Darius Garland scores 23 and NBA-best Cavaliers beat Jazz 124-113 for 17th home win in 18 games
CLEVELAND (AP) Darius Garland scored 23 points and the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Utah Jazz 124-113 on Monday night for their 17th victory in 18 home games.
Evan Mobley had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell also scored 22 points, Sam Merrill scored a season-high 20 and Garland had eight assists for Cleveland. The Cavaliers (26-4) have won five straight by an average margin of 20 points.
Jordan Clarkson scored 27 points off the bench for the Jazz, while Lauri Markkanen had 26 and Collin Sexton had 24. Utah traded Mitchell to Cleveland in exchange for Markkanen, Sexton and multiple draft picks on Sept. 1, 2022.
The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes because of a broken rim that forced the replacement of one of the hoops and a stanchion.
Jazz: Center Walker Kessler dominated the glass with 16 rebounds, eight of them offensive, but went 1 of 6 on free throws in the final four minutes as Cleveland intentionally sent him to the line. Kessler is shooting 53.6% from the stripe.
Cavaliers: Merrill made his second start of the season at small forward, draining six 3-pointers in 11 attempts. The Utah State product scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the third, giving Cleveland its initial double-digit lead.
Georges Niang scored on a backdoor layup with 52 seconds left, then stripped the ball from Clarkson and fed Caris LeVert for a dunk on the other end to push Cleveland’s lead to 122-113.
Sexton, who spent his first four seasons with Cleveland, has the fifth-highest scoring average in Cavaliers history at 20.0 points, behind LeBron James (27.2), Mitchell (26.7), World B. Free (23.0) and Kyrie Irving (21.6).
The Jazz wrap up their five-game trip Thursday at Portland. The Cavaliers play at Denver on Friday.
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| Time | Team | Play | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 |  | Â | Walker Kessler vs. Jarrett Allen (Evan Mobley gains possession) | Â |
| 11:40 | | Â | Jarrett Allen misses two point cutting dunk | Â |
| 11:38 |  | Â | Lauri Markkanen defensive rebound | Â |
| 11:32 | | +3 | Micah Potter makes three point jump shot (Lauri Markkanen assists) | 3-0 |
| 11:20 | | Â | Evan Mobley misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 11:17 | | Â | Micah Potter defensive rebound | Â |
| 11:06 | | Â | Svi Mykhailiuk turnover (bad pass) (Sam Merrill steals) | Â |
| 11:05 | | +2 | Darius Garland makes two point running finger roll layup (Sam Merrill assists) | 3-2 |
| 11:05 | | Â | Collin Sexton shooting foul (Darius Garland draws the foul) | Â |
| 11:05 | | +1 | Darius Garland makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 3-3 |
| 10:48 | | Â | Walker Kessler misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:45 | | Â | Micah Potter offensive rebound | Â |
| 10:44 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:42 | | Â | Cavaliers defensive rebound | Â |
| 10:24 | | Â | Walker Kessler blocks Jarrett Allen's two point layup | Â |
| 10:24 | | Â | Jarrett Allen offensive rebound | Â |
| 10:23 | | Â | Jarrett Allen misses two point putback layup | Â |
| 10:22 | | Â | Evan Mobley offensive rebound | Â |
| 10:22 | | +2 | Evan Mobley makes two point tip dunk | 3-5 |
| 10:05 | | Â | Collin Sexton turnover (bad pass) (Donovan Mitchell steals) | Â |
| 10:00 | | Â | Sam Merrill misses three point running jump shot | Â |
| 9:58 | | Â | Micah Potter defensive rebound | Â |
| 9:53 | | Â | Evan Mobley blocks Collin Sexton's two point running pullup jump shot | Â |
| 9:51 | | Â | Evan Mobley defensive rebound | Â |
| 9:47 | | +2 | Evan Mobley makes two point running dunk | 3-7 |
| 9:31 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses two point hook shot | Â |
| 9:28 | | Â | Jarrett Allen defensive rebound | Â |
| 9:22 | | Â | Donovan Mitchell misses two point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 9:17 | | Â | Walker Kessler defensive rebound | Â |
| 9:10 | | Â | Micah Potter misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 9:07 | | Â | Walker Kessler offensive rebound | Â |
| 9:00 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 8:57 | | Â | Evan Mobley defensive rebound | Â |
| 8:50 | | Â | Evan Mobley misses three point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 8:46 | | Â | Micah Potter defensive rebound | Â |
| 8:31 | | Â | Micah Potter misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 8:27 | | Â | Jarrett Allen defensive rebound | Â |
| 8:21 | | Â | Darius Garland misses three point running pullup jump shot | Â |
| 8:18 | | Â | Svi Mykhailiuk defensive rebound | Â |
| 8:01 | | +3 | Svi Mykhailiuk makes three point jump shot (Collin Sexton assists) | 6-7 |
| 7:45 | | +2 | Evan Mobley makes two point hook shot (Donovan Mitchell assists) | 6-9 |
| 7:16 | | Â | Svi Mykhailiuk misses three point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 7:13 | | Â | Evan Mobley defensive rebound | Â |
