CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Charlotte Hornets 118-113 on Friday night for their seventh straight victory and 12th win in 13 games.
Jared Allen had 25 points and 14 rebounds and James Harden added 18 points and eight assists for the Cavaliers.
Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel finished with 33 points on seven 3-pointers, giving him 193 made 3s for the season — the second most in NBA history by a rookie. Keegan Murray holds the record with 206 set in the 2022-23 season.
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller each had 18 points and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte.
Miller’s and-one layup off a no-look feed from Ball cut Cleveland’s lead to four with a minute remaining, but Mitchell made a short jumper and four free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
The Cavaliers built a 14-point lead in the second quarter and looked like they were preparing to break the game open, but Knueppel began to heat up, finishing with four 3s and 16 points in the first half to cut Cleveland’s lead in to six. Charlotte took the lead late in the third quarter behind three more Knueppel 3s.
But Mitchell began to take over with his physical play. He got to the line 13 times and made 12 free throws.
Charlotte played without suspended forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams, who sat out with knee injury management forcing them to play younger, less experienced players in the frontcourt.
The Cavaliers outscored the Hornets 50-28 in the paint.
The Hornets have now lost three of their last four games after winning nine straight games just before the All-Star break.
Up next
Cavaliers: At Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Hornets: At Washington on Sunday night.
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