The Cavs came, saw, and conquered Paris, and the Brooklyn Nets. They controlled much of the game however the Nets made it an entertaining one in the second half for the packed-out Accor Arena. Donovan Mitchell was too much for the Nets to handle, and the Cavs were able to pull away in the end.
Donovan Mitchell was aggressive early, which set the tone for much of the night. He came out looking for his own shot, and at one point had 12 of the Cavs first 20 points including the first 6 Cavalier points.
This led to the Cavs coming out the gates on a 16-4 run. This lead was hard for the Nets to overcome all night and set the tone for much of the first half with how things would unfold.
While Mitchell helped control the offensive end, the Cavs defense was equally impressive and allowed them to withstand a relatively pedestrian offensive start otherwise. Their individual defense strong, often holding Net players in front of them and dissuading penetration. Additionally, they were often limiting the Nets to one shot attempt and not allowing any second chance points. It was a really strong performance, capped by Jarrett Allen meeting Mikal Bridges at the summit for an incredible first quarter block.
Going along with this, the Nets only had 3 offensive rebounds and 2 second chance points in the first half.
The Cavs held the Nets to 33% shooting from the field, and 0 made 3P in the first quarter. That strong effort carried over into the second quarter with the Nets still shooting only 33% at half and shooting 21% from 3.
Good Caris LeVert showed up early for the Cavs, and helped carry the torch after Mitchell left the game. He had 4 points to end the 1Q and added 8 2Q points along with 1 first half assist. When LeVert’s offense game is working, it’s a tremendous boost to the offense especially with no Darius Garland.
Between LeVert and Mitchell’s creation, the Cavs were able to play off of this effectively with some spot-up shots to help carry them to an overall successful offensive first half.
Sam Merrill had two of his only threes on the night in the 2Q. He missed his next 9 3PA.
Credit to JB Bickerstaff for making a key defensive adjustment late in the 1Q, heading into the 2Q. Cam Thomas came in hot off the bench with 10 points in 4 minutes to provide the Nets with some offensive spark after a lowly start. Seeing this and not wanting the Nets to gather any momentum, quickly put Isaac Okoro back in the game after being out during this spurt. For the next 5 or 6 minutes, Thomas did not score again and only had 1 point the entire 2Q (on an away-from-play free-throw shot). When Thomas was rolling and the Nets could have gotten back into the game, Bickerstaff and Okoro countered.
The Cavs did a really good job in the first half in creating turnovers – 12 of them total for Brooklyn. Overall, they limited the Nets to just 34 1H points.
After going up 26 points in the third quarter and pushing it to their largest lead on the evening, the Nets finally woke up and responded. They went on a 16-8 run and started to find some momentum on both ends of the floor. The Cavs went cold from deep and fell into a bit of iso-ball while the Nets were starting to break through the Cavs defense.
As some teams have tried, the Nets employed the hack-a-Thompson being down 19 late in the 3Q. After two trips to the free-throw line and unsuccessful offensive possessions for the Nets, the Cavs went +1 in this span. Bickerstaff quickly put an end to things by subbing in Allen for Thompson.
For about a 12-minute stretch in the second half, the Nets went on a larger 36-20 run that really cut the Cavs double-digit lead down. They got as close as 7 points but never actually lead the entire game.
As has been customary for the Cavs during this injury-laden stretch, the fourth quarter was their one bad defensive quarter. Luckily, with such a large lead and Mitchell, they were able to sustain it. The 42 fourth quarter points for the Nets ties the most points allowed by a Cavs team this year. The other time they allowed 42 points was in November against the Kings. They’re also just a few games removed from allowed 41 1Q points to the Raptors on New Year’s Day.
Back to the game: Part of the Nets run was the Cavs weren’t converting offensively like they had earlier in the game. With Max Strus out in the 2nd half due to injury, Merrill not hitting, Georges Niang already hitting his couple of customary threes earlier and Dean Wade not even looking at the rim, the Cavs struggled to produce outside of their creators. This led to the offense getting bogged down and relying heavily on iso-offense.
During this stretch, Thomson and Nic Claxton exchanged some French pleasantries after Claxton said a few words in Thompson’s after a dunk which prompted Thompson to chest bump him heading up the court. This caused benches to clear, and Thompson to be ejected. This came at a critical part of the game where the Nets were within 10 and pushing to cut the lead further. The Cavs came out of the scuffle on a quick 6-0 run to stem the tide and keep momentum in their favor.
While the Nets did challenge the Cavs late, the Cavs had the only superstar on the court. Mitchell carried the Cavs late with 21 of his game high 45 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavs put the ball in Mitchell’s hands for most of the 4Q and he delivered. While the offense was predictable and iso-heavy, it didn’t matter tonight as Mitchell was on-fire. At one point, Mitchell put in three straight three-pointers. Oftentimes the best players emerge when the it matters most, and Mitchell emerging allowed the Cavs to escape Paris with a victory.
Allen continued his string of strong play. Despite only getting 5 shot attempts, he finished with his 8th straight double-double. Prior to this stretch, he had 5 double-doubles on the season. Allen also added in 4 blocks, 4 assists and 2 steals.
We gotta get more offense out of Dean Wade. After what looked like finding his way in a small stretch of games, Wade has reverted 17 points in his last 7 games and 150 minutes. Understanding Wade plays his role but the Cavs need Wade to be more aggressive offensively and give them more production up front.
What’s CRAIG! got to do to get some consistent minutes off the bench? One would think a Strus second half injury and Merrill going cold would get CRAIG! some burn but one would be wrong. CRAIG! has now logged 37 minutes in 5 January games. Understanding part of it is too many guards and not enough minutes but squeezing him out of the rotation does not seem like the right move. The Cavs are winning and things are working but they could use some more ball-handling then relying on Mitchell and LeVert as primary creators for 48 minutes.
Up next: The Cavs head home Monday to take on the Bulls at 7PM (ET).
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