It ended with a stunning Cleveland Cavaliers win in double overtime behind Collin Sexton's 42 points as Sexton scored twenty consecutive points for Cleveland covering the first and second overtime in their 147-135 victory.
The Nets stars put their points up on the board, but the Cavaliers rallied in the first overtime from a three-point deficit with both eighteen and twenty-three seconds remaining and tied to the game on a three-pointer by Sexton with 1.2 seconds left to force a second version, where it was all Cleveland and all Collin Sexton.
Sexton's 42 led Cleveland with Cedi Osman contributing 25 more.
J.B. Bickerstaff used only eight players for Cleveland in the game and seven of the eight reached double-figures in points with the eighth- Isaac Okoro finishing with eight points.
Cleveland has evened their record to a surprising 7-7 and will face this same Nets team on Friday at Rocket Field House.
Swashbucklings
1) Just wow.
Collin Sexton put this team on his shoulders and drilled shot after shot to keep the Cavaliers in a game that could have easily gotten away.
I'm still not ready to say that Collin Sexton is a number one player for a rebuilding franchise, but his game has advanced this season and he's getting closer and closer to considering him for that status.
2) What is the advancement in Sexton's game?
The improvement in the outside shot for Sexton has added an extra dimension to his game.
Sexton has always been able to beat his man off the dribble, but his outside shot had been inconsistent.
Sexton still will have his evenings where nothing falls, but this season Sexton has established himself credible enough that opponents will have to step out and contest his shot- which makes his drives to the basket even more effective.
3) The two newest Cavaliers each played over thirty and while Jarrett Allen played and gave the Cavaliers what they hoped for (12 points and 11 rebounds), the surprise was Taurean Prince, who scored 17 points and hit three three-pointers, one of those a key basket in overtime.
Prince had a lot of questions after being acquired by Cleveland, but if he's able to play closer to his time with the Hawks and less than his tenure in Brooklyn, Prince could help this team.
4) Cedi Osman played the most of anyone in the victory-fifty minutes and his twenty-five points came with nine of seventeen shooting, four of those from three-point range.
Osman can be inconsistent, but his effort is always there and I still have the feeling that there is some growth that still could come along.
Osman is only 25 and this season he's averaging fourteen points with four rebounds and assists each.
Even if this is the best that Osman ever plays, that's a pretty handy role player at least.
5) The future seems pretty clear from the first night with Jarrett Allen as a Cavalier.
Allen didn't supplant Andre Drummond at center as the starter, but Allen played more minutes (31 to 26) and in crunch time, it was Allen on the floor, not Drummond.
6) JaVale McGee was a DNP and I would imagine trade offers will be heating up soon.
If the minutes aren't completely there for Allen and Drummond, they definitely aren't there for adding McGee to the mix.
7) I'm not a fan of the Cavaliers "City" uniforms anyway this season, but with their colors being black and white- it's not easy to keep things straight in games like tonight.
Brooklyn's colors are black and white and I had difficulties at times telling which team is which.
Hopefully, Cleveland will wear a different uniform for the rematch on Friday.
8) Kyrie Irving finished with 37 points in his return, Kevin Durant dropped 38 and James Harden popped in 21, but the Nets defense was awful and I still wonder if three guys that all seem to need the basketball can co-exist on the court.
Last night was only their first game together, but I'm not sure if this wins in the playoffs.
The Nets are going to have their nights where they just blow teams out of the arena but against good and better-rounded teams?
I'll say the jury is out.
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