Two Eastern Conference teams with playoff hopes meet for the second and final game of their New York City series. The Cavaliers will play the Nets away on Thursday night.
Latest news on Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland for Thursday’s game
The Cavs defeated the Nets, 115-109, on a Tuesday night in the same arena.
In regular season games played between these two teams, the Cavaliers hold a commanding 106-84 advantage. Can the Cavaliers sweep this two-game set, or will the Nets at least be able to force a split?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are peaking at the right time to try to secure first-round playoff home-court advantage, while a recent losing streak has forced the Brooklyn Nets to play at least one more game than they would have liked in order to make the playoffs.
The Cavaliers won their second straight game and seventh in their last nine games with a road victory over the Nets on Tuesday night, sweeping the first game of this two-game set.
The Cavaliers enter tonight’s game with a 46-28 record, good for second place in the Central Division, 6.5 games behind the division-leading Bucks. They led Miami by 6.5 games for the East’s final wild card spot, but they were also 6.5 games back of first-place Milwaukee.
In 32 minutes of action on Tuesday’s 115-109 victory over the Nets, Darius Garland scored 17 points (7-13 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT), grabbed 1 board, dished out 6 assists, and swiped 1 ball.
In the game, Garland was one of four players to finish with 15 or more points and the team leader in assists.
Ten games in a row, he has recorded at least 15 points and five assists. And today’s game against the Nets will help his record.
At the same time, Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 31 points (10-22 FG, 5-9 3Pt, 6-8 FT), 5 rebounds (3 offensive), and 3 assists (3 defensive) in 37 minutes of action.
On Tuesday, Mitchell led the team in both scoring and three-pointers and was one of only two players to score more than 30 points.
He scored 30 points and made five or more three-pointers against Brooklyn, and he has done so in 15 of the season’s 16 games.
As of Thursday, no players on the Cavaliers’ active roster were sidelined due to injury.
The Nets dropped their fourth straight game as they were taken down at home by the Cavaliers in the first game of this two-game series on Tuesday.
The Nets entered the game with a 39-33 record, good for fourth place in the Atlantic Division and 10.5 games back of the division-leading Celtics. They had a half-game lead over the Heat for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and a spot in the playoffs.
Ben Simmons (knee/back) is still out and will not play against the Cavaliers on Thursday. He hasn’t played since February 15.
Despite the fact that he has resumed his on-court workouts, there has been no update on when we can anticipate seeing him back in actual games.
