Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 149-135 on Friday night.
Evan Mobley scored 26 points, Darius Garland contributed 25 points, Caris LeVert had 13 off the bench and Dean Wade returned from missing one game with 11 points for Cleveland, which set a season best for points in its sixth straight win.
Nikola Jokic notched his NBA-best 12th triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, Jamal Murray also scored 27 points and tied a season high with 11 assists and Michael Porter Jr. and Peyton Watson scored 18 each for Denver, which allowed a season high in points.
Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon missed the game with a right calf strain suffered in Wednesday’s 110-100 loss at Phoenix. Russell Westbrook started in his place and scored 11 points, Julian Strawther also had 11 and Christian Braun scored 16
The Cavaliers led by 15 at halftime. Denver got within 12 early in the third but the lead swelled to 96-77 when Mitchell made two free throws with 7:46 left in the quarter.
The Nuggets trimmed the lead back down to 107-93 on Braun’s first 3-pointer of the game but LeVert drained two from deep to give Cleveland a 113-93 lead, and the Cavaliers took a 116-101 advantage into the fourth.
With Jokic on the bench, Denver made a push to begin the final period. Watson hit a 3-pointer and DeAndre Jordan slammed home an alley-oop but Mobley hit a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws to make it 122-108, and a tip-in by Allen and a fastbreak dunk made it 134-115 with 6:41 left, and Cleveland closed it out.
Denver led 53-50 early in the second quarter but the Cavaliers scored 16 straight points to take control. Garland scored nine of his 15 points in the first half over the final 7:16 and Mitchell hit two 3-pointers to stake Cleveland to an 18-point lead.
The Cavaliers took an 80-65 lead into intermission.
–Field Level Media
