Cavaliers Beat Nets 125-121 for First Win, Mitchell Scores 22 and Allen Adds 21

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets 125-121 on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points for Cleveland, Jarrett Allen had 21 points and eight rebounds, and the Cavaliers held on in the final seconds for their first win of the season in their home opener, before a sellout crowd of 19,432.

Cleveland led for most of the night and still had to close the game twice. Evan Mobley added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, Jaylon Tyson scored 15 points off the bench, and James Harden collected 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Cleveland moved to 1-1 with the win, while Brooklyn fell to 0-2.

Cleveland leads 68-54 at halftime

Cleveland led 68-54 at halftime, with the last basket before the break a Peyton Watson layup heading into halftime. Watson finished with 11 points in his home debut for the Cavaliers. The 14 point halftime lead gave Cleveland control of the game, and the Cavaliers stretched it further after the break.

Cleveland built a 22 point lead in the second half and led 104-82 with 9:29 remaining. At that point the home opener looked settled, with Mitchell, Allen and Mobley all at 20 points or more and the bench adding Tyson's 15 points.

Brooklyn comes back in the fourth quarter

Brooklyn did not fold. Michael Porter Jr. finished with 28 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, Julius Randle had 23 points, and Egor Demin scored 22 points, with 15 of them in the fourth quarter on four three pointers in the quarter. Demin's shooting pulled Brooklyn back into a game Cleveland had led by 22.

Porter cut the lead to two points late. His three pointer with 8.1 seconds left made it 123-121, and Brooklyn had turned a blowout into a one possession game in the final seconds. On the next possession Porter fouled out, and Sam Merrill made two free throws to put Cleveland up four points, 125-121, with 5.2 seconds remaining. That was the final score.

Fouls, an ejection and a familiar warning

The closing minutes were part of a rough night. Day'Ron Sharpe posted seven points and eight rebounds for Brooklyn before he was ejected after two flagrant fouls, both on James Harden three point tries. Demin and Watson also fouled out of the game.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson treated the finish as a lesson rather than a relief. "These are the best teaching moments, execution moments to close out games. Give them credit, they hit some really tough shots, they were hitting them in your face. I think we lost the possession game by 16. We have to clean up the turnovers and rebounding," Atkinson said, via the Akron Beacon Journal.

The warning mattered because of Thursday. Cleveland had squandered a 29 point lead in its season opener and lost 114-106 to the Philadelphia 76ers. In this game Cleveland again held a double digit halftime lead and again allowed the opponent to catch up in the fourth quarter. This time the Cavaliers made the last free throws, beat Brooklyn 125-121, and left their home opener at 1-1 instead of 0-2.