Darius Garland leads Cleveland Cavaliers to double OT win against Hornets

Cleveland Cavaliers return to the winning column

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally arrested the five-game skid by outlasting the Charlotte Hornets in two overtimes to win, 132-122. Despite going off to a hot start, the Cavs nearly gave in to another late collapse but were able to find a second wind to give the visitors a rude welcome.

A red-hot Darius Garland continued to lead Cleveland as he tallied 41 points while shooting over 61 percent from the field as fellow All-Star guard teammate Donovan Mitchell was no less spectacular with 34 more points that injected a much-needed boost to the Cavaliers’ offense.

Rising star big man Evan Mobley added a monster outing of 21 points and 18 boards, while his frontcourt partner Jarrett Allen made a successful return with a 20 and 12 double-double of his own as the Cavs went toe-to-toe with Charlotte in a high-scoring affair.

Even without Lamelo Ball, the Hornets had plenty of firepower as Kelly Oubre, Terry Rozier, and PJ Washington combined for 90 huge points but came up just short after coming back to force OT against an erstwhile 16-point Cavaliers lead.

The Cavs will look to protect home court

While decidedly better against Charlotte, Cleveland still need to ramp it up on the defensive end. Simply looking to outpace the opponent in high-scoring games will simply not be sustainable every night out.

Jarrett Allen’s importance on that end cannot be understated. His return provided a much-needed infusion of energy on defense, as evident in the stat sheet with his four blocked shots. Whenever the big man is out of commission between the current and previous seasons, Cleveland only tallied nine wins against 19 losses.

Lamar Stevens, who had earned another start, was just as vital, essentially replacing Isaac Okoro’s role even after the currently struggling Caris LeVert was moved to the bench. It remains to be seen whether or not head coach J.B. Bickerstaff will continue to shuffle the lineup, but he seems to have found a good combo–at least against the Hornets.

The 9-6 Cleveland Cavaliers will look to continue benefitting from being home as they will play three more games at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in this homestand, with the Miami Heat on November 20.

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