By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND (AP) — All-Star Darius Garland scored 18 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 109-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, March 11, matching the longest winning streak in franchise history at 15 games.
Jarrett Allen had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Evan Mobley had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, which also began this season with a 15-game win streak. The Cavaliers trailed by 18 points in the third quarter.
Cleveland is 55-10 — tying the fifth-best start in NBA history — and owns the best home record in the league at 30-4. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell (left groin soreness), forward De’Andre Hunter (illness) and guard Ty Jerome (rest) didn’t dress for the game.
Cam Thomas scored 27 points, Cameron Johnson had 17 points and Ziaire Williams added 14 before fouling out for Brooklyn. The Nets dropped five games behind Chicago for the final play-in tournament spot in the East.
Point guard D’Angelo Russell, who logged 29 minutes Monday in a 111-108 win over the Lakers, sat out the second half of the back-to-back set for right ankle injury management.
Coach Kenny Atkinson’s club hasn’t lost since Feb. 4, when it was beaten by Boston 112-105 at Rocket Arena. Its other home losses were to Atlanta, Houston and Indiana.
Meanwhile in Detroit, Cade Cunningham had 27 points and 10 assists, and the Pistons beat NBA-worst Washington, 123-103, in a physical game that included two late flagrant fouls by the Wizards.
Washington’s Richaun Holmes was ejected in the fourth quarter for throwing an elbow to the face of Detroit’s Ausar Thompson while securing a rebound. A few minutes later, the Wizards’ Marcus Smart was assessed a flagrant-1 foul for elbowing the Pistons’ Tim Hardaway Jr.
Jalen Duren added 15 points and 13 assists for the Pistons, who ended a two-game skid. Detroit entered the night in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Smart led the Wizards with 16 points. Bub Carrington and Jordan Poole scored 15 apiece.
In Indianapolis, Tyrese Haliburton made a fadeaway 3-pointer while being fouled and completed the four-point play with 3.4 seconds left, and the Indiana Pacers stunned Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, 115-114.
Haliburton ran along the left sideline, took an inbounds pass from Andrew Nembhard and launched a 3 while falling out of bounds, absorbing contact by Antetokounmpo, and the ball found the net with Haliburton sprawled on the floor in the corner.
