Diving deeper into Cavs narrow 125-121 victory over the Nets

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers nearly fumbled a 22-point fourth-quarter lead as they defeated the Brooklyn Nets 125-121 in their home opener.

Three stars of the game

First star: Michael Porter Jr.

28 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals

Being an off-ball scoring threat on an otherwise inept offense is difficult. Ideally, Porter would be creating looks through his movement and receiving passes from someone that actually requires defensive attention — say, Nikola Jokic. Instead, Porter has to work off Egor Demin and Julius Randle, which isn’t always the easiest task.

However, Porter made that look easy this game. He was disruptive off-ball, drawing the defense’s attention away from the play, and when he did get an opening, he made the most of it. This was on top of being an impactful defender.

Second star: Jarrett Allen

21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal

Allen was limited to 27 minutes, presumably because of the knee injury he is playing through, but made the most of his time on the court. He was aggressive attacking in the pick-and-roll when the Nets blitzed the ball handler, and even threw in a three-point make from the top of the arc.

Aside from maybe the three-point attempt, this was exactly what you want to see from Allen. And the Cavs were once again better off because he was a meaningful part of the offensive attack.

Third star: Donovan Mitchell

22 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal

Mitchell’s scoring is in midseason form. There are things you could criticize him for in these first two games— particularly the turnovers — but scoring isn’t one of them.

The shotmaking has felt effortless at the start of the season. He’s doing a good job of creating space off the dribble, allowing him to score at all three levels. Interestingly enough, Mitchell isn’t hunting off-the-dribble threes as much as we’ve seen in the past. He’s only taken 10 triples through two games, with most of them being catch-and-shoot threes. The three-point volume is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Dud of the game

Day’Ron Sharpe

7 points, 1 assist, 8 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls

This was a tough game for Sharpe. Defensively, he struggled to contain Allen and Evan Mobley — who had a good game in his own right — and fouled James Harden twice on three-point attempts. This all led to him fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

Offensively, he struggled to make much of an impact against Cleveland’s bigs. He went just 3-for-10 from the field while turning it over three times.

Cavalier who deserves a shoutout

Jaylon Tyson

15 points, 4 assists, 1 steal

Tyson provided a solid contribution off the bench. He played with energy, knocked down some threes, and did a good job finding open teammates as a connector. This was basically an ideal game for him.

Play of the game

Assists like this show why Harden is one of the best passers in NBA history. Few guards would’ve seen this angle, let alone been able to fit the ball into such a tight window.

This was a bright spot in what was an overall a poor showing from Harden.

Quote of the day

“This is a building block. It’s time spent. It’s adversity. I think Joe Mazzulla said something like everybody loves each other in training camp. But you understand, like hey, come December, come January, and we’re missing shots…who are we then? That all comes in the regular season.”

– Donovan Mitchell on the early season struggles

Stat of the game

The Cavs have been outscored 73-45 combined in the fourth quarter through two games.

Late game execution has left a lot to be desired.

This game will be remembered for the Cavaliers not learning their lesson from Thursday

The Cavs didn’t give up their 22-point fourth-quarter lead, but it didn’t stop them from trying. The Nets cut the deficit down to two by winning the fourth quarter in the closing minute before the Cavs iced the game at the free-throw line. Brooklyn won the final frame 41-29.

The Cavaliers spent the time since Thursday’s loss to the Sixers talking about how they need to do a better job of handling leads. They didn’t do that here. If they were playing a team that was slightly more competent than the Nets, they likely would’ve dropped this one as well.

The Cavs are clearly a work in progress. They’re incorporating new pieces into the rotation that will take some time. However, it’s impossible to feel great about what you’ve seen so far — particularly in their first two fourth quarters.