Cleveland Cavaliers beat Brooklyn Nets 125-121 as Donovan Mitchell scores 22 and Cleveland survives a 22-7 Nets finish

The Cleveland Cavaliers won their home opener on Saturday, October 24, beating the Brooklyn Nets 125-121 at Rocket Arena, but only after a 17-point lead with about four minutes left shrank to two in the final seconds. Sam Merrill’s two free throws with 8.1 seconds to go closed it out, and Cleveland moved to 1-1 two nights after giving away a 29-point lead in Philadelphia.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 at the line. Jarrett Allen was nearly flawless inside, scoring 21 on 7-of-8 from the floor with eight rebounds, and Evan Mobley added 20 points, 10 rebounds and three of Cleveland’s 10 blocks. Brooklyn, still without a win at 0-2, got 28 points, nine rebounds and four steals from Michael Porter Jr., 23 from Julius Randle and 22 from Egor Demin, who made five threes.

Game Center: Nets at Cavaliers, box score and play-by-play

How Cleveland built the cushion

The Cavaliers controlled almost all of the night. They led 35-30 after one quarter, then pulled away late in the second with a 23-9 surge that sent them into the break with a double-digit edge. Cleveland spent more than 40 minutes in front; Brooklyn’s biggest edge all night was four points, early in the first quarter.

The ball movement told the story of the first three quarters. Cleveland finished with 31 assists to Brooklyn’s 23 and shot 50 percent from the field, including 24-of-41 inside the arc, while the Nets were held to 38 percent on two-point attempts. Jaylon Tyson gave the bench a lift with 15 points, and his three-pointer with 9:29 to play made it 104-82, the Cavaliers’ largest lead.

James Harden had a strange line in his second game for the Cavaliers: 1-of-8 shooting, but 12 points thanks to 9-of-11 free throws, along with eight rebounds and seven assists. Mario Hezonja, who has started the season in Cleveland’s second unit, added nine points and was a plus-8.

The Brooklyn push

Brooklyn never stopped shooting. The Nets attempted 49 threes and made 20 of them, and they lived on the offensive glass with 18 offensive rebounds to Cleveland’s nine. Demin did most of the late damage, hitting three straight threes in a quick 9-2 burst after Tyson’s basket and finishing with 15 of his points in the fourth quarter.

From there Brooklyn closed on a 22-7 run as Cleveland’s 23 turnovers caught up with it. Porter’s fourth three of the night cut the gap to 123-121 with 8.1 seconds left, but he fouled out on the next possession and Merrill, who scored seven off the bench, made both free throws.

The result kept a long run going for Cleveland, which has now beaten Brooklyn eight straight times and has won four of its last five home openers. For Brooklyn, a young rotation that includes Demin, Nolan Traore and Chaney Johnson again showed it can score in bunches, but the Nets dug a hole too deep to climb out of.

What comes next

The Nets are back at Barclays Center on Sunday, October 25, against the Indiana Pacers at 6 p.m. ET (Game Center). The Cavaliers stay home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, October 26, at 7 p.m. ET (Game Center).