Cleveland Cavaliers overcome 16-point deficient, beat Charlotte Hornets 114-108

This recap is brought to you by Hinckley Roofing: https://hinckleyroofing.com/

The 42-27 Cleveland Cavaliers went on the road to take on the 22-47 Charlotte Hornets. Cleveland came back in the fourth quarter to win the game 114-108.

The Cavs were without center Jarrett Allen, who exited their last game against Miami with an eye contusion. 

The Hornets were without a handful of players, including Kelly Oubre Jr, who had been on a hot streak since star player LaMelo Ball’s injury.

The Cavs won the tipoff and Donovan Mitchell scored 7 points with ease in the first 3 minutes. The Hornets stayed right with them though, thanks in part to 2 blocks from Nick Richards on Evan Mobley. Richards had 5 blocks in his last game.

Late in the first, the Hornets went on a 14-0 run. Terry Rozier and Dennis Smith Jr both had two steals during the stretch. The fast break opportunities were huge in the Hornets building a 29-15 lead. 

The Hornets led 35-25 after the first quarter. The defense led the way for the offense to find success. They had 5 steals and 3 blocks. P.J. Washington led the way in scoring with 12 points, shooting 5/5.

For Cleveland, shooting was a huge issue offensively. They shot 2/9 from deep and 43.5% total. Mitchell scored 7 and Darius Garland scored 6 to lead the way.

The second half was very different for Cleveland. They were able to regain the lead right around 4 minutes remaining, 49-48. Six early turnovers for Charlotte gave the Cavs their chance.

The next two minutes were back to all Hornets. And-one chances for Richards and Rozier gave them a 57-49 lead.

The rest of the half was quiet, Charlotte led 59-52 by the end. Darius Garland was the spark plug for the Cavs. He had 19 first half points, while Caris Levert had 9.

For the Hornets, Washington had 15 points, while Rozier had 12 and 3 steals and Richards had 9 with 3 blocks.

The third quarter was full of ups and downs for Cleveland. They could not slow down Rozier as he put up 13 points in the quarter, giving him 25 in the game. At one point Charlotte led by 16.

Garland went up to 25 points and Mitchell went up to 13 by the end of the third. They trailed 89-81.

The fourth quarter started well for the Cavs. They came back to tie the game at 94-94. Ricky Rubio was a big part of that, scoring 9 during their run to give him 11 total points.

The rest of the fourth was the Donovan Mitchell show. He ended the game with 23 points, hitting multiple clutch shots and getting two fourth quarter steals. Cleveland won the game 114-108.

The stars for Cleveland were Donovan Mitchell with 23 and Darius Garland with 28. Caris Levert (15 points) and Ricky Rubio (11 points) also made big impacts, sparking the comeback and turning the momentum.

For Charlotte, the stars were Terry Rozier who had 27, P.J. Washington who had 19 and Nick Richards who had 15 with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday as they play each other for a second time in a row.