Cavs Hold Off Kings in 123-118 Victory

But again, the Kings rallied back, taking a one-point advantage with four minutes to play in regulation. Donovan Mitchell’s pull-up jumper one minute later put the Cavaliers back in front, where they’d remain the rest of the way – outscoring the Kings, 10-4, over the final three minutes. 

Mitchell led both teams with 33 points, his 23^rd game this season topping the 30-point plateau, going 11-for-25 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the stripe, adding five boards and a game-high-tying eight assists. Over his last three outings – and with starting point guard Darius Garland still nursing an injured toe – Mitchell has handed out a combined 25 dimes. 

Mobley was a beast on both ends in Friday’s win. 

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year was playing downhill all night and was virtually unstoppable at the rim – finishing with a season-high 29 points on 13-of-24 shooting, adding a team-high 13 boards and a season-high eight assists. Mobley also swatted four Kings offerings – giving him 19 blocked shots over his last six games. Friday night also marked Mobley’s second straight double-double, 17^th on the season. 

Mitchell praised his young teammate following Friday’s win. 

“In this game, (Evan) was like: ‘I’m just gonna go attack’ – and that’s what we like to see,” said the six-time All-Star. “A lot of times, we just want him to go and be aggressive. And that’s what he was – for 48 minutes tonight. And he made some good decisions. You can live with some mistakes, but that’s what you want to see out of him. Not so much us giving it to him, but him saying: ‘I’m going downhill, they can’t stop me from getting into the paint. If they bring three at me, I make the pass. If not, I’ll finish.’ And he did it for 48 minutes, that was the most amazing part of what I saw tonight.”

Sophomore Jaylon Tyson got the start and pitched in with and was solid on both ends as well – chipping in with 17 points, seven boards and four assists, going 6-for-14 from the floor, 3-of-5 from long-range. Tyson, who’s now notched double-figure scoring in seven straight contests, is shooting .459 from beyond the arc – currently the fourth-best mark in the NBA this season. 

Jarrett Allen rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 15 points and nine boards, doing most of his damage from the stripe, where he was 9-of-10, adding a pair of steals and a blocked shot in the win. 

Both teams drilled 13 triples on the night, but the long-range shooting after half told the story. After connecting on 9-of-15 from deep before the break, Sacramento went just 4-of-18 afterward. The Cavaliers, conversely, finished 5-of-12 in the second stanza. 

Cleveland dominated the paint on Friday, 52-36, grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and committed just seven miscues – tied for a season-low. 

The Kings got most of their offensive production from their second unit on Friday, with their reserves accounting for 73 of their 118 points. Domantas Sabonis led Sacramento with 24 points and both teams with 16 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench on Friday. 

*** After dropping the Kings on Friday night, the Wine & Gold face off against the Magic for their next two – traveling to the Sunshine State to complete the back-to-back on Saturday night before welcoming Orlando back to Cleveland for a Monday night matchup. On Wednesday, it’s a visit from LeBron, Luka and the Lakers in the final game before Cleveland hits the road for the first West Coast trip of the year – with stops in Phoenix, Portland, L.A., Sacramento and Denver on the docket.

*** When Evan Mobley is cooking on both ends like he was on Friday night, the Cavaliers are a tough team to beat. When he and Donovan Mitchell both have it cooking, that task becomes nearly impossible. 

Mobley and Mitchell came out firing on Friday night, and Cleveland’s defense locked down on Sacramento after intermission – holding off a stubborn Kings squad down the stretch for the 123-118 victory at Rocket Arena, the Cavs fourth win in their last five tries. 

The Cavs were ready to rumble from the opening tip against Sacramento – scoring the game’s first 11 points and taking a 16-2 edge less than four minute into the game. The Kings came roaring back to tie the affair after one quarter, and both squads went toe-to-toe from there. The Cavs took control after intermission and looked to be in control early in the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead.