CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs have done it again.

After trailing by as many as 18 points, Cleveland clawed its way back to come away with a 109-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night at Rocket Arena, marking the Cavs’ 12th time winning after trailing by double-digits and their fifth comeback when trailing by 15 points or more this season.

It is the Cavs’ 15th straight win, tying their franchise record which they set at the beginning of this 2024-25 campaign. Prior to this season, the Cavs’ longest franchise win streak was 13 games.

The win also clinches the Central Division title for the eighth time in franchise history.

“Division champions is pretty cool,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said postgame. “I know us old school guys, we like that. Maybe not so much for the new generation, but that means something. We’ll put a banner up in our practice facility, Koby just told me, so that’s pretty cool. But 15 in a row … and to do it at this juncture of the season with fatigue and teams like Brooklyn coming here playing super hard and people trying to knock us off. It’s really quite an accomplishment.

“We want bigger things, and we all know we want the playoffs, but I think we’ll look back on this and say it’s a pretty incredible accomplishment.”

The Cavs trailed for all but 3 minutes and 48 seconds of the game before roaring back in the fourth quarter.

They took the lead back on an Isaac Okoro layup with 6:20 remaining in the contest and never let up.

Cleveland turned up the intensity on the defensive end, forcing multiple 24-second shot clock violations and pouring on the points on the other end.

The fourth quarter was led by Darius Garland, who has come to be known as Mr. Fourth Quarter. The Cavs point guard scored 18 of his 30 points in the final period to help lift the Cavs. Cleveland scored just 31 points in the period.

Garland struggled for a majority of the contest, but as he’s done all season, he tapped into a different level in the fourth.

“He’s Clutch Player of the Year,” Atkinson said. “I mean, he just does it in the fourth quarter. He’s done it all year.

“He just locks in,” Allen reiterated. “It’s a different mentality. He wants to take over the game. He wants to just prove that he’s the best player on the court, and he continually does.”

To get the Cavs within fighting reach, they needed to bounce back from a horrid first half which saw them score just 50 points and shoot 36% from the field, excluding Evan Mobley’s 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting.

To start the second half, it was the Cavs’ other big man who stepped up mightily. Jarrett Allen scored 11 of his 23 points in the third, but it was his defensive presence, energy and seven rebounds (four on the offensive glass) that turned the tide for his squad.

” I thought J.A. was player of the game,” Atkinson said. “I know Darius offensively, but J.A. is the one that really sparked our defense in the second half.

” It seems like when J.A. has the huge games that he does it on the O-boards and seemed like he was cleaning up all our many misses tonight.”

The Nets may have had a size advantage on the wings, as the Cavs sat Donovan Mitchell (groin soreness), De’Andre Hunter (illness) and Ty Jerome (rest). But Brooklyn struggled to contain Allen and keep up with his effort on the glass, and that created extra opportunities for others.

The third quarter was punctuated by a halfcourt heave from Craig Porter Jr. that brought the crowd back to life heading into the fourth, setting the stage for Garland’s eruption.

Each quarter saw one of the Cavs’ three available Core Four members take center stage.

Allen, Garland and Mobley combined for 74 of the Cavs’ 109 points. Garland finished with 30 points and eight assists. Allen had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Mobley added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Although the Cavs’ role players main contributions didn’t come in scoring, they still played a major part in the momentum swing, particularly on defense.

The Cavs hounded the Nets in the second half, allowing just 41 points through those 24 minutes and only 18 to close out the game.

Since the All-Star break, the Cavs have struggled to start games well and have played down to multiple opponents over that stretch, but they’ve continuously kept it close enough to overwhelm teams in the fourth quarter.

To them, it matters how they get the wins and playing in close contests to prepare them for the playoffs, but ultimately, they keep learning through wins.

“That’s just how we are. We have confidence in each other, and I think that propels us forward individually,” Allen said.

“We can adjust to anything and fight through any deficit or any adversity ahead.”

Up Next

The Cavs travel to FedEx Forum to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.