CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers had a massive start against the Kings in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Saturday night, and despite the game getting away from them in the second half, the Cavs held their lead and got another win, beating Sacramento 117-103.
In the first half alone, the Cavs put up 81 points. Yes, you read that right, 81 points in the first half.
The 81-point first half tied the Cavs' record for most points ever in an opening half, set in 2016 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Issac Okoro had 15 points in the first half while Evan Mobley and Darius Garland both put up 12 with Garland also getting eight assists. Off the bench Cedi Osman put up 18 points in the first half.
But the second half was a different story. Through the final two quarters, the Cavs put up just 36 points total. It was quite the opposite of the first half, but head coach J.B. Bickerstaff shouldered the blame for the fall off.
"The guys did a great job of bailing me out," Bickerstaff said. "It's my job to stay the ship and not add the the problem and that's on me."
Mobley ended the night with a double-double, putting up 15 points and 15 rebounds in addition to a block. Jarrett Allen joined the block party Saturday as well, ending his night with three blocks and a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Garland ended the night with a double-double, posting 16 points and 13 rebounds, in addition to a block and three steals. Okoro put up 20 points and two steals while Kevin Love had 11 points, Osman put up 18 and a block, and Ricky Rubio scored 15 points and notched three steals.
Bickerstaff said on Friday that the team is still learning how to play disciplined, purposed basketball and maintain a lead, like successful, dominant teams do—and on Saturday, the team had another tough lesson in making that happen.
The young team still has its growing pains but has done a good job all season of learning from their mistakes—so the second half of Friday's game will be something that the Cavs evaluate in order to be better next game.
Cleveland hosts the Miami Heat on Monday inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as they look to push their win streak to four. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
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Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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