2 studs and 1 dud for Cavs in win over Pelicans on Monday

After coming home from a 2-3 Western road trip, the Cleveland Cavaliers returned to the friendly confines of Rocket Mortgage FIeldHouse for the first time in nearly two weeks for a matinee matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans on MLK Day.

Despite New Orleans being down a trio of starters, the Pelicans were not a team the Cavaliers could take lightly on Monday.

As seems to be the case in many of their recent games, Cleveland’s three-point shooting started slow as they connected on just 1-of-6 attempts in the opening 12 minutes. However, Cleveland was strong from inside the paint, scoring 18 points, led by Evan Mobley’s eight points.

But, Cleveland found themselves down by a point entering the second quarter. The Cavaliers and Pelicans would play a back-and-forth second quarter, but going into halftime, Cleveland trailed by three points primarily due to their 10 first-half turnovers, which led to 16 points for New Orleans.

The back-and-forth battle continued into the third quarter, as both Cleveland and New Orleans scored 31 points. The Cavaliers went just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, while the Pelicans were 4-of-8.

However, the Cavaliers continued to do damage in the paint, outscoring the Pelicans 16-8 as both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley carried the Cavaliers into the fourth quarter.

While the Cavaliers trailed by just three points entering the final quarter, they would have to get the win without Donovan Mitchell, as he was out with a groin strain suffered in the game.

Cleveland’s defense stepped up in the fourth quarter, as they held the Pelicans to 22 points on 43 percent shooting and also scored nine points off of five turnovers by the Pelicans.

Allen and Darius Garland stepped up in the final quarter as they combined for 26 of the Cavs 35 points in the fourth.

Several players for Cleveland stepped up during yesterday’s win, but a couple stood out above the rest.