Game ID: 22300067
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Brooklyn Nets
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
BKN 32 31 24 26 113CLE 37 26 27 24 114
BKN vs CLE ScoutingBKN vs CLE Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
BKN availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
BKN availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
BKN availability going into 10/30 · 2 days' restOUT Clowney missed 2 since 10/25, out tonight
OUT Watford missed 2 since 10/25, out tonight
BKN availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's restOUT Claxton missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Cam. Johnson missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Clowney missed 3 since 10/25, out tonight
OUT Wilson missed 2 since 10/27, returns tonight: 6 min (36% of 16)
OUT Watford missed 3 since 10/25, returns tonight: 14 min (102% of 14)
OUT Brooks missed 2 since 10/27, returns tonight: 16 min (153% of 10)
NEW O'Neale 24 to 30 min over the last 3
NEW Simmons 24 to 30 min over the last 3
BKN availability going into 11/03 · 1 day's restOUT Claxton missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Cam. Johnson missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Clowney missed 4 since 10/25, out tonight
BACK Wilson back 11/01 after 2, 6 min since (36% of 16)
BACK Watford back 11/01 after 3, 14 min since (102% of 14)
BACK Brooks back 11/01 after 2, 16 min since (153% of 10)
NEW O'Neale 24 to 32 min over the last 4
NEW Simmons 24 to 31 min over the last 4
NEW Walker IV 17 to 25 min over the last 3
CLE availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
CLE availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
CLE availability going into 10/28 · back-to-backOUT Merrill missed 2 since 10/25, returns tonight: 6 min (35% of 17)
OUT Thompson missed 2 since 10/25, returns tonight: 8 min (78% of 11)
CLE availability going into 10/31 · 2 days' restOUT Garland missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 10/28 after 2, 6 min since (35% of 17)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 8 min since (78% of 11)
NEW Strus 33 to 40 min over the last 3
NEW LeVert 28 to 36 min over the last 3
NEW Okoro 26 to 32 min over the last 3
CLE availability going into 11/01 · back-to-backOUT Garland missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 10/28 after 2, 10 min since (59% of 17)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 14 min since (126% of 11)
NEW Strus 33 to 38 min over the last 4
NEW LeVert 28 to 36 min over the last 3
NEW Wade 20 to 27 min over the last 3
10/25 vs CLE 113-114 — BKN notes
BKN lost 113-114. BKN shot 50% (42 of 84) to CLE's 47%, 9 of 27 from three, and went to the line 26 times to CLE's 10 — 20 points from the stripe to their 9. BKN turned it over 17 times to CLE's 10, and CLE turned those into 10 steals. The glass went 50-38 for them. Thomas led with 36 (13 of 21, 2 of 5 from three, 8 of 11 at the line); Bridges added 20, Johnson 12. Q2 was theirs, 31-26, the deficit cut from 5 to 0, but the other 3 periods went 88-82 against them. Claxton's -12 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/25 @ BKN 114-113 — CLE notes
CLE won 114-113. CLE shot 47% (44 of 94) to BKN's 50%, 17 of 43 from three, and got to the line 10 times to BKN's 26. CLE turned it over 10 times to BKN's 17. The glass went 38-50 against them. Strus led with 27 (9 of 17, 7 of 13 from three); Mitchell added 27, Okoro 18. The hinge was Q1, 37-32: from level to 5 ahead. Strus was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BKNBS B. Simmons
CJ C. Johnson
CT C. Thomas
DF D. Finney-Smith
DS D. Sharpe
DS D. Smith Jr.
MB M. Bridges
NC N. Claxton
RO R. O'Neale
SD S. Dinwiddie
CLECL C. LeVert
DG D. Garland
DJ D. Jones
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
MS M. Strus
TJ T. Jerome
BKN/CLE the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Donovan Mitchell scores 27 points as Cavaliers top Nets 114-113 in season opener
NEW YORK -- — Donovan Mitchell scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-113 on Wednesday night for the Cavaliers' first road win in a season opener since 2000.
Cleveland had six players score in double figures. Max Strus , who started in place of injured center Jarrett Allen , had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Isaac Okoro scored 18 points, and Darius Garland finished with 15.
“The thing about our team is that we're really resilient,” Mitchell said. “When the games are close ... you have to be locked in defensively. For me, when it's time, just kind of picking my spots and kind of getting to where I wanted to.”
Cam Thomas scored 36 for Brooklyn, setting a league record for most points for a reserve in a season opener. Mikal Bridges scored 11 of his 20 in the fourth quarter. Cam Johnson had 12 points, and Ben Simmons finished with four points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“I feel like we played well," Thomas said. “We got off to a slow start (at) the beginning so we had to fight back for three quarters (and) it's a tough thing to do against a good team like Cleveland.”
Brooklyn was built to be a defense-oriented team, but it struggled defensively in the preseason and it carried over to the home opener. Cleveland shot 46.8% from the field, including a 17-for-43 performance from 3-point range.
“We just have so (many) talented guys on this roster," Strus said. “It's going to be anybody's night any given game. Up and down the roster ... anybody can step up and play for us.”
The Cavaliers led 90-87 after three quarters, but the Nets opened the fourth with a 14-5 run. Dennis Smith Jr . converted a layup to make it 101-95 with 8:07 left.
Bridges made two foul shots to make it 111-105 with 1:24 remaining. Mitchell responded with a 21-foot jumper, and Strus made two free throws. Then Mitchell’s breakaway dunk tied the game.
Brooklyn went ahead 113-111 on two Bridges free throws with 19 seconds remaining. But Mitchell’s 3 gave Cleveland a one-point lead.
“Tonight was a good win,” Mitchell said. "But there are things we — myself — could have done better to ultimately, not rely on that last shot.”
Thomas missed a 3 for the Nets in the final seconds.
“The play was for Mikal,” Brooklyn coach Jacques Vaughn said of the last play. “Caris (LeVert) did a great job of fighting over (the screen), making (the shot) tough. Cam was supposed to (get) it to Mikal. I couldn't call a timeout. I'm across halfcourt trying to, though."
The Cavaliers played short-handed. Allen was sidelined by a bone bruise in his left ankle, and reserve forward Dean Wade missed the game because of an illness.
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Host Oklahoma City on Friday night.
Nets: Visit Dallas on Friday night for their first game since they traded Kyrie Irving to the Mavericks in a blockbuster deal in February.