CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers got their first win of the season Saturday night, defeating the Brooklyn Nets 125-121 at Rocket Arena. But after watching Cleveland nearly blow another enormous lead, it was difficult to feel all that great.
For the second consecutive game, the Cavaliers spent much of the night looking like one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. And for the second consecutive game, they nearly blew it in the fourth quarter.
Against Philadelphia in Thursday's season opener, Cleveland built a 29-point lead before collapsing in a 114-106 loss. Saturday's game against Brooklyn followed a similar script, except this time the Cavaliers managed to survive.
Cleveland led 68-54 at halftime and 96-80 after three quarters. The lead was stretched to 22 points early in the fourth, when Jaylon Tyson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Cavaliers a 104-82 lead with 9:29 remaining.
Instead of putting the game away, Cleveland allowed Brooklyn to get back into it. The Nets scored 41 points in the final period, with Egor Demin catching fire from three-point range and Michael Porter Jr. continuing to create problems for Cleveland's defense.
Demin scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including three consecutive three-pointers during a 47-second stretch that helped Brooklyn cut the deficit to 11 points. Even then, Cleveland appeared to have enough of a cushion to finish Brooklyn off.
But with four minutes remaining, the Cavaliers still led by 17 points, and the Nets weren't finished. Brooklyn went on a 22-7 run, eventually cutting Cleveland's lead to 123-121 on a Porter three-pointer with 8.1 seconds remaining.
Sam Merrill finally put the game away with two free throws, allowing Cleveland to escape with a victory that had seemed certain only minutes earlier.
There were plenty of positives during the first three quarters. Cleveland shot the ball well, moved it effectively, and received contributions throughout its rotation. Donovan Mitchell finished with 22 points, Jarrett Allen added 21, and Evan Mobley contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaylon Tyson also provided a boost off the bench with 15 points, including three three-pointers. The Cavaliers finished with 31 assists on 40 made field goals, demonstrating how effective their offense can be when the ball moves and players find open shots.
But none of those numbers explain what happens to this team when it gets a big lead. Or what happens in the fourth quarter.
Through two games, Cleveland has been outscored 73-45 in the final quarter. That's an alarming statistic for a team with championship expectations, especially considering the size of the leads the Cavaliers have built in both games.
The Cavaliers have already demonstrated that they can build substantial leads, score efficiently, and create problems for opposing defenses.
The problem is maintaining that level of play for 48 minutes.
There are other concerns, too. Cleveland committed 23 turnovers against Brooklyn, giving the Nets additional opportunities to score. The Cavaliers also surrendered 18 offensive rebounds, allowing Brooklyn to extend possessions when Cleveland needed defensive stops.
Those are the kinds of mistakes that make protecting a lead much more difficult, regardless of how well a team shoots the basketball.
Still, this is a veteran team with enough talent and experience to understand how to close out games. There is no reason Cleveland should need late free throws to survive a game it led by 22 points in the fourth quarter.
The good news is that the Cavaliers avoided falling to 0-2 and showed plenty of promise when they were playing well. Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen all contributed, the supporting cast provided offense, and Cleveland demonstrated how difficult it can be to defend when the ball is moving.
The bad news is that the same concerns from the Philadelphia loss are still there.
It is only two games into the season, and there is plenty of time to fix these problems. But if the Cavaliers expect to compete for an Eastern Conference championship, they cannot continue allowing opponents to erase leads that should have put games away.
Cleveland got the win Saturday night. Now it needs to figure out how to finish games without making them much harder than they should be.
