Cavaliers hold on to defeat Nuggets
Lauri Markkanen #24 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks the ball against JaMychal Green #0 and Jeff Green #32 of the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena on October 25, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by MATTHEW STOCKMAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 16 rebounds, Kevin Love scored 22 points, and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 99-87 on Monday night.
Collin Sexton scored 14 points, Lauri Markkanen had 12 points and Evan Mobley amassed 10 points and eight rebounds for Cleveland.
Jarrett Allen goes 10-11 from the field as the @cavs top Denver!
Kevin Love: 22 PTS
Lauri Markkanen: 12 PTS, 4 STL pic.twitter.com/lsPd0F29DT— NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2021
Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds, Aaron Gordon and Will Barton scored 12 points apiece and Michael Porter Jr. had 11 points for Denver. The Nuggets committed 22 turnovers.
Denver trailed for most of the game, and a tough start to the fourth quarter doomed the Nuggets.
After P.J. Dozier dunked to pull the Nuggets within 75-72, Cleveland took over.
Markkanen dunked and Mobley hit a layup before a Denver turnover led to a 3-pointer by Sexton, putting the Cavaliers ahead by 10.
"OH. MERCY. MARKKANEN."
Lauri drops the 🔨 on NBA LP pic.twitter.com/wc7ab0BWJL
— NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2021
Denver missed two shots and had another turnover, leading to more points for Cleveland. Darius Garland’s layup with 8:28 left made it 89-73.
The Nuggets scored the next two buckets and had a chance to get the deficit below 10 but Monte Morris missed a 3-point attempt.
Ricky Rubio scored on a finger roll for the Cavaliers, and after Morris stepped out of bounds with the ball, Allen hit a reverse layup, giving the Cavaliers a 93-77 with 5:28 left. Cleveland closed it out from there.
The Cavaliers grabbed a nine-point lead in the first quarter and repelled every Denver rally in the first half. It was 50-40 late in the second quarter, but the Nuggets scored the last six points of the half to get within 50-46.
Denver turned it over three times early in the third quarter and Cleveland took advantage, going up 62-51 on Sexton’s 3-pointer.
The Nuggets went on a 14-4 run to get within 66-65 on Barton’s layup, but they missed opportunities to go ahead, and the Cavaliers stretched the lead to five.
Jokic answered with a layup and then converted a three-point play to tie it at 70-all in the final minute of the quarter.
Cleveland got two free throws by Love to make it 75-70 heading into the fourth.
