Cavaliers extend win streak to 11 with 105-100 win over Nets

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Friday night the Cleveland Cavaliers won their tenth straight game to improve to 10-0 on the season when they humiliated the Golden State Warriors 136-117 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Saturday night they welcomed in the Brooklyn Nets (4-5, 1-3 road). The Cavs avoided a letdown and after a rough start to the second half defeated the Nets to keep the franchise record 11 game winning streak alive with a 105-100 win.

The early minutes of the first quarter were back and forth as the Cavs took an 8-4 lead only to relinquish that as the Nets took a 9-8 lead the Cavs then went up 16-12 with 7:42 left on a Donovan Mitchell three. After Darius Garland fouled Cam Thomas, the Cavs took a timeout up 17-15 with 6:17 left. The Cavs extended their lead to 26-20 with 4:09 after a Caris LeVert steal and pass to Garland who hit Georges Niang on the fastbreak in the paint. The Cavs maintained their six point lead, leading 31-25 with :36.1 left in the first quarter when the officials ruled the ball went out of bounds and was the Cavs. The Nets challenged the call and won but turned the ball over on the next possession and Mitchell hit a three at the other end. When the quarter ended the Cavs led 34-28. Mitchell led all scorers with 15 first quarter points. Dennis Schroder led the Nets with eight. The Cavs shot a whopping 755 (12 of 16) in the quarter while the Nets shot 43% (9 of 21). Cleveland doubled the Nets on the boards 10-5.

Midway through the second quarter the Cavs continued to build their lead and with 6:28 left on the clock Cleveland led 52-37 courtesy of a steal by Ty Jerome and a pull up three pointer by Garland. The Nets went on a run and with 3:51 left in the half pulled to within five points at 52-47 when Thomas hit a three. Then with 2:28 left cut the Cleveland lead to 52-49 on a layup by Nic Claxton. As time ran out in the first half the Cavs lead was only two at 57-55. Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 17 points. Schroder led the Nets with 14 first half points.

Immediately just 26 seconds into the third quarter the Nets tied the game and then took the lead when Garland fouled Thomas. Thomas hit both free throws and the Nets led 59-57 with 11:06 left in the third quarter. The Nets continued their 12-0 run and took a double digit 67-57 lead with 9:13 left when Schroder hit a three. By the 6:12 mark of the quarter the Brooklyn lead ballooned to 14 at 73-59 when Cam Johnson drained a three. The play became very physical for the next several minutes and the officials’ whistles went silent. The Cavs went on a mini 9-4 run to close the gap to 77-68 when another out of bounds play was challenged by the Nets with 3:07 left on the clock in the third. With 1:40 left Thomas extended the Nets lead back to double digits at 79-68 when he drove the lane with no resistance. When the dust settled, and the clock expired after 36 minutes, the Cavs were in danger of losing their first game of the campaign as they trailed the Nets 82-70. Cleveland was outscored 27-13 in the quarter and looked tired. Thomas led all scorers with 18 points through three, Mitchell paced the Cavs with 17. The Cavs shot 27% (5 of 18), while the Nets shot 48% (10 of 21).

After the Nets turned the ball over on a travel with 10:43 left in regulation Niang hit a layup in the paint with 10:25 left cutting the Brooklyn lead to 85-77. After the Cavs cut the lead to six points the Nets scored the next four to extend the lead back to 10 points at 89-79. The Cavs then cut the lead to six again with 7:46 left LeVert hit a jumper on a fast break. The Cavs briefly cut the lead to four points and then Brooklyn scored in the paint to extend the lead back to six at 91-85. After two consecutive Nets turnovers the Cavs took advantage and cut the Brooklyn lead to 91-89 with 5:31 left on a fast break dunk by LeVert. The Nets did not surrender the lead and scored the next five points to extend the lead to 96-89 with 4:23 remaining on a three by Johnson. Then with 3:04 left the Cavs moved to within one point. After a scrum at the other end and a jump ball Schroder fouled Garland, sending him to the foul line for two shots. Garland drained them both with 2:31 left giving the Cavs a 97-96 lead. With 1:52 left Garland found Mobley in the paint; the big man slammed the ball home giving Cleveland a 99-96 lead. The Cavs lead was cut to 101-100 with 1:05 left on a jumper by Thomas. Jerome responded with a jumper at the other end to put the Cavs up three with :46 left. After a Nets miss and Mobley’s 16th rebound of the game the Cavs got the ball back with :26 left. The Nets then fouled the Cavs twice. The second foul sent Mitchell to the line with :15.6 left. He hit both, giving the Cavs a 105-100 lead. The last hope the Nets had came with :03 left on the clock and Mobley put an end to that hope when he swatted away Dorian Finney-Smith’s shot to end the Brooklyn threat and extend the franchise record win streak to 11 games with a 105-100 win. Garland in an on court post-game interview thanked the crowd, telling them they appreciated them and needed them tonight.

Evan Mobley led the Cavs in scoring with 23 points and had 16 rebounds and one big, blocked shot. Johnson also had 23 points in the losing effort for the Nets. The Cavs had only four players in double figures in the game along with Mobley, Mitchell, Garland and LeVert also reached double figures in the win.

Cleveland outshot the Nets by a wide margin 54% (40 of 74) to 45% (34 of 76). Cleveland shot 78% (14 of 18) in the final 12 minutes after shooting 27% in the third. The Nets did outrebound the Cavs 36-33, but the Cavs produced big rebounds in the final minutes. A huge factor in the win was turnovers as the Nets turned it over 20 times for 26 Cavs points. The Cavs turned it over 16 points which turned into 18 Nets points.

The Cavs will now travel to Chicago to face the Bulls on Monday night at 8 pm. The meeting will be the 235 between the two teams. The Bulls hold a 133-101 edge in the series. However, the Cavs have won 7 of the 8 meetings the last two seasons including 3 of 4 in Chicago at the United Center. The Cavs are 39-79 all-time in Chicago.