Evan Mobley collected 23 points and 16 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers, who trailed by 12 entering the fourth quarter, extended their season-opening winning streak to 11 with a 105-100 victory over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
Cleveland became the first team to open 11-0 since the Golden State Warriors won their first 24 in 2015-16 en route to a 73-9 finish. The Cavaliers earned their fourth single-digit victory, facing their stiffest challenge to date after blowing a 15-point lead in the first half.
Mitchell hit four 3s and scored 15 as the Cavaliers were 12-of-16 shooting from the floor (75 percent) and held a 34-28 lead through the opening quarter. Mobley’s turnaround hook shot gave Cleveland its first double-digit lead at 47-37 with 7:12 left in the half, and Garland’s transition 3 upped the lead to 52-37 less than a minute later.
Donovan Mitchell added 22 and Darius Garland contributed 20 as Cleveland outscored the Nets 35-18 in the fourth quarter and scored 26 of their 56 points in the paint in the final period. The Cavaliers shot 54.1 percent overall from the field and made 14 of 18 shots (77.8 percent) in the final 12 minutes.
Cameron Johnson paced the Nets with 23 points while Dennis Schroder and Cam Thomas added 22 apiece for Brooklyn, which took the Boston Celtics to overtime on Friday.
Brooklyn held an 82-70 lead into the fourth and a 96-89 lead with 4:23 left on a 3 by Johnson following an offensive rebound by Nic Claxton. The Cavs then outscored the Nets 16-5 the rest of the way.
The Cavaliers took their first lead since halftime on two Garland free throws with 2:31 left, and answered two free throws by Schroder with a tough runner by Garland in the lane with 84 seconds left.
After Thomas sank an 11-footer with 65 seconds left, Ty Jerome hit a short jumper with 46.2 seconds left and Schroder missed a contested 3 with 29.8 seconds left. Mitchell hit two free throws to seal the win.
Cleveland took a 52-37 lead on Garland’s 3-pointer with 6:30 remaining but the Nets ended the first half with a 17-5 run to get within 57-55. Brooklyn scored the first 12 points of the third and outscored the Cavaliers 27-13 in the quarter before wilting down the stretch.
–Field Level Media
