Cavs Lock in 1st Win of the 2025-26 Campaign Against Nets

Jarett Allen also finished with 22 points, going 8-of-11 from the floor to go with seven boards, four assists and a pair of steals. Evan Mobley rounded out the starters in double-figures with 13 points, adding a team-best eight boards, five assists and a pair of blocks. 

*** Before leaving the Big Apple, the Cavaliers righted the early-season ship and looked more like themselves before heading home, cracking the win column with a wild 131-124 win over the scrappy Nets on Friday at Barclays Center. 

From the start, it looked like the Cavs would coast to their first victory of the season, taking a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game and holding it through three quarters – expanding their edge to as many as 25 points in the third period and leading by 22 heading into the fourth. 

But Brooklyn came storming back in the final quarter, and when rookie guard Egor Demin drilled a three-pointer with 3:50 to play, the Nets found themselves down by just a single point, 121-120. That was as close as they’d get, however, with Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell drilling big buckets down the stretch and Sam Merrill canning four straight free throws in the closing moments to seal the deal. 

Mitchell topped the 30-point mark for the second straight game to start the season – leading both teams with 35 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-10 from long-distance, adding five helpers and three steals. Sam Merrill also drilled six three-pointers in the win, going 6-of-11 from the field in his second straight start. 

Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. each topped the 30-point plateau for Brooklyn, with 33 and 31 points respectively, and Ziaire Williams adding 25 points in 27 minutes of action off the bench. 

“We know what we’re capable of, we went on runs like that last year and we’ll have hopefully a bunch more like that this year,” said Merrill, who’s now 11-for-20 from three-point range through his first two games. “We’ve got to find a way – when we’re up 22 at the end of the third quarter, got to find a way to clean that up. But that’s obviously not all on us; they made a lot of shots in that fourth quarter. But we definitely know what we’re capable of.” 

*** Still missing rotational players – Darius Garland, Max Strus and De’Andre Hunter – the Cavaliers got another nice lift from their second unit. 

Craig Porter Jr. scored 14 points in 14 minutes of work, going 6-of-7 from the field, drilling both three pointers to go with a pair of boards and assists. Lonzo Ball didn’t connect on a field goal in his 22 minutes off the bench, but again led Cleveland in assists, handing out a team-high eight dimes. Larry Nance Jr. added nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and Dean Wade chipped in with six points and six rebounds. 

*** Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor on Friday night – Cleveland, 54 percent; Brooklyn, 52 percent – but the Wine and Gold attempted 35 free throws to just seven for the Nets. The Cavaliers scored 45 points in the third quarter; the Nets, who never led on Friday, scored 35 in the third period and 38 in the fourth.  

*** The Cavaliers (1-1) return to Cleveland for the home opener on Sunday night, welcoming Giannis and the Bucks to town. Cleveland gets right back on the road from there as their tough early road schedule continues, traveling to face the Pistons in Motown on Tuesday night and the Celtics in Boston on Thursday. The Wine & Gold close out the month of October on Halloween night next Friday against Toronto at Rocket Arena - an NBA Cup game.