CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers are now just one game away from a winning season in 2022 after their 113-109 win over the Detroit Pistons Saturday night inside of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland had dropped the last two games against Detroit and there were moments during Saturday's contest that it appeared they might do the same. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
The Cavs had a lead at the end of the first quarter, but lost it in the second. Near the end of the third quarter, the Cavs trailed by as much as 12 before rallying and taking the lead and carrying it through the entire fourth quarter.
Darius Garland, who played his second straight night of 40+ minutes on the court, led the Cavs with 24 points, 12 assists and two steals.
Evan Mobley continued proving why he's the top candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award, notching a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in addition to six assists, a steal and two blocks. Mobley became just the sixth player in Cavs history to record 20 double-doubles in their rookie season, joining Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Brad Daugherty, Carlos Boozer and Bil Laimbeer.
Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens, who both started Saturday, stepped up as well. Okoro put up 11 points and a steal and Stevens had 15 points with five rebounds and a steal.
Like has been the case in games past, the Cavs bench came out hot Saturday with both Cedi Osman and Kevin Love impressing. Osman scored 16 points with five rebounds and a steal while Love put up 14 points and 10 rebounds. Love's three-point shooting was a crucial part to the Cavs' win, hitting three of his five attempts and getting the crowd going after sinking each one.
"Cleveland fans are great, when Kevin Love was hitting those threes fans were super loud," Mobley said.
The record the Cavs boast right now isn't something they're putting to much weight on.
"We've got a lot of games left, a lot more opportunities," head coach J.B Bickerstaff said after Saturday's win. "41 wins is just another part of that learning and growth...that's our focus and we'll wait 'til the season's over to sit back and reflect."
Still, the Cavs record is impressive and the team has a chance to clinch their first winning record without LeBron James since 1998 as they take on none other than James and the Los Angeles Lakers in Cleveland Monday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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