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The 31-22 Cleveland Cavaliers took on the 32-19 Memphis Grizzlies at home. Despite losing Donovan Mitchell in the third, the Cavs would still win big, 128-113.
Before the game started TNT announced the all-star reserves. Memphis had two all-stars named, Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. The Cavs did not have anyone named (outside of Donovan Mitchell, who was named as a starter last week).
The Grizzlies were in the latter of back-to-back games, the first being a 10 point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. They were without a few starters because of this. Steven Adams and Jackson Jr were the most prominent two.
The Cavs were without just one key contributor, Caris LeVert.
The Cavs won the tipoff and quickly put up 5 points from one of the big all-star snubs, Darius Garland.
The rest of the first quarter was tight. High energy play sparked the Cavaliers. They were running the fast break well and playing with pace. Garland led the way with 14 first quarter points while Evan Mobley had 9 to go with 8 rebounds.
The Grizzlies were able to match the pace for most of the quarter. They were led by Morant who had 8 and Brandon Clarke, who put up 6 off the bench.
The start of the second quarter was similar to the first. Fast paced and tightly contested. It wasn’t until later that the Cavs would explode. They went on a 15-0 run thanks to some stellar defense and active hands from everyone. They also made the most of their fast break chances to give them a 67-54 lead at half.
Outside of Garland and Mobley again, the ones leading the way in the second were Cedi Osman and Jarrett Allen. Allen had 8 and 5 rebounds at half while Osman had 13 with 2 steals.
Morant got into some foul trouble in the first half, so the ones keeping Memphis alive were Desmond Bane who had 11 and Santi Aldama, who was filling in for Jackson Jr. He had 16 and 6 rebounds.
Tensions were rising in the third quarter. The Cavs led by just 5 with about six minutes left when a fight broke out. Dillon Brooks swung his arm after getting his shot blocked and hit Donovan Mitchell below the belt. Mitchell threw the ball at Brooks and threw him to the ground. A swarm of players, coaches and staff all gathered to try and control the situation. Both players were ejected from the game.
Garland and the rest of the squad played with more intensity from then on. They extended their lead to 10 before Desmond Bane and Cedi Osman got into a little scuffle of their own, which led to a technical foul on Bane.
By the end of the third the Cavs led 99-87. Garland was up to 30 with 10 assists while Allen and Mobley had double doubles and Osman had 15.
For the Grizzlies, Morant was up to 18 at the end of the 3rd and Bane had 22.
The Cavs took over in the fourth quarter. Ricky Rubio commanded the second unit well late in the game. He scored 11 of his 13 and it helped the Cavs cruise to the win in the fourth.
There were a lot of star players for Cleveland as six Cavaliers were in the double digits. The two who stood out though were Darius Garland with 32 and 11 assists and Evan Mobley with 17 and 14 rebounds.
The key players for Memphis were Desmond Bane (25), Ja Morant (24/8/8) and Santi Aldama (21/10).
Cleveland will be back in action on Sunday when they take on the 24-28 Indiana Pacers.
The Grizzlies will play next on Sunday when they take on the 23-30 Toronto Raptors.
