CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points and the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from down nine in the final six minutes for their 13th straight victory, 118-117 over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.
Darius Garland added 20 points to help the Cavaliers improve to 53-10. Evan Mobley scored 19 points, De’Andre Hunter had 15, Jarrett Allen 14 and Sam Merrill 12.
Miles Bridges scored 46 points for Charlotte. His shot from halfcourt at the buzzer was off the mark. The Hornets have lost nine straight to fall to 14-48.
The Cavaliers have 13 straight wins and have scored 110+ points in each game. That is tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history, trailing only the 1986 Celtics, who had 14 straight, according to ESPN research.
“Thirteen in a row, yes, we’re in a good groove,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We had to scratch and claw these last couple of games which is great for playoff prep. When our energy is high it’s really tough to beat us.”
Cleveland has had three winning streaks of 12 or more games this season, the first time that has happened since the 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks.
Cleveland was 43 of 51 on free throws, its most attempts in a game since 2007. And Mitchell, who accounted for six of the eight misses, converted nine straight before missing his last two (with 4.8 seconds left) to finish 12 of 18 overall.
Cleveland led 67-54 early in the second half and was up 87-83 after three quarters. Charlotte rallied with a 21-8 run for a 104-95 lead with 5:41 to play.
The Cavaliers responded by outscoring the Hornets 25-15 to end the game. Hunter’s contested follow shot with 43 seconds left gave Cleveland the lead for good at 112-110.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source: espn.com