Cavaliers honor four greats, then get blown out by Nets 120-101

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Sunday in a ceremony prior to the game the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated their rich history by inducting four new members into the team’s wall of honor. The four inductees include Chuck Broski (statistician 1970 - present), Broski has been with Cavs since they played at the Cleveland Arena and has served as the head statistician. Broski was also on the stats crew for all three NBA All-Star games in Cleveland in 1981, 1997 and 2022 as well as running the stats during all five Cavs NBA Finals appearances including the 2016 Championship. Jim Chones (1974-79 player, 1988-1998 TV analyst, 2007- present radio analyst). Mike Mitchell (1978-81) and Terrell Brandon (1991-97 player).

The Cavs (41-22, 22-11 home) then welcomed the Brooklyn Nets (25-39, 9-21 away) to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The meeting was the fourth between the two teams this season with the Cavs winning the first three, two in Brooklyn and the other in Paris, France on January 11 111-102.

The two clubs have met 194 times, and the Cavs had the advantage entering Sunday’s contest 110-84 and 69-29 at home (Richfield Coliseum, RMFH). On Sunday the Cavs without the services of Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley and Dean Wade fell to the Nets 120-101 failing to sweep the season series.

The game was close for the first half of the first quarter with the score tied 17-17 with 4:52 left after Georges Niang drained a three. With 3:20 left the Nets took a 25-19 lead when Mikai Bridges hit a three. This came after Jarrett Allen blew an easy dunk at the other end. The game remained close for the rest of the first quarter. The Cavs pulled to within one at 25-24 with 2:39 left on the clock and Sam Merrill. When the quarter ended the Nets led 29-28. When the quarter ended Darius Garland and Bridges led all scorers with nine points apiece. The Nets were leading the battle of the board s12-8.

Early in the second quarter the Nets went on a run and their lead expanded to 46-34 with 6:02 left on a hook shot by Nic Claxton. The Cavs slowly chipped away at the Nets lead until with 1:11 left Craig Porter, Jr. hit a jumper with shot clock ready to expire pulling the Cavs to within two points at 50-48. Then the Nets lead shrank to one at 52-51 when Niang hit a free throw after being fouled by Dennis Smith, Jr. with :05 left on the clock. Niang led all scorers in the first half with 14 points. Bridges and Claxton paced the Nets with 12 apiece. The Nets were still dominating the boards 21-15 through 24 minutes.

Early in the third period the Cavs scored four straight points to take a 55-52 lead with 11:17 left on a jumper by Niang. The game went back and forth in the third quarter and with 7:32 left Isaac Okoro hit a three pointer to tie the game 67-67. The three was Okoro’s second in three attempts. The Nets then went on a run and outscored the Cavs 15-5 to take an 82-72 after a turnover by Porter and a three pointer by Bridges with 4;29 left on the clock. The lead ballooned to 85-73 when Dennis Schroder drained a three with 3:22 left on the third quarter clock. Things did not get better as the third quarter ended the Nets led 96-80 when Cam Thomas hit a three pointer with :00.1 left on the clock. Bridges led all scorers with 23 points through three quarters. The Nets also had the edge on the boards 30-22.

Early in the fourth quarter Bickerstaff made wholesale substitutions putting in Isaiah Mobley, Emoni Bates and Sam Merrill. Things did not get better with 7:38 left and the Cavs trailed 111-87. On an other wise forgettable night with 3:16 left in the game and the Cavs down 116-99 night Pete Nance entered the game seeing his first action at RMFH in a regular season game. When the buzzer sounded the Cavs fell by a 120-101 score on day that was a celebration earlier in the day but was disappointing when the game began as the shorthanded Cavs looked overmatched by a Nets team that under normal circumstances would have no chance against the Cavs. Thomas led all scorers with 29 points. Niang led the Cavs with 20 points in a losing effort. The Cavs were out rebounded by the Nets 40-31. Another concern is Merrill who shot 1 of 7 from the field and is 5 of 32 in his last four games including 0-9 on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

The Cavs will not get a break, finishing a stretch of eight games in eleven days on Monday night when they welcome the Phoenix Suns (37-27, 16-13 away) to Cleveland at 7:30 pm. The meeting Monday night will be the first of the season. The two teams have met 109 times, and the Suns lead the all-time series 69-50, with the Cavs leading the series at home (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, RMFH) 33-26.