Final Score: Cavaliers complete sweep with 125–113 win over Nets
New and old Cavaliers showed out in this one.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had a lot of fun beating the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. In fact, they had so much fun the first time, they decided to do it again on Friday, this time to the tune of a 125–113 victory.
With the smoke still dissipating from Collin Sexton’s Wednesday night carpet-bombing, Brooklyn made a concerted effort to force Sexton to beat them with his passing rather than his scoring. Sexton obliged, notching nine assists, one shy of his career-high. And for good measure, he also beat them with his scoring anyway, leading the Cavs with 25 points.
Darius Garland and Dylan Windler both made their returns after long stints on the injury list. Throw in new additions Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince, and the Cavs have practically gotten an entirely new lineup over the course of their double-header with the Nets. Each of those four chipped in: Windler (6 points) and Prince (14 points) drained a pair of threes apiece; Garland tallied 11 points and 3 assists; and Allen produced 19 points, 4 rebounds, and a chalk outline of Joe Harris’ body.
Kyrie Irving, as he’s done so many times before, almost single handedly kept his team from getting blown out into the Cleveland cold. The former Cavalier piled up a game-high 38 points, but the next highest-scoring Net was James Harden, who managed a relatively meager 19. That wasn’t enough to withstand a third quarter which the Cavaliers won 37–24 to effectively put the game on ice. Kevin Durant sat out this game after playing 50 minutes on Wednesday.
The win gives the Cavaliers a three-game winning streak. They’re also the healthiest they’ve been all season, and their young talent is doing far more than just showing promise, it’s delivering on it. After this sweep, there’s no doubt about it: the Cavs are on their way up.
Up Next: The Cavs will take their three-game winning streak to Boston and the East-leading Celtics on Sunday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.