Cavaliers cut down Nets 112-84 to secure sixth straight win
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Tonight, at Rocket Arena the second half of the season (in reality the final third) began as the Cleveland Cavaliers (35-21, 19-11 home) hosted the lottery bound Brooklyn Nets (15-39, 7-20 road).
The game was the first game after the team had a practice with all the new additions (Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis, James Harden) since the trades were made more than two weeks ago due to travel and the all-star break. The practice paid off early as the Cavs destroyed the Nets 112-84, a final score that is not indicative of the blow out it truly was.
Just 41 seconds into the game and Cavs up 4-0 Nets coach Jordi Fernandez did not like the direction things were going and opted for a very early timeout. Just 2:10 into the game the Cavs led 9-3 when Jarrett Allen was fouled and hit one of two free throws. The Cavs then went up 12-3 with 9:17 remaining when Dean Wade drained his second three of the early going. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden then electrified the crowd when Harden threw up an ally oop pass and Mitchell finished it with a dunk putting the Cavs on top 14-3 with 8:46 left in the opening quarter. With 6:51 left the Cavs were up 18-10 when Harden hit Allen in the paint with a beautiful pass and the big man from Texas finished it off with a dunk. With 5:47 left the Cavs lead was 21-12 after Harden hit Jaylen Tyson and he drained a three from in front of the Cleveland bench. The assist by Harden was his 4 of the first quarter. With 3:12 left in the quarter Allen was already in double figures with 10 points and the Cavs led 29-14. With 1:01 left the Cavs’ lead grew to 18 points when Dennis Schroder hit Sam Merrill at the top of the key and he drained the three. As the first quarter ended the Cavs led 34-16. Allen led all scorers with 10 first quarter points. Noah Clowney and Michael Porter, Jr. led the Nets with six points apiece. The Cavs shot 62% (13 of 21) from the field in the first quarter while the Nets shot a pathetic 24% (6 of 25). The Cavs also outrebounded the Nets 15-7 in the opening quarter.
The Cavs extended their lead to 20 points at 38-18 with 10:45 left in the half when Keon Ellis drove the lane and slammed it home. With 8:35 left, the Cavs had their largest lead to the point when Schroder hit one of two free throws putting the Cavs on top 44-23. After leading by 23 points the Cavs lead shrunk to 19 with 6:52 left in the half and Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson took a timeout. One of the only negatives in the first half was the free throw shooting of Allen as he shot only 5 of 20 from the charity stripe. With 5:25 left the Nets cut the Cavs’ advantage to 15 points when Porter, Jr. scored in the paint. After a Harden turnover his first of the game Egor Demin drained a three on the other end and with 3:37 remining in the second quarter the Cavs lead was cut to 14 points at 56-42. The Cavs took a timeout and then scored the next seven points after taking a 63-42 lead with 2:16 left on the clock. With 1:26 left Allen was in trouble under the basket, and he flipped the ball to Mitchell who slammed it home and was fouled. After hitting the free throw the Cavs lead was 66-45. After a blatant missed call by official Eric Dalen Mitchell clapped in Dalen’s directional and received the expected technical foul with :52 remaining in the opening half. As the two teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime the Cavs led 70-48. Allen led all scorers with 15 first half points. He also led the game on the boards with six rebounds in the opening 24 minutes. Porter, Jr. led the Nets in scoring with 14 points. The Cavs outshot the Nets 64% (27 of 42) to 36% (19 of 58) in the half. The Cavs were also on fire from behind the three-point line as they shot 57% (8 of 14) while the Nets shot just 27% (7 of 26). The Cavs also dominated the boards 28-16.
With 9:46 left on the clock in the third period the Cavs were up 79-50. The second half had turned into a formality. The only drama in the third quarter came with 2:41 left on the clock and the Cavs lead 95-57 and Harden was called for an offensive foul which he disagreed with, and Atkinson challenged the call. The call was not overturned, and Atkinson was unable to challenge for the remainder of the contest. When the quarter ended the Cavs led 102-67. Mitchell was leading all scorers with 17 points. Porter, Jr. was leading Brooklyn with 14 but was held scoreless in the third quarter. The Nets managed only 19 points in the 12-minute span. The Cavs continued to outshoot the Nets 61% (39 of 64) to 35% (25 of 72). Also, Cleveland continued to dominate the boards 41-23 and points in the paint outscoring Brooklyn 48-22 through three.
Atkinson opened the final quarter by clearing his bench starting the final 12 minutes with Schroder, Craig Porter, Jr. Ellis, Tyson and Larry Nance, Jr. on the floor. The final quarter was exactly what was expected, pretty ugly as the Nets outscored the Cavs 17-10 as the Cavs held on to win 112-84.
The 10 point quarter by the Cavs tied the lowest scoring quarter of the season along with who else, the Nets and the Warriors. The Nets did it in the fourth quarter on January 21 against the Knicks. The Warriors achieved the feat in the first quarter on December 4 against the 76ers.
The Cavs will have no rest as they travel to Charlotte to take on the Hornets (26-29, 12-14 home) on Friday night at 7 pm at the Spectrum Center. The meeting with be the fourth and final regular season meeting as the Cavs have won the last two after dropping the first game 119-111 in overtime on December 14 at Rocket Arena.
POSTED 02/19/2026 21:44
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavs point guard James Harden shoots a free throw in the Cavs 112-84 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Rocket Arena on Thursday night. Photo by Tommy Shirer
