How does anyone stop the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Minus three key players — Donovan Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome — in Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn, the Cavaliers fell behind by 18 points. But they recovered, as they have most of this remarkable season, behind the defensive efforts of Jarrett Allen and kept their winning streak alive.
When Cleveland visits the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night, it will be attempting to win its 16th straight game, a victory that would set the franchise record for consecutive wins. The Cavaliers won 15 to start the season and have matched it by not losing since Feb. 4.
The Grizzlies will try to play spoiler. Memphis has won four straight but has had difficulty putting away struggling teams.
In its win 122-115 win Wednesday over visiting Utah, a team with a 15-51 record, Memphis built a 19-point first half lead and led by 14 at halftime but couldn’t maintain the cushion. The Grizzlies allowed the Jazz to rally to take the lead on several occasions in the closing minutes. Memphis trailed by one with 1:16 left before recovering behind 3-pointers from Luke Kennard and Ja Morant.
The Grizzlies encountered similar struggles in Monday’s 120-118 win over Phoenix. Memphis turned the ball over with a two-point lead in the final 10 seconds, allowing the Suns a chance for a game-winning 3-pointer. Kevin Durant’s deep three bounced off the back of the rim.
“I’m aware of our inability right now to stretch leads, but it’s kind of the nature of the season right now,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Got to give credit to the four teams that we played. Everyone is playing for different reasons, but these guys are coming out and playing extremely hard.”
As he has during much of the Grizzlies’ current winning streak, Morant provided late-game heroics. He scored eight points in the final four minutes against Phoenix, including a key floater in the lane with 35 seconds left.
“I feel like we disrespect a lot of guys in this league just because of their team record,” Morant said. “They’re still NBA players. They’re here for a reason.”
While Memphis has found a way to escape during its current streak, Cleveland has been able to survive no matter the circumstances. Without three of their key players, the Cavs found a way.
On Tuesday it was the efforts of Darius Garland, who finished with 30 against the Nets and helped Cleveland clinch the division. Garland had an 18-point fourth quarter.
“Darius is the clutch player of the year,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He just does it in the fourth quarter. He’s done it all year.”
Atkinson was impressed by his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“This one did not look good, especially because we were missing shot after shot,” Atkinson said. “But it’s find a way (and go) deep into the roster. Our depth and our grit and our resiliency is something to behold. But 15 in a row? And doing it at this juncture of the season with fatigue. It’s really quite an accomplishment. We’ll look back at this and say this was some kind of an accomplishment.”