Cleveland Cavaliers at Charlotte Hornets

Mitchell scores 24 as Cavaliers use fast start to beat Hornets 94-87

Jaylon Tyson scored 14 points and Jarod Allen added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who held the Hornets to 32 points in the first half on 26% shooting.

Brandon Miller finished with 24 points and Kon Knueppel had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Charlotte, which made just 8 of 46 3-point attempts and was outrebounded 60-47.

The Cavs bolted to a big lead in the first quarter after making 11 of 15 shots from the field to open the game.

Cleveland's stifling on-ball pressure defense repeatedly forced Charlotte into uncharacteristic turnovers and hurried shots.

Mitchell set the tone for the Cavaliers with 14 points in the first half, and Cleveland's defense never allowed Charlotte to get into any rhythm in the first two quarters. The Hornets tied a season low with 12 points in the second quarter and trailed 56-32 lead at the break.

The Hornets got their transition game going in the third quarter and cut the lead to 12 points behind back-to-back alley-oop passes from LaMelo Ball to Miller. Charlotte cut its deficit to four with 13 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Miller and driving layup by Knueppel, but ran out of time.

Ball strategy backfires Hornets coach Charles Lee again brought LaMelo Ball off the bench on the first night of a back-to-back in an effort to preserve his body, but the move backfired as the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft had one of the worst nights of his career. Ball finished with four points on 1-of-15 shooting, going 0 of 10 from beyond the 3-point line.

Up next Cavaliers: Host the Kings on Friday.

Hornets: Visit the Magic on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

CLE leads series 2-1