| 7:07 | | Â | Donovan Mitchell misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 7:05 | | Â | Sam Merrill offensive rebound | Â |
| 7:00 | | +3 | Darius Garland makes three point pullup jump shot | 6-12 |
| 6:41 | | Â | Svi Mykhailiuk misses three point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 6:40 | | Â | Jazz offensive rebound | Â |
| 6:40 | | Â | Cavaliers 60 second timeout | Â |
| 6:28 | | Â | Sam Merrill shooting foul (Jordan Clarkson draws the foul) | Â |
| 6:28 | | +1 | Jordan Clarkson makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 7-12 |
| 6:28 | | +1 | Jordan Clarkson makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 8-12 |
| 6:12 | | Â | Darius Garland turnover (bad pass) (Svi Mykhailiuk steals) | Â |
| 6:09 | | Â | Isaiah Collier turnover (out of bounds step) | Â |
| 5:57 | | Â | Jarrett Allen turnover (out of bounds bad pass) | Â |
| 5:33 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses three point stepback jump shot | Â |
| 5:29 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen offensive rebound | Â |
| 5:27 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses two point bank jump shot | Â |
| 5:22 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen offensive rebound | Â |
| 5:22 | | +2 | Lauri Markkanen makes two point tip layup | 10-12 |
| 5:13 | | +2 | Caris LeVert makes two point driving layup | 10-14 |
| 5:05 | | +3 | Lauri Markkanen makes three point jump shot (Isaiah Collier assists) | 13-14 |
| 4:45 | | Â | Walker Kessler shooting foul (Caris LeVert draws the foul) | Â |
| 4:45 | | Â | Caris LeVert misses regular free throw 1 of 3 | Â |
| 4:45 | | Â | Cavaliers offensive rebound | Â |
| 4:45 | | +1 | Caris LeVert makes regular free throw 2 of 3 | 13-15 |
| 4:45 | | +1 | Caris LeVert makes regular free throw 3 of 3 | 13-16 |
| 4:25 | | Â | Jordan Clarkson misses two point driving floating bank jump shot | Â |
| 4:23 | | Â | Walker Kessler offensive rebound | Â |
| 4:21 | | +2 | Walker Kessler makes two point putback layup | 15-16 |
| 4:12 | | Â | Max Strus misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 4:12 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen defensive rebound | Â |
| 4:04 | | Â | Jordan Clarkson misses three point running pullup jump shot | Â |
| 3:59 | | Â | Isaiah Collier offensive rebound | Â |
| 3:57 | | +3 | Lauri Markkanen makes three point jump shot (Isaiah Collier assists) | 18-16 |
| 3:37 | | +3 | Caris LeVert makes three point jump shot (Darius Garland assists) | 18-19 |
| 3:31 | | Â | Georges Niang personal foul (Walker Kessler draws the foul) | Â |
| 3:27 | | Â | Caris LeVert personal foul (Jordan Clarkson draws the foul) | Â |
| 3:12 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 3:09 | | Â | Georges Niang defensive rebound | Â |
| 3:02 | | Â | Jarrett Allen misses two point layup | Â |
| 2:58 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen defensive rebound | Â |
| 2:53 | | Â | Collin Sexton misses three point running pullup jump shot | Â |
| 2:52 | | Â | Walker Kessler offensive rebound | Â |
| 2:49 | | Â | Lauri Markkanen misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 2:43 | | Â | Collin Sexton offensive rebound | Â |
| 2:35 | | +2 | Walker Kessler makes two point alley-oop dunk (Isaiah Collier assists) | 20-19 |
| 2:24 | | +2 | Darius Garland makes two point driving layup | 20-21 |
| 2:24 | | Â | Jazz 60 second timeout | Â |
| 2:14 | | +3 | Micah Potter makes three point jump shot (Jordan Clarkson assists) | 23-21 |
| 2:03 | | Â | Georges Niang misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 2:00 | | Â | Brice Sensabaugh defensive rebound | Â |
| 1:50 | | +2 | Jordan Clarkson makes two point fadeaway jump shot | 25-21 |
| 1:38 | | Â | Georges Niang misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 1:35 | | Â | Max Strus offensive rebound | Â |
| 1:28 | | Â | Walker Kessler blocks Georges Niang's two point cutting layup | Â |
| 1:25 | | Â | Caris LeVert offensive rebound | Â |
| 1:24 | | +2 | Evan Mobley makes two point alley-oop dunk (Caris LeVert assists) | 25-23 |
| 1:08 | | Â | Georges Niang personal foul (Walker Kessler draws the foul) | Â |
| 1:01 | | +2 | Collin Sexton makes two point pullup jump shot (Brice Sensabaugh assists) | 27-23 |
| 0:51 | | +3 | Donovan Mitchell makes three point stepback jump shot (Georges Niang assists) | 27-26 |
| 0:41 | | Â | Collin Sexton misses three point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 0:38 | | Â | Georges Niang defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:32 | | Â | Evan Mobley misses two point running layup | Â |
| 0:29 | | Â | Brice Sensabaugh defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:10 | | Â | Collin Sexton misses two point driving floating jump shot | Â |
| 0:09 | | Â | Brice Sensabaugh offensive rebound | Â |
| 0:08 | | Â | Evan Mobley blocks Brice Sensabaugh's two point pullup jump shot | Â |
| 0:04 | | Â | Max Strus defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:00 | | +3 | Donovan Mitchell makes three point running jump shot (Max Strus assists) | 27-29 |
| 0:00 | | Â | End of period | Â |