The Cavaliers lived a difficult Sunday afternoon on the floor of the penultimate of the Eastern Conference but ensured the essentials by winning the victory, their fifteenth of the season away from home. The fight was indeed much tougher than expected!
The Hornets attacked the game well, feeding on an aggressive defense to earn easy points in transition, with Dennis Smith Jr. in the role of pack leader with three interceptions over the period, and PJ Washington as a finisher ( 12 dots). Caris Levert reduced the gap to -10 in the last second of the first quarter (35-25) and Cleveland was then able to begin its comeback.
The Garland-Mobley tandem worked to bring the Cavs down to -2 (48-46), and if Evan Mobley ate a big counter from Nick Richards, Darius Garland slammed a 3-pointer in stride to make pass his own in the lead (48-49). A short-lived lead as the Hornets responded with an 11-0 with in turn an imperial Nick Richards and an untenable Terry Rozier (59-49).
Far from having arrived, with a 7-point lead at the break (59-52), Charlotte nevertheless held firm on returning from the locker room, doing her best to postpone the deadline, with another Terry Rozier in the oven and in the mill to help offer up to 16 lengths in advance to the locals (89-73)!
Once again, Cleveland pulled away to reduce the mark before the start of the fourth quarter (89-81) before quickly returning to possession, in particular thanks to a 2 + 1 from Ricky Rubio then two baskets from Caris Levert (93-92).
As “money-time” approached, Charlotte ended up cracking up against Evan Mobley, key to the end of the match, notably with two dunks in a row to put Cleveland back in the lead and then take off, not to mention the two interceptions of Donovan Mitchell concluded with two baskets in transition (100-107). The return initiated by the Rozier-Washington-Richards trio was not enough to shake the Cavaliers. The latter relied on Donovan Mitchell to score two “clutch” baskets near the circle while Darius Garland maintained the gap +4 with 10 seconds remaining from the throw line to secure the victory, 114- 108.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The harsh reality for the Hornets. Overall authors of a good performance with aggressive and involved players despite the context and the absence of their star leader. However, as soon as Cleveland went into “come-up” mode in the middle of the third quarter, the Hornets couldn’t do much about it. Add to that a difficult to contain Evan Mobley, two balls stupidly lost at the worst time, and the “clutchitude” of Donovan Mitchell in the mega money-time, and you have a 48th loss in 70 games.
– Terry Rozier tried again. A native of Ohio, the back had already given Cleveland a hard time in the first meeting between the two teams this season, won by the Cavs in double overtime. Terry Rozier notably shone by slamming a 3-pointer at the last second to force a first “overtime”. With 8 seconds remaining as Charlotte was four points behind, he once again tried to maintain the suspense, except that his “catch-and-shoot” ended in airball, signing the end of the hopes of the Hornets .
TOPS/FLOPS
⛔✅ Donovan Mitchell. A model of a leader’s game, in difficulty throughout the game, particularly because of faults, but imperial in the final when it was necessary to seek victory, both in defense with his two interceptions and in attack with his two “clutch” baskets “. 0/6 from 3-pointers, the worst +/- of his team (-13) but he had saved the best for last!
✅Evan Mobley. Same thing for the interior of the Cavs who got worn out and ended up being rewarded at the end of the game. A monumental feint to finish at the dunk on the basket that put Cleveland back in the lead for the last time in the game. It was once again important, especially in the absence of Jarrett Allen, hit in the eye.
✅⛔ Terry Rosier. He held the house for a long time but got a little lost in his hyperactivity, giving up his influence on the game after the break. 8 lost balloons that are a task…
✅⛔ Gordon Hayward. Perhaps this is an instruction from the staff of Steve Clifford who does not particularly want to see him injured again. Still, Gordon Hayward does not really give the impression of straining to have a real impact on the match. A somewhat infuriating senator’s train when you know the much greater influence he can have. The context of this end of the season does not help either. A lost ball that is difficult to forgive with -1 to 5 minutes from the end in front of Donovan Mitchell due to a lack of attention…
THE FOLLOWING
Charlotte (22-48) And Cleveland (43-27) meet at the Spectrum Center for round two this Tuesday night (midnight).
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