Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their seventh straight game, beating the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 129-123 on Sunday night.
Sixth man Ty Jerome added 26 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and Evan Mobley posted 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 22 points for Memphis, Ja Morant paired 20 points with 10 assists and Luke Kennard contributed 19 points off the bench.
The Cavaliers led for most of the evening before their 11-point fourth-quarter advantage was sliced to 124-121 with 42 seconds remaining.
Jackson missed a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left, before Mitchell and Max Strus iced it from the foul line for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers, who were without guard Darius Garland with a left hip contusion, misfired with 2 of 15 3-pointers in the first quarter but a 21-7 rebounding advantage saw them lead 33-29 heading into the second frame.
Cleveland had 10 offensive rebounds for the period and outscored Memphis 10-0 on second-chance points, with Mobley particularly active on the glass.
The Grizzlies scored the first seven points of the second quarter before the Cavs rallied through Mitchell, who had 22 first-half points.
Strus’s bomb on the halftime horn was the first successful three from 10 attempts by any Cleveland player other than Mitchell, and gave the Cavaliers a 62-56 buffer.
Rookie Jaylen Wells knocked down his first four 3-point attempts and the Grizzlies inched into the lead before Mitchell, Mobley and Isaac Okoro restored order for the home side.
A loose-ball wrestle at ground level between Mitchell and Desmond Bane resulted in offsetting double technicals. Those two players were penalized, as were Morant and Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson for getting involved.
The Cavaliers’ 12-5 third-quarter rebounding advantage helped them lead 93-88 going into the fourth.
Jerome caught fire with 14 of Cleveland’s first 17 points of the final period as the Cavs’ advantage grew to double digits.
–Field Level Media
