Cavaliers tie franchise record streak at 15 with 109-104 comeback win over Nets

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Tuesday night the Cleveland Cavaliers (55-10, 30-4 home) hosted the Brooklyn Nets (22-43, 12-22 away) at Rocket Arena. The Cavs entered the game on a 14-game winning streak. A win on Tuesday night would match the franchise record 15-game win streak that the Cavs set to open the season. The Cavs overcame another large deficit, this time 18 points to extend the streak to 15 games for the second time this season with a 109-104 win.

The Cavs were missing De’Andre Hunter (illness), Ty Jerome (rest), Donovan Mitchell (groin soreness). The game was close early on with 7:05 left in the opening quarter. Max Strus tied the game 14-14 with a long three from the corner. The Nets took a 16-14 lead with 5:06 left when Nic Claxton dropped in a layup. Just 23 seconds later Jarrett Allen was fouled, hit both free throws and tied the game 16-16. The Cavs then took an 18-16 lead when Cragi Porter, Jr drove the lane and scored with 4:27 left. With 2:56 left in the quarter Brooklyn retook the lead 21-20 on a three from Tyrese Martin. With the Cavs leading 22-21 the Nets scored the next four points to take a 25-22 lead with 1:45 left in the opening quarter. With the game tied and no time left, Jalen Wilson hit a three to give the Nets a 29-26 lead. Ziaire Williams led all scorers with nine points in the first quarter. Evan Mobley paced the Cavs with eight first quarter points. Both teams shot over 50% in the first 12 minutes.

With 7:55 left in the second quarter and the Cavs were down 38-33 and after a Mobley block Javante Green took the ball full court to dunk and blew the dunk. The Nets responded on a fast break and with 7:47 left Wilson dropped in a layup and the Nets led 40-33. With 7:02 left and some terrible work on the boards by the Cavs after a couple of Nets misses Brooklyn took a 43-33 when Cam Johnson hit a three. The Cavs continued to stumble with 5:35 left the Nets took a 49-36 lead on a step back jumper by Cam Johnson. Cavs floor boss Kenny Atkison took an immediate timeout in hope to kill the momentum of his former club. With 3:48 left in the first half Darius Garland cut the Nets lead to 53-43 when he drove the lane and hit a jumper. Unfortunately for the Cavs they were playing little defense and the Nets scored four straight point, and their lead was back at 14 points with 3:09 left in the opening half. Then with 2:28 left Cam Thomas hit a triple giving the Nets a 60-45 lead. The first quarter was summed up with 1:09 left when the Cavs turned the ball over on a shot clock violation when Dean Wade’s shot was blocked. When time ran out the Nets led 63-50. Thomas led everyone in scoring with 16 first half points. Mobley was leading the Cavs with 14. The Nets shot 53% (23 of 44) in the first half from the field while the Cavs shot just 45% (19 of 42). The Nets were also beating the Cavs on the boards 23-19. A big problem for the Cavs in the first half was their seven turnovers which resulted in 11 Nets points.

With 9:48 left in the third, the Cavs turned the ball over for the eighth time and the Nets took advantage to take a 68-53 lead. Then with 9:22 things began to look really bleak as the Nets extended their lead to 71-53 on a three by Williams. With 7:24 left in the third and Brooklyn up 73-57 the Cavs committed their ninth turnover. With 6:19 left the Cavs cut the lead to 73-62. Nets coach Jordi Fernandez took an immediate timeout. With 5:10 left the Cavaliers cut the deficit to 75-66 on an Allen put back. Then with 4:25 left Garland trimmed the Nets lead to 75-68. The Nets then scored four straight points to take a 79-68 lead stealing back any of the momentum the Cavs had. With 2:16 left the Cavs turned the ball over on a horrible pass. It was the 11th turnover of the game. The quarter ended on a positive note with the Cavs down 86-75 Porter hit a long three at the buzzer to cut the Brooklyn lead to 86-78. Thomas was leading all scorers with 22 points through three quarters. Allen was leading Cleveland with 20. The big story aside from the turnovers through three quarters was the Cavs shooting from long range as they were shooting only 26% (9 of 35).

With 11:13 left in the final quarter Garland cut the Nets lead to 86-81 when he hit a three from the top of the arc. With 8:39 left Garland scored in the paint and was fouled. Garland hit the free throw, and the Cavs trailed 93-90. Then after Brooklyn turnover Garland drove all the way to the other end to cut the Nets lead to one point at 93-92 with 8:08 remaining in regulation. The crowd was ignited by the Cavs surge. With 7:37 left the Cavs tied the score 94-94 on a layup by Allen. Then with 6:25 left Cleveland came all the way back when Isaac Okoro drove the lane and gave the Cavs a 96-94 lead. With 5:14 left the Cavs took a 98-94 lead after a turnover by the Nets. The Nets then cut the lead to 98-97 on a three by Cam John with 4:54 left. With 4:40 left Allen was fouled. The Nets took a timeout after Allen missed the first of two free throws. After the timeout Allen hit the second free throw, and the Cavs led 99-97. With 3:04 left after a Cavs timeout Garland put the Cavs ahead 101-97 when he drove the lane and scored. With 2:08 left Cam Johnson cut the Cavs lead to 101-99. The next time down the floor the Cavs turned the ball over. When the Nets came down the floor the ball went out of bounds with 1:37 left. The ball clearly went off the Nets Cam Johnson, the official said it went off Okoro. Atkinson challenged the call. Atkinson won the challenge and the Cavs took possession. Neither team was successful on their next possession. With :51.8 left, Garland drove the lane and scored giving Cleveland a 103-99 lead. Brooklyn took an immediate timeout to talk it over. With :31.4 left Garland was called for an offensive foul. Atkinson challenged the call immediately and was successful, the Cavs retained possession. Williams was charged with his sixth fouled and left game escorted by the “Goodbye” chant from the Cleveland fans. Garland hit both free throws to give Cleveland a 105-99 lead. With just :22.7 left in the game Thomas hit a three to pull the Nets to within 105-102. The Nets immediately fouled Max Strus. He hit both free throws, he hit both, Cavs led 107-102. The Cavs then fouled the Nets, they hit both and the score was 107-104 with :14.3 and the Cavs had possession and called a timeout getting the ball at half court after the timeout. Strus was fouled with :13.8 left he hit both giving the Cavs a 109-104 lead. The Nets could not score, and the Cavs secured the 109-104 win.

Garland led all scorers with 30 points which included 18 in the fourth quarter. Garland also had eight assists. Allen notched his 36th double double of the season and 225th of his career as he scored 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Mobley finished with 21 points, nine boards and six assists. Thomas led the Nets in a losing effort with 27 points.

With the victory the Cavs clinched their eighth Central Division title, seven of which have come in the last 17 years.

The Cavs will have a couple of days off before they travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Friday at 8 pm at the FedEx Forum. The meeting will be the second between the two teams. The Cavs won the first meeting on February 23 129-123. The Cavaliers hold the all-time series 35-21 going back to when the Grizzlies franchise was located in Vancouver from 1995 to 2001. The Grizzlies do hold an advantage over the Cavs at home (Vancouver & Memphis) 15-13.