Second Half Surge Sends 146-134 Victory at Rocket Arena

*** Saturday’s matinee matchup at Rocket Arena was a tale of two halves, and the Wine and Gold simply took over after intermission – grabbing control of the contest in the third quarter and blowing it open in the fourth, avenging a Thursday night road loss with a convincing 146-134 victory back in Cleveland. 

Cleveland’s offense was humming on Saturday, with five players topping the 20-point plateau (for just the second time in franchise history) and the Cavs shooting 60 from the floor and 50 percent from long-distance, piling up 83 points in the second stanza and eclipsing the 140-point mark for the third time this season. 

Minnesota took a 12-point lead early in the second quarter and led through most of the first half, but Cleveland used a 12-0 run early in the third quarter to take a nine-point edge. The T-Wolves whittled the deficit down to just a deuce later in the period, but the Cavs used a 10-run to give themselves enough room to coast to the finish line from there. 

Every Cavaliers starter tallied at least 16 points, and were led by Donovan Mitchell, who paced both teams with 28 points, going 9-for-21 from the field, 4-of-9 from long-distance and 6-of-7 from the stripe, sharing the team lead with eight assists in the win. Mitchell has now drilled 139 three-pointers on the season, one more than Steph Curry for the NBA lead. 

Evan Mobley followed up with 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting, adding four boards, three assists and a pair of steals. Darius Garland chipped in with 22 points and six assists, going 10-for-13 from the floor. Garland didn’t commit a single turnover on Saturday and has committed just four miscues (compared to 24 assists) over his last four outings. 

Kenny Atkinson praised his point guard, who’s started finding his old form. “As a team, we’d been turning it over too much. And when your point guard is taking care of the ball, that’s huge. (Darius) works in concert with those bigs. And I thought J.A. was sticking screens tonight, Evan was sticking screens. I always say: he’s a traditional point guard who can get you 30 points because of his passing ability. It’s great to see, because his turnovers are down and we’re up as a team.” 

Sam Merrill continued his assault from beyond the arc – going 5-of-6 from long-range, finishing with 20 points to go with a game-best three steals. The 5^th-year man from Utah State has now connected on four or more triples in five straight games – combining for 25 three-pointers while shooting 58 percent from deep over that stretch. 

Jarrett Allen finished with 16 points and grabbed double-digit rebounds in his fifth straight game – grabbing a team-high 11 boards for his third straight double-double, fifth in his last six outings. Over that six-game stretch, J.A. is averaging 16.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per. 

Overall, the committed just 10 turnovers on the night, handed out 30 assists for the third straight game, stacked up 68 points in the paint and were 21-of-25 from the stripe. 

Minnesota wasn’t bad offensively either on Saturday – shooting 57 percent from the floor and 50 percent from long-range. Anthony Edwards led three Timberwolves with at least 20 points – finishing with 25 points on 10-of-24 shooting. Ruby Gobert led both teams with 12 rebounds and three blocks in the loss. 

*** The Cavs got solid production from most of their bench, and excellent production from one reserve in particular – Jaylon Tyson, who finished with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, drilling all four three-pointers that he attempted  and leading the second unit with a +14 mark in 26 minutes of work. 

Craig Porter Jr. didn’t score a single point, but still played a strong floor game – grabbing six boards and tying the team-lead with eight assists. 

*** With the victory, the Cavs have now won four of their last five against Western Conference foes and have gone 5-1 over their last six here at Rocket Arena. 

*** After splitting the two-game set with Minnesota, the Cavaliers welcome the Jazz to town for a Monday night matchup. From there, it’s back on the road – traveling to Philadelphia for a pair against the Sixers on Wednesday and Friday night. The Cavs return for a big MLK Day matinee against the Thunder before traveling to Tobacco Road for a Wednesday night meeting with the Hornets.