Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen had double-doubles and the host Cleveland Cavaliers used a dominant fourth quarter to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 113-103 on Monday.
Garland had 30 points and 11 assists, Allen had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Evan Mobley added 19 points and Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro scored 11 each.
CJ McCollum scored 25 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans, while Trey Murphy III scored 17, Naji Marshall had 14 and Jose Alvarado had 10. New Orleans finished 2-3 on its longest road trip of the season after getting outscored 35-22 in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to take an 89-81 lead as the Pelicans went scoreless for more than four minutes to start the period.
McCollum ended the drought by making two of three free throws, but Garland answered with a 3-pointer as the Cavaliers took a 92-83 lead.
New Orleans’ first field goal of the quarter didn’t come until Murphy made a layup with 5:55 remaining, but Cleveland remained in control.
Garland scored five straight to tie the score early in the third quarter. After a free throw by Valanciunas and a 3-pointer by McCollum gave the Pelicans a four-point lead, the Cavaliers got within one but couldn’t pull even.
Alvarado made a 3-pointer and Marshall had two baskets to help New Orleans take an 81-78 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Cedi Osman made one of two free throws to end a scoring drought of nearly four minutes and Mobley’s dunk ended a field-goal drought of more than four minutes. That started a 10-2 run that cut New Orleans’ lead to 25-24 at the end of the first quarter.
The Pelicans scored the first seven points of the second quarter and extended the lead to 41-28, but the Cavaliers closed within three points after Mitchell made three free throws.
Valanciunas scored the next five points, but Cleveland trimmed the lead to 50-47 when Mitchell beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer.
–Field Level Media