NEW ORLEANS (AP) —
Donovan Mitchell and the surging Cavaliers arrived in a city where they hadn’t won in a decade and demonstrated why Cleveland was among just three teams that held off on making any deals at this week’s NBA trade deadline.
Mitchell scored 30 points and Cleveland maintained a double-digit lead most of the way for a 118-107 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night that extended the Cavaliers’ winning streak to five games.
Evan Mobley had 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Jarrett Allen added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which snapped the Pelicans’ three-game winning streak and won in New Orleans for the first time since March 2010.
Cleveland shot 56.5% (48 of 85), outscored New Orleans 70-58 in the paint and outrebounded the Pelicans 41-34.
Cleveland went in front for good in the first quarter and opened up a 22-point, first-half lead.
“Just a lack of toughness tonight to be honest,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “That game is not an example of who we are and who we have been.
“Our margin for error is small,” Green added. “We can’t allow teams to get out to leads like that.”
The Cavs led by as many as 25 in the second half and the lead hovered around 20 until the latter stages of the fourth quarter, when most of the starters had gone to the bench for good.