WRAP-UP
For the second straight game to start the 2021-22 season, the Cavaliers dug themselves a fourth-quarter hole. But unlike the opener on Wednesday night in Memphis, they couldn’t dig themselves out of this one.
The Cavs trailed by just a point after three quarters, but a sloppy start to the fourth led to a 19-2 Charlotte run that J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad just couldn’t bounce back from, with the Hornets holding on for the 123-112 win to spoil the home opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland committed just 10 miscues in Wednesday’s opener to keep the game close, but 19 turnovers on Friday – including six in their first eight possessions of the fourth quarter – led to 34 points for a Hornets team that improved to 2-0 with the win.
Collin Sexton led all scorers on Friday with 33 points, going 13-for-21 from the floor, including 2-of-7 from deep and 5-of-5 from the stripe, adding four boards and a pair of steals.
With Darius Garland inactive with a left ankle sprain on Friday, veteran Ricky Rubio got the start – doubling-up for the second straight game with 15 points and a game-high 10 assists. The 10th-year man went 3-of-6 from long-range and added a pair of steals, but his six turnovers – four in the final period alone – contributed to Cleveland’s late woes.
Both Lauri Markkanen and Evan Mobley finished with 13 points in the loss. Markkanen went 5-of-11 from the floor, adding five boards and a pair of assists. Mobley followed up his strong debut by going 4-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the stripe, adding five boards, two assists, two steals and a pair of blocks.
Jarrett Allen rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, chipping in with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with four boards and a pair of assists. Through the first two games of the season, the 5th-year man from Texas is 16-of-17 from the floor.
Cleveland got some solid showings from the second unit on Friday. Cedi Osman added nine points on 4-of-8 shooting to go with four rebounds and Kevin Love led the squad with 11 boards to go with six points and four assists in 23 minutes of work.
But Charlotte’s second unit was that much better, with Kelly Oubre Jr. scoring 25 points in 27 minutes off the Hornets bench, going 9-for-13 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep. Miles Bridges paced Charlotte with 30 points while Mason Plumlee led both squads with 14 rebounds.
The Cavaliers shot nearly 53 percent on the night, but turnovers and three-point shooting in the second stanza proved to be their undoing on Friday night. Cleveland went 2-of-14 from long-range after intermission; the Hornets were 9-of-17.
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FEATURED HIGHLIGHT
Jarrett Allen slams it home over top of the Hornets in the Cavs Home Opener.
TURNING POINT
There’s no doubt about where things veered off course on Friday.
In a tight game through three quarters, the Cavs trailed, 90-89, heading into the fourth. But Cleveland would score just once – on a tip-in dunk by Evan Mobley – through the first four-and-a-half minutes of the period.
Ricky Rubio committed miscues on three straight possessions near the end of Charlotte’s 18-2 run – the last leading to a three-pointer by Gordon Hayward that gave the Hornets all the room they’d need to hang on for the victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
By the Numbers - 64 … combined assists for the Cavaliers through the first two games of the season – most ever by the Wine & Gold over a two-game span.
Ricky Rubio – who’s now piled up 22 assists through those two contests – doubled-up in consecutive games to start the season for the third time in his career.
QUOTABLE
Ricky Rubio, on his message to the team …
”We’ve been frustrated, of course, because it’s on us. But for the most part, these are things that we can control, things we can fix. We have to bounce back. We’ll watch film and see where we can improve. But tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity. We just need to go out there and play with a lot of confidence, like we have been – and be ready. This league doesn’t stop; it doesn’t feel sorry for you.”
CALLS OF THE GAME
Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.
UP NEXT
After falling in the home opener against Charlotte, the Wine & Gold welcome Trae Young and the Hawks to town on Saturday for the second half of the weekend back-to-back.
The sledding gets tougher from here, however, as Cleveland embarks on a five-game West Coast roadie beginning on Monday night in Denver, taking on Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets before playing a pair in Tinseltown – facing Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers on Wednesday followed by a matchup with LeBron and the Lakers on Friday. The following night, Cleveland faces off against the Western Conference champion Suns before wrapping up the junket next Monday night in Charlotte.