CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers built a 22-point lead and then had to survive the final seconds of it, holding off the Brooklyn Nets 125-121 on Saturday night, Oct. 24, in their home opener at Rocket Arena for their first win of the season.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Jarrett Allen added 21 points and eight rebounds, Evan Mobley finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaylon Tyson scored 15 points off the bench. James Harden collected 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Cavaliers improved to 1-1.
Cleveland took control before halftime. After Brooklyn briefly led 45-44 in the second quarter, the Cavaliers closed the half on a run that carried them to a 68-54 lead at the break, and a Tyson 3-pointer pushed the margin to 104-82 with 9:29 left in the game — the largest lead of the night.
Brooklyn refused to fold. Egor Demin scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three 3-pointers in 47 seconds during one stretch, and Michael Porter Jr., who led the Nets with 28 points and nine rebounds, buried a 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds left to cut Cleveland’s lead to 123-121. Porter fouled out on the next possession, and Sam Merrill made two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to close it out.
Julius Randle added 23 points for the winless Nets, who fell to 0-2. The finish was uncomfortably familiar for Cleveland: a night earlier in Philadelphia, the Cavaliers had squandered a 29-point lead and lost 114-106 to the 76ers, and head coach Kenny Atkinson pointed to the possession game afterward, saying his team lost it by 16 and has to clean up turnovers and rebounding.
There were oddities throughout. Day’Ron Sharpe was ejected after two flagrant fouls, both on Harden 3-point attempts, and Demin and Cleveland’s Peyton Watson also fouled out. Mitchell was struck on the head by Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. in the first quarter, briefly delaying the game while he lay under the basket, but he stayed in and finished as Cleveland’s top scorer.
The win steadies Cleveland after the opening-night collapse and gives the home crowd a first look at a rotation still settling in, with Watson scoring 11 points in his home debut. The Cavaliers shot 50.6 percent from the field and went 29 of 38 at the free-throw line.
Cleveland stays home next, hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, Oct. 26, at Rocket Arena. Brooklyn returned home to face the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.