CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The streak goes on.
Darius Garland scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Cavs from an 18-point second half deficit in a 109-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Rocket Arena.
Here’s the top Wine & Gold nuggets from Tuesday night.
Central casting – The Cavs clinched the Central division title with the win. “We definitely appreciate it,” Garland said. “I asked Koby [Altman] if it was going to be a banner in the practice facility after we won this, so he said it will be, but the division really means a lot to us. But like me and Don keep saying, we haven't done nothing yet. When the playoffs come around, that's when we start talking a little bit. But regular season means something to us, but winning that ring, that's what really matters to us.” It’s the eighth divisional title for the franchise and first since the 2017-18 season. “That's still something to celebrate,” center Jarrett Allen said. “I mean, celebrate the small victories. We did something fantastic and have fun tonight and then get back to work in a couple of days.” Cleveland is the first team in the league to lock up their division and home floor for the first two rounds of the playoffs. “Division champion's pretty cool,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I know us old school guys, we like that. Maybe not so much for the new generation, but that means something. We'll put a banner up in our practice facility… We want bigger things and we all know we want the playoffs, but I think we'll look back on this and say it's pretty incredible accomplishment.”
Still streaking – This is the sixth time in NBA history a team tallied multiple win streaks of 15 or more in a row in the same season. The Cavs are the seventh team to start 55-10 or better in NBA history as well. “Having started the season with 15 in a row and do it at this juncture of the season with fatigue and teams like Brooklyn coming off the airplane super hard and trying to, people trying to knock us off,” Atkinson said. “It's really quite an accomplishment.”
Comeback kids – Tuesday’s 18-point come-from-behind win was the 12th after trailing by double-digits this season. It was also Cleveland’s fifth victory when trailing by 15 or more. “We just let them get ahead of us earlier,” Allen said. “We've been doing this all season. We really need to stop doing it where we come out a little lethargic in the first and second and decide to pick it up in the third.”
In the clutch – Garland turned it around in the fourth. After making just 4 of 14 shots hrough three quarters, Garland hit 7 of his last 10 in the final 12 minutes. “Clutch player of the year,” Atkinson said. “I mean he just does it in the fourth quarter. He's done it all year.”
Bigs night – Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen kept the boat afloat for much of the night. Mobley tallied 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists while Alen finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Tide turner – Isaac Okoro gave the Cavs their first lead since the first quarter with a layup with 6:17 to play. It was the Cavs first lead since the 2:29 mark of the opening quarter. The Cavs outscored Brooklyn 34-18 over the final 12:02.
Half court heave – Craig Porter Jr. banked in a half-court shot as time expired to end the third quarter to pull the Cavs within 8 of the Nets, 86-78. “We probably don't win without that shot and the crowd got, he hits it, I think the crowd gets into it,” Atkinson said. “I mean CP has been really stellar in our extra work group and I don't say that lightly because we watch it. We keep an eye on it. I watch all the games and he's been great. So it didn't surprise me that he played well.” Porter finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in over 14 minutes.
Down 3 – Cleveland was without Donovan Mitchell (groin), De'Andre Hunter (illness) and Ty Jerome (rest) Tuesday night.
Starting 5 – Atkinson started Darius Garland, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Issac Okoro, and Jarrett Allen.
