Cavs: One stud and one dud from win over Hornets on Monday

After returning from a four-game Western road trip, it was nice to see the Cleveland Cavaliers back in action at a normal time on Monday night. This was the closure of that five-game road trip, for what it’s worth. The Cavs will take on Damian Lillard, Larry Nance Jr., and the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. However, let’s focus on the gritty 113-110 victory over the Hornets last night.

The Cavaliers came out of the gate hot, piling up 40 points in the first quarter alone, by far their highest mark in the opening quarter this year. The Cavaliers headed into halftime up by a score of 65-49.

By the time the third quarter came to a close the Cavs lead was cut to 12, heading into the final quarter of play. The Hornets made a big push in the final quarter, but ultimately the Cavaliers prevailed, and got back into the win column after dropping two straight to the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

Jarrett Allen led the Cavaliers in scoring with 24 points, on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. He also grabbed 16 rebounds, and swatted three shots from the hoop; on both ends, really, it was a rebound from the past two games, in particular, for him.

LaMelo Ball led all scorers with 30 points, on 12-of-22 shooting. Ball was great all night, and in the fourth quarter began heating up as the clock approached zero. However, the Cavs were able to hold off the Hornets rally, and grab a three-point win in North Carolina. A lot of players played well on Monday night including, Allen, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley.

Even still, not everything was perfect last night. With that being said, let’s check out who starred for the Cavaliers, and what they need to improve on going forward.