Cleveland Cavaliers ride latest win streak into meeting with Brooklyn Nets

BROOKLYN – A significant measure of how the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season is unfolding for the Cleveland Cavaliers is that they can talk about pursuing other trophies after Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley teamed up to win the All-Star skills competition.

Following a season-opening 15-game winning streak and another 12-game run, the Cavaliers are rolling again with four straight wins heading into their road game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Centre on Feb 20 (Feb 21, Singapore time).

At 44-10, they are four away from last season’s total when they finished 48-34 after winning 51 the previous season.

Both of those campaigns ended before getting to the Conference Finals, but this side – who are leading the Eastern Conference – have a good chance of winning at least 60 for the third time in their team history.

“We’re trying to take home every trophy. In the regular season, in the play-offs and here at All-Star (weekend),” Mitchell said over the weekend.

Cleveland’s current stretch marks their fifth streak of at least four wins under first-year coach Kenny Atkinson.

The team entered the break with a 131-108 road victory over the Toronto Raptors on Feb 12. Mitchell scored 21 points in 29 minutes when Cleveland held a 24-point lead after the opening quarter at Scotiabank Arena.

Darius Garland scored 15 points and Mobley notched 12 plus 15 rebounds for his 24th double-double. De’Andre Hunter scored 18 points as a reserve in his second game since being acquired from the Atlanta Hawks on deadline day.

It was the 15th time this season that the Cavs have scored at least 130 points. They have 13 wins by at least 20 points, including their 130-101 blowout in Brooklyn on Dec 16.

Those lopsided victories and the 32 wins decided by at least 10 points have helped Atkinson manage playing time for his star trio of Mitchell (31.3 minutes per game), Garland (30.2) and Mobley (30.0).

The Nets, meanwhile, were playing their best basketball of the season before the break.

Since a 110-96 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Jan 27, Brooklyn are 6-1 over their past seven games and have allowed just 91.5 points on average in those six wins.

The Nets entered the break after earning a 100-96 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb 12. They held the Sixers to 43.2 per cent shooting from the field and 24.2 per cent (eight-of-33) from three-point range.

After the game, the Brooklyn players provided some strong words for fans who might be hoping the team lose enough games to get a better draft pick.

“We do not care what they say about that,” Brooklyn forward Cameron Johnson said.

“At the end of the day, the 15, 18 guys on this team have a job to do, and our job is not to try to get a draft pick. Our job is simply to win basketball games.”

Meanwhile in the only NBA game on Feb 19, LaMelo Ball sparked a second-half fightback as the struggling Charlotte Hornets upset the Los Angeles Lakers 100-97.

The point guard finished with 27 points, while Miles Bridges had 29, to help the Hornets complete only their fifth road win of the season. LeBron James led Lakers’ scoring with 26 points, with Luka Doncic adding 14. REUTERS, AFP