Strong Second Half Not Enough to Overcome Kings, Lose Second Straight

On Wednesday night in Sacramento, the Cavaliers fell behind early and – despite rallying back with a red-hot third quarter – never found their rhythm on either end of the floor.

The Kings led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but Cleveland clawed its way back to tie the contest early in the fourth quarter and then again with just over two minutes to play. But J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad ran out of gas late – as the Kings pulled away for the 127-120 victory, evening the Cavs mark at two on the five-game trip.

Sacramento led by as many as 14 points in the first half and upped its edge to 15 early in the third. But the Cavs caught fire in the period, hitting their first 13 shots from the floor, eventually hitting on 88 percent from the floor, including 83 percent (5-of-6) from long-range. 

The final quarter was back-and-forth, with Cleveland tying the game at 99-apiece two minutes into the period en route to a brief six-point bulge. But the Kings rallied back from there and both teams traded punches until Jarrett Allen tied the game with a pair of free throws with 1:17 to play. From there, the Kings went on a 9-1 run to essentially ice the affair.

Donovan Mitchell topped the 30-point plateau for the eighth time in 10 outings – and in his third straight – leading both teams with 38 points, going 16-for-28 from the floor, including 6-of-14 from beyond the arc, adding five boards, four assists and a steal. 

Caris LeVert had a solid all-around floor game, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting, leading both teams with 10 boards to go with six assists and a pair of steals. 

Jarett Allen chipped in with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, adding seven boards and a block, and Even Mobley added 16 points, going 7-of-10 from the floor to go with six boards and a steal. 

Darius Garland struggled from the floor, going 1-of-9 for six points, but still managed to lead the Cavs with eight assists. 

Kevin Love led Cleveland’s reserves with nine points and eight boards, but the Cavaliers bench got outscored, 43-19, overall.

Domontas Sabonis led the Kings with 21 points, going 11-of-12 from the stripe, and Harrison Barnes added 20. Trey Lyles (16) and Malik Monk (14) were a combined 7-of-12 from long-distance in the win. 

Donovan Mitchell passes to a cutting Jarrett Allen who dunks it with two hands after a double-clutch move to get past the defender.

The game’s final turning point came in the final minute-and-change of the game. But the tide of the game turned on one Donovan Mitchell dunk with seven minutes to play in the third quarter. 

Mitchell cut through the Kings defense and threw down a thunderous two-handed jam to finally get Cleveland to within single-digits. Sacramento called timeout and Mitchell exhorted his teammates to wake up. 

They did, and the Cavs closed the gap to one late in the period – then grabbing it briefly in the fourth. Cleveland just couldn’t seal the deal from there. 

 319 … total points that Donovan Mitchell has scored so far this season, second-most ever by a player in his first 10 games with a new team – topped only by Wilt Chamberlain, who tallied 371 for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959. 

After missing the opener in Detroit, through his first three games of the road trip, the three-time All-Star is averaging 33.7 points, shooting 60 percent (36-60) from the floor, 47 percent (15-for-32) from long-range and 88 percent (14-of-16) from the stripe.

Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, on his team’s recent slow starts …

”It was all night, it wasn’t the end of the game that cost us. We didn’t come out and play the game purposefully. We’ve gotten into this habit – and it’s my responsibility to be better – of allowing people to play freely to start games, then think that we’re gonna turn it on in the second half. That’s arrogant basketball And you can’t survive in the NBA playing that way. Teams are too good. Guys are too good. And if we want to be a good basketball team, we need to remember who we are. And we need to play Cavaliers basketball.”

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 98.1.

The Cavaliers close out the five-game trip on Friday night in San Francisco, taking on Steph Curry and the World Champs before returning home for a Sunday night meeting with the Timberwolves. 

When the Cavs come home, they’ll play five of the next six at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – with that one road contest being a Central Division showdown in Milwaukee next Wednesday.