Cleveland Cavaliers @ Denver Nuggets
Monday, February 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22500767
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 30 29 33 25 117CLE 26 28 33 32 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Donovan Mitchell, James Harden rally Cavaliers to 119-117 win over Nuggets
DENVER -- — Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points, including two free throws with 0.9 seconds left after James Harden 's tying 3-pointer, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 119-117 on Monday night.
Harden finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in his second game with Cleveland. Harden, acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4, scored 23 points in his Cavaliers' debut three nights later.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, but missed a potential winning 3-point shot at the buzzer. Two nights after Jokic passed Oscar Robertson for second place in career triple-doubles, he notched his 183rd.
Monday night was the 14th time Harden has played against Denver since the start of the 2024-25 season, including a seven-game slugfest in the first round of the playoffs last year.
“Even if you’re prepared for (Harden), his ability to go get 28 and 12, it’s historical,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said before the game.
Harden keyed a Cleveland rally that cut Denver’s 11-point lead to 106-104 but Christian Braun , playing his fourth game back from a left ankle injury, drained a 3-pointer and Jonas Valanciunas hit two free throws to make it 111-104.
Mitchell's lob to Jarrett Allen , who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, for an alley-oop dunk made it a one-point game, and after Jokic's hook shot, Harden hit a step-back 3-pointer to tie it 117-all with 32 seconds left. Tim Hardaway missed at the other end and Jamal Murray fouled Mitchell, who calmly drained the winning free throws.
Mitchell added 10 assists for the Cavaliers, who have won eight of their last nine.
Murray finished with 17 points and 11 assists for Denver, which has dropped four of its last five games.
Up next Cavs: Hosts the Wizards on Wednesday night.
DEN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENBB B. Brown
CB C. Braun
CJ C. Johnson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
JV J. Valančiūnas
JO Jokic
NJ N. Jokić
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
CLECP C. Porter Jr.
DM D. Mitchell
DS D. Schröder
JA J. Allen
JH J. Harden
JT J. Tyson
KE K. Ellis
NT N. Tomlin
SM S. Merrill
SC Schroder
TB T. Bryant
DEN/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
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