{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
New Orleans 108, Cleveland 104
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Officials: #35 Jason Goldenberg, #46 Ben Taylor, #93 Jenna Reneau
Attendance: 15835

Herbert Jones scored a season-high 26 points and Garrett Temple scored all 17 of his points in the fourth quarter as the host New Orleans Pelicans rallied to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-104 Tuesday night.

Devonte' Graham scored 18 points, Jonas Valanciunas returned from a two-game absence due to a non-COVID illness to get 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Gary Clark added 12 points for the Pelicans. New Orleans won for the fifth time in six games despite trailing by as many as 23 points late in the first quarter.

Ricky Rubio had 27 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, Kevin Love scored 24 points, Evan Mobley had 22 points and seven rebounds and Lauri Markkanen netted 14 points to lead the Cavaliers.

Markkanen scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, and a 3-pointer by Love pushed Cleveland's lead to 90-78.

Temple made two 3-pointers during a 10-0 run that got New Orleans within 95-93.

Mobley made two free throws, but Temple answered with two more 3-pointers to give the Pelicans their first lead at 99-97 with 3:18 left.

Graham added a 3-pointer to push the lead to five points with 1:30 left.

Isaac Okoro made one of two free throws and Love hit another 3-pointer to end a 7 1/2-minute field goal drought for the Cavaliers and get them within 102-101 with 46 seconds left.

Valanciunas made two free throws, Mobley missed a 3-pointer, and Valanciunas made two more free throws with 4.8 seconds left.

Love made a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left before Graham hit two free throws.

The Cavaliers scored the first four points of the third quarter to take a 14-point lead.

Graham scored nine points to help the Pelicans pull within 83-76 at the end of the third quarter. They outscored Cleveland 32-21 in the fourth quarter.

Both teams played without their leading scorers.

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland entered the NBA health and safety protocols as did leading rebounder Jarrett Allen.

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram was sidelined by Achilles soreness that knocked him out of a 117-112 loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Cleveland   New Orleans
Ricky Rubio 27 Scoring Herbert Jones 26
Ricky Rubio