*** After a week of making appearances and touring the French capital, the Wine & Gold got down to business on Thursday night – running out to a big lead and squashing a Nets rally down the stretch in a wire-to-wire 111-102 win at Accor Arena in Paris. Playing their first-ever regular season game overseas, the Cavaliers held Brooklyn to just 34 points in the first half, running out to a 26-point lead early in the third quarter before the Nets cut Cleveland’s lead to seven late in the fourth. Donovan Mitchell put on an absolute show – leading both teams with 45 points – and Jarrett Allen extended his double-double streak to eight in the Cavs fourth straight victory.
J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs vs Nets Post Game | 1.11.2024
*** Coach J.B. Bickerstaff on his team and its leader’s performance in Paris. “We talked about how special this game was to be a part of. What it means for the NBA to select you to come over here and represent the league and the game of basketball on a worldwide stage. I thought Donovan was phenomenal at giving the audience – and us – what they came to see and what we needed to go and win the game. He was aggressive early and set the tone for everybody. He lifted his teammates up.”
*** Donovan Mitchell was hot early on Thursday night, but completely caught fire in the fourth – netting 21 of his season-high 45 points in the final period, going 4-for-6 from deep and 7-for-7 from the stripe in the quarter. Overall, the four-time All-Star went 15-for-30 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line, joining Jarrett Allen with a game-high-tying 12 rebounds and leading both teams with four steals. Thursday’s game marked Mitchell’s 16th game as a member of the Cavaliers topping the 40-point mark.
*** After the game, Mitchell was asked about coming back to Paris in a few months to play in the Summer Games. “I’d love to come back and play in the Olympics. This city is a very electric basketball city, and I first realized that when I came here on my shoe tour. So, being here – I think this is my third or fourth time – just being able to be a part of this experience and do it with the NBA, do it with my teammates has been incredible. I’ve had a lot of fun, and I’m glad we got the win as well.”
*** Jarrett Allen’s terrific run continued overseas – running his double-double streak to a career-best eight games – finishing with 12 points and 12 boards against his former squad, adding four assists, a pair of steals and a game-high four blocks – equaling the Nets team total. Over that eight-game stretch, J.A. is averaging 19.9 points and 15.3 rebounds on 64 percent shooting.
*** Caris LeVert also had a big night against his former team – topping the 20-point mark off the bench for the fifth time in his last seven games, scoring eight of his 21 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s win, going 5-of-14 from the floor overall, adding three boards and a pair of blocks. Over that seven-game stretch, LeVert – the league’s 3rd-leading bench scorer at 16.4ppg – is averaging 20.3ppg and 5.0apg.
*** The 8th-year man from Michigan was asked if he feels like he should be considered for the league’s Sixth Man award this year. “I feel like I should be. I feel like, honestly, it’s a team award more than an individual (award). I feel like we’ve been doing a great job – especially on this run – of taking care of business. And I just try to give energy where it’s needed when I check in the game. But it’s a product of great teammates.”
*** Georges Niang ran his streak of double-figure bench scoring to four straight games – finishing with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long-range, and is averaging 12.5ppg over that stretch. Sam Merrill had his four-game double-digit scoring streak snapped on Thursday, but he did manage to set a career-high with nine rebounds.
*** It wasn’t all love and kisses in the City of Lights on Thursday. Tristan Thompson floored Nic Claxton with an “accidental” chest bump after the Nets center celebrated a dunk and teams were heading to their respective benches for a timeout. Both benches emptied to restrain the pair. Thompson got the flagrant-2 and was sent to the showers with 9:51 to play in the fourth quarter.
*** Thursday’s NBA Paris game brought out some of the stars from the hoops world, including the WNBA’s Sabrina Ionescu, along with former NBA players Tony Parker, Thabo Sefalosha, and Joakim Noah along with some major soccer names like David Beckham, Leah Williams and Kylian Mbappe. From the entertainment world, Pharrell Williams and Coco Jones.
*** The Cavaliers fly home on Friday and host a pair early next week – welcoming the Bulls to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday night followed by a visit by the Bucks on Wednesday. From there, it’s a four-game road trip – with stops in Atlanta, Orlando, and a pair in Milwaukee on the slate.