The Cleveland Cavaliers outlasted the Charlotte Hornets 118-113 for their seventh victory and 12th win in 13 games on Friday night.
Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, Jarrett Allen added 25 points and 14 rebounds, and James Harden with 18 points and eight assists for the Cavaliers.
On the other hand, Kon Knueppel led the Hornets with 33 points, including seven three-pointers, giving him 193 made 3s for the season, which is the second most in NBA history by a rookie.
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller each had 18 points, and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Miller finished a layup from a no-look feed from Ball to cut the Cavaliers’ edge to four with a minute remaining, but Mitchell made a short jumper and four free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
Cleveland established a 14-point lead in the second quarter, but Knueppel began to heat up, finishing with four three-pointers and 16 points in the first half to cut Cleveland’s lead to six.
Charlotte took the lead late in the third quarter behind three more Knueppel 3s.
However, Mitchell took over with his physical play after he got to the line 13 times and made 12 free throws.
The Hornets played without suspended forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams, who sat out with knee injury management, forcing them to play the young guns.
Cleveland outscored the Hornets 50-28 in the paint.
Both teams will play road games on Sunday night: Charlotte at Washington, while the Cavaliers play at Oklahoma City.
