainder of the quarter. With 1:06 left and the Kings leading 67-66 LaVine fouled Jaylon Tyson. Tyson hit both free throws giving Cleveland a 68-67 lead. The Kings took a 71-68 lead into the locker room at half time. Mobley led all scorers at the half with 19 points, Had 18 first half points. Schroder led the Kings with 17. The Kings ended up shooting 54% (25 of 46) in the opening half. The Cavs meanwhile shot 46% (23 of 50). They nearly doubled the Cavs in shooting percentage from behind the three-point stripe as they shot 60% (9 of 15) while the Cavs shot 33% (8 of 24). The Cavs did outrebound the Kings 22-19.
After the Kings took a 74-68 lead the Cavs cut the lead to 74-73 with 10;29 left when Mobley found Allen in the paint. The Cavs tied the game 76-76 when Allen hit one of two free throws, but the lead didn’t last long as the bottom of the NBA ranked defense could not stop the Kings and they scored the next five points to take an 81-76 lead with 8:08 left on the clock. With 6:38 left the Cavs took a two point lead 82-81 when Tyson scored in the paint and was fouled. Unfortunately, Tyson did not make the free throw and then received a technical foul for saying something he probably shouldn’t have. The game was tied at 82-82. With 6:04 left in the third they once again took the lead 84-82. They extended the lead to 87-82 with 5:33 left when Tyson drained a three from the top of the three-point arc. With 2:31 remaining in the quarter, the Cavs took a 95-87 lead, their largest since the first quarter when Mitchell hit a jumper. With 1:45 left Allen was fouled in the paint and hit both free throws, giving the Cavs an eight point lead. Then with 1:22 left De’Andre Hunter drained a three and the Cavs lead was double digits at 100-89. Christie took a timeout. When time ran out and the game headed to the final quarter the Cavs led 102-93. Mitchell and Mobley led all scorers after three with 27 points apiece. The Cavs shot 57% (13 of 23) in the third quarter while the Kings shot just 41% (9 of 22). The Cavs continued to outrebound the Kings leading 38-28 on the boards.
With 10:09 left, the Kings cut the Cavs lead to 104-97 when Sabonis scored on a dunk. As the Cavs have done most of the season, they had a lapse where the defense was porous and the offense was sloppy and the Kings cut the lead to 106-102 with 8:49 left when Monk drained a three. Atkinson called an immediate timeout. Apparently with 8:16 left Nae’Qwan Tomlin was called for a foul by Evan Scott without Tomlin even touching DeMar DeRozan. With 7:16 left Sabonis scored again in the paint and cut the Cavs lead to 108-106. Craig Porter, Jr. answered at the other end and the Cavs lead was at five with 7:00 left on the game clock. Then with 4:40 Sacramento trimmed the Cavs lead to one point again when DeRozan scored in the paint. Atkinson called a timeout as he saw another lead slipping away. With 4:01 left the Cavs lead was gone again as the Kings led 114-113. The Cavs regained the lead and then extended it to 118-114 with 2:28 left when Mitchell drained a three from the corner. After the Kings cut the lead to 118-116 with 2:12 left Allen was fouled with 1:17 left in regulation. He hit both free throws and the Cavs led 120-116. Then with :25.6 left Mitchell hit Tyson in the paint and Tyson gave the Cavs a 122-116 lead on a layup. Christie called a timeout to draw up a play for the Kings. When time ran out the Cavs secured a 123-118 win sending the 19,432 home happy.
Mitchell led all scorers with 33 points. Mobley had a double double, scoring 29 and pulling down 10 rebounds. Allen scored 15 and came one board shy of a double finishing with nine. Sabonis led the Kings with 24 points notching a double double as he pulled down 16 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Kings outshot the Cavs from the field 47% (42 of 89) to 46% (44 of 96). The Kings were also better than the Cavs from long range outshooting them 39% (13 of 33) to 36% (13 of 36). Cleveland outscored Sacramento in the paint 52-36. The Kings benched outscored the Cavs bench by 50 points, 73-23. The Cavs were better on boards, outrebounding Sacramento 48-43 as the Kings outrebounded the Cavs 15-10 in the final quarter.
The Cavs will now head down to Orlando, Florida to take on the Magic on Saturday night at 7 pm. It’s the first game of a home and home as the Cavs and Magic are scheduled to play at Rocket Arena on Monday night at 7 pm. Now word whether the NBA will reschedule the game due to the pending winter storm that will be hitting Cleveland Sunday morning and lasting well into Monday.
Saturday night’s game will be the first between the two teams this season. Last season the Cavs went 2-1 against the Magic, this season they will meet four times. The Cavs hold the all-time series lead 67-62. At home, the Cavs are 40-24 all-time against Orlando.
POSTED 01/23/2026 22:24
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavs forward Evan Mobley dunks in the first quarter of Cleveland's 123-118 win over the Scaramento Kings at Rocket Arena on Friday night. . Photo by DeNarre McRae
