Cleveland Cavaliers: Cavs’ lessons in exciting win over Brooklyn Nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up their second road win of the year with a thrilling 99-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Tristan Thompson and Alec Burks saved the Cleveland Cavaliers in Brooklyn to down the Nets. Cleveland was in control for most of the game and built a solid 11-point lead in the fourth quarter before Brooklyn stormed back. D’Angelo Russell and Rodions Kurucs led the charge as the Nets were able to come back and tie the game.

Kurucs tied the game up with 18.9 seconds left after putting back an airball from a three-point attempt by Russell. Alec Burks followed that up by slamming home the eventual game-winner with just over three seconds left to play. Spencer Dinwiddie had a shot at the win, but he came up short thanks to suffocating defense from Thompson on a tremendous closeout.

Thompson carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory once again as he controlled the paint on both ends of the floor. He finished with 19 points on eight-of-11 shooting with 14 boards, two assists, and two blocks. He was, simply put, a man on a mission on both ends of the floor all night long, and they needed every last bit of that in a narrow victory on the road.

Jordan Clarkson provided his usual quick scoring spark plug off the bench, as he finished with 20 points on nine-of-22 shooting to go with an outstanding 11 rebounds and four assists. Clearly, he’s never going to be an innocent bystander on the offensive end of the floor for Cleveland and this game in Brooklyn was no exception.

Here’s what we learned from the win.