'Moments that you live for': Cavaliers' fourth-quarter rally another step towards maturity

CLEVELAND — All-Star center Jarrett Allen thought the Cavaliers learned something about themselves with Friday night’s victory over the defending Eastern Conference champions in Boston.

“We’re capable of more than we think,” Allen said on the postgame broadcast.

The next day, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s response to that suggestion was succinct.

“Tomorrow tells that story to me,” Bickerstaff said Saturday. “How we go out and play tomorrow speaks about what happened last night.

"We go out and play Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, that's the test of who we are. If we can go out and do it every single night and not feel like we're rising to certain occasions, but we're playing to our standard.”

As Bickerstaff perhaps feared, that challenge came Sunday against the New York Knicks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. After making only 7-of-24 shots in the third quarter, the Cavs found themselves behind by nine at the final break.

“J.B. was like, ‘They’re testing your mental and your heart right now. They’re driving you one on one. Taking it to us. Julius [Randle] trying to finish. How are we going to respond as a group?’” said Cavs three-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, their prized Sept. 1 trade acquisition.

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Five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love, the last remaining member of the 2016 NBA championship team, had a similar message. He thought the Cavs were down by double digits, and it certainly felt like it.

“I went into the huddle and just said, ‘All we have to do is tie the ballgame, keep chipping away. The great teams, if that’s what we want to be, we have to find a way to win ugly.’”

The result was far from ugly as the Cavs earned their fifth consecutive victory, 121-108.

Using a closing group of Mitchell, Love, Evan Mobley, Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro, the Cavs outscored the Knicks 37-15 in the fourth quarter. The Cavs shot 60% from the field, 61.5% from long range, while holding the Knicks to 35%, 0-for-5 beyond the arc.

Mitchell and Love were a two-man wrecking crew, combining to score the Cavs’ first 20 points of the quarter. Love poured in 16 of his season-high 29 points, Mitchell 12 of his 38, along with four of his season-high 12 assists.

Love went 5-of-7 beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, Mitchell 2-of-3. They totaled eight 3-pointers apiece, becoming only the second teammates in NBA history to make that number or more in the same game, joining Zach LaVine and Coby White of the Chicago Bulls in 2021.

With Wade making 6 of 8 3-pointers and adding a career-high 22 points, the Cavs made 23-of-50 from beyond the arc. It was their second-most 3s in a regular-season game, surpassed only by 25 at Atlanta on March 3, 2017.

But the Cavs’ defense played a part in the fourth quarter as well. They held the Knicks starters to nine points on 4-of-12 shooting. Bickerstaff went with Okoro even though he finished with two points and is averaging 1.7 through six games.

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“We knew we had to get stops,” Bickerstaff said of Okoro. “The momentum was in our favor and at that point he was a big part of that. He was one of the guys that took the challenge.

“We know what he’s capable of defensively. The offense was rolling, we just needed to continue to get stops and he’s a guy that impacts that end.”

Love said getting the stops on defense “gave us the juice on both ends of the floor to get it done.”

The 6:30 mark in the fourth quarter stood out in two respects.

Mitchell had just scored on a four-point play to tie the score 99-99, forcing a Knicks timeout. The FieldHouse practically shook, the noise at playoff level.

“Oh, those are the moments,” Love said. “I mean, we had some of those last year where it felt like it will build into something that is really fun and special. I think those are the moments that you live for.”

But during that timeout, Love put his arm around Mitchell with another message.

“It was, ‘I told you so, now we have work to do. We made it a six-minute game, now it’s time for us to get the job done,’” Love said. “I felt if we made it a six-minute game that we were going to be very tough to beat and we came out on top.”

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As Bickerstaff pushes the Cavs towards consistency, their 5-1 start is their best since 2016-17 when they went 6-0. They are still without All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who missed his fifth consecutive game with a left eyelid laceration. Backup point guard Ricky Rubio, their culture-driver, is rehabbing a torn ACL.

But Bickerstaff knows if the Cavs are to improve on a 44-38 season, they must win games they’re expected to win. They went 24-9 in 2021-22 when favored by three or more points, according to Tipico Sportsbook; Sunday most lines had them favored by at least four.

That’s why Bickerstaff gave them a halftime tongue-lashing in Wednesday’s 103-92 home victory over the Orlando Magic. That’s why he questioned their pride going into the fourth quarter Sunday.

Love knew what this rally meant. Love, and perhaps Bickerstaff, considered it a major step.

“That was a big win for us tonight. It definitely showed our character and what we’re about,” Love said. “I know definitely we probably drive the coaching staff a little bit crazy in how we go about our business. I think J.B. just continues to say we need to find a way to handle our success better and just continue. It’s OK getting a 10-point lead. We can take it to 15 and 20 points.

“But I know that we’ll get there, and we'll continue that maturation process."

Cavaliers at Celtics

Time: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

TV: ESPN

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs continue to mature as Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Love lead