Cleveland will still have to wait a little before slashing the champagne to celebrate its first place in the Eastern Conference. The riders came across damn determined Kings, who were able to count on their trident derozan-lavine-Sabonis to hold to the end and to snatch a precious victory for the race for the play-in.
It was once again Domantas Sabonis who knew how to start very hard to put his team on the right track. Author of 15 points including two 2+1 in the first quarter, the Lithuanian allowed his family to take the advantage after 12 minutes (27-31). Cleveland did not let go, and after the two flights from Evan Mobley, it was Isaac Okoro who came out of the wood with three baskets to supply a 10-0 and place the premises in mind (45-39). The euphoria will have been short-lived, however, between the reaction of the Derozan-Lavine-Sabonis trio before the break and the miraculous 3-point of Keon Ellis at the Buzzer of half-time (57-56).
The riders get closer and then crack
The third quarter confirmed the situation, between the rapid outing of Donovan Mitchell, hit in the left ankle, and the new demonstration of force of the “Big Three” of the Kings, a large craftsman of a scathing 23-4 devoted at the end of the period to go to +14, between the two arrows far from Zach Lavine and the numbers of Demar Derozan, also the author of a 3-point 77-91.
Carried by the return of Donovan Mitchell and the shines of an unleashed ty jerome, Cleveland however managed to relaunch the game and even ironed in front of two exploits of Jerome (99-97).
But the Kings remained imperturbable and continued to execute their attack by finding the address. Special mention for Zach Lavine, who planted three 3-point baskets and a lay-up that ended up scaling the CAVS (111-118), even if Demar derozan and Keon Ellis also made their part of the job, 3-point or on two precious counters of Keon Ellis on Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. In a strange end of the match, where the Cavs paradoxically believed there, it is a new arbitral decision in favor of Sacramento, the fault at the heel of Donovan Mitchell which overflowed on the touchline, which sealed the fate of the meeting (113-120).
What to remember
– an unplayable “big three”. What performance of the Derozan-Lavine-Sabonis trio! The three accumulated 92 of the 120 points registered by the Kings, with also impressive percentages (respectively 10/18, 15/21 and 11/15 in shooting). Enough to keep Sacramento afloat until the end, with the remarkable finish of Zach Lavine, of which on 7/11 at 3-point did the greatest good to the Californians.
– Ty Jarome’s successful return. What a pleasure to find the back of Cleveland, who had not played for ten days and who came back as if nothing had happened. He feasted as soon as he got into play and was also precious to allow Cleveland to believe it to the end, finishing best scorer of his team, 20 points at 9/13 in shooting in just 23 minutes of play.
– An alert without consequence for Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs held their breath when Donovan Mitchell collapsed shortly after the break. On a harmless action, when he returned to defense, the rear of the Cavs walked on the heel of Keon Ellis, causing him great pain in the left ankle, fortunately without consequences. After a short visit to the locker room, he finally returned to the end of the third quarter and quickly reassured everyone. He could even have been the hero of the end of the match if the Cavs had managed to reverse Sacramento.
– The weight of “challenges”. The meeting was marked by several arbitral decisions which benefited the Kings, including two “challenges”, at 73-72, when Domantas Sabonis was unjustly sanctioned with a force in force, then when Cleveland asked for a fault of Trey Lyles (nonexistent) on a shot from Donovan Mitchell. The two decisions therefore benefited the Kings, rightly so. On the other hand, how were the referees could validate the Zach Lavine lay-up registered after the 24-second buzzer without returning to their decision? The whole room saw the action, and the ball was still clearly in the hand of the winger at the time of the buzzer. Two points that weighed down a little the end of the match and the attempted “Comeback” of the Cavs, up to the three throws finally refused to Donovan Mitchell, guilty of having left his heel hanging on the key line.
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How to read the stats? Min = minutes; Shots = successful shots / tempted shots; 3pts = 3-point / 3-point attempted; LF = Successful free throws / tempted free throws; O = offensive rebound; D = defensive rebound; T = total rebounds; PD = assists; FTE: Personal faults; Int = interceptions; BP = lost bullets; CT: against; +/- = Differential points when the player is on the field; Pts = points; EVAL: evaluation of the player calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
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