Cavs vs Nets : Game Recap

The Wine & Gold have been clawing their way through a stretch where they’ve been down three starters, but they simply didn’t have enough firepower on Sunday night against Brooklyn – with the Nets opening up a double-digit lead late in the third period and cruising to the finish line in the fourth to take the 120-101 and salvage the season series. Georges Niang led Cleveland with 20 points and the shorthanded Cavaliers still shot 49 percent from the floor, but Brooklyn featured five starters in double-figures as used a 44-point third quarter to blow things open. 

*** On Sunday night, the Cavaliers were again without the services of starters Donovan Mitchell (left knee), Max Strus (right knee) and Evan Mobley (left ankle) and were missing Dean Wade, out with personal reasons. 

*** Georges Niang will certainly move back to the second unit when the team gets healthy, but he’s been impressive in his three outings as a starter – notching double-figure scoring in all three games, shooting a combined 19-for-30 from the floor, including 12-of-23 from beyond the arc. On Sunday night, Niang went 8-for-12 from the floor, 3-of-5 from long-distance to lead the Cavaliers. 

*** Niang on Sunday’s loss to Brooklyn: “We did a good job towards the end of the first half of getting stops in the second quarter and then to give up, I think it was (a 44-point) quarter. And in the third quarter, that's just hard to make up that type of ground, especially when we're down bodies. So that's on us to go back and look at what we need to do coming out of the half to sustain what we were doing in the second quarter.”

*** Jarrett Allen barely missed his 32nd double-double of the year, finishing with 15 points and a team-high nine boards, going 6-for-11 from the floor, adding three assists and a game-high pair of blocked shots. 

*** As for Cleveland’s other starters, Darius Garland finished with 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from long-range to go with five assists, Isaac Okoro chipped in with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and Caris LeVert paced Cleveland with seven assists. 

*** For the second time in his last three outings, rookie Craig Porter Jr. notched 13 points off the bench – his 11th game of double-figure scoring this season, going 5-of-11 from the floor to go with four assists and a pair of boards.

*** The Cavaliers wrap up their three-game homestand on Monday night when they welcome Kevin Durant and the Suns to town before getting back on the road for three straight. On Wednesday night, Cleveland travels to the Big Easy for a showdown with the Pelicans, followed by a Saturday night stop in Houston before wrapping up the roadie next Monday night in Indiana.