The Cleveland Cavaliers walked into Monday night needing a reset and left with one of their ugliest regular-season losses in recent memory, a 124-112 drubbing at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets.
Cleveland trailed by as many as 33 points against a Charlotte team that owns the NBA’s worst offense and was already down several key players. By the time the third quarter ended, the Hornets had stretched the gap to 27, and none of the Cavs’ starters came back after that.
Charlotte’s top end set the tone early. Grayson Allen scored 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Naz Reid added 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Hornets’ starters controlled the game from the jump. Cleveland’s first-half deficit reached 16, and the night never really got back on track.
The Cavs did get Jarrett Allen back in the starting lineup, but his return was a quiet one: 12 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden finished with 11 points apiece and combined to go 7-for-20 from the field.
Harden’s night was especially rough on the defensive end, while Evan Mobley struggled to make much of an impact, finishing with nine points and four turnovers. Harden and Mobley combined for a minus-46, a number that matched the eye test.
Even Cleveland’s bench gave them more than the starters did. Craig Porter Jr., Thomas Bryant, Thomas, and Norchad Omier helped trim the margin to eight late in the fourth quarter before the rally faded. The effort from the reserves stood out, especially compared with the energy level from the first unit.
The rebounding gap was glaring. Charlotte finished with a 49-32 edge on the glass, and Cleveland didn’t grab its first offensive rebound until the third quarter.
The Hornets won that battle 17-3. The Cavaliers did manage to shoot better from the field and commit fewer turnovers than Charlotte, but none of that changed the final result.
Now Cleveland heads to New York on Wednesday to face the defending champion Knicks on national television, sitting a game under .500 and searching for answers after a loss that hit hard. The Cavs have shown flashes with quality wins over Minnesota and Philadelphia, but nights like this are the ones that can shake a team that’s supposed to be built for something bigger.
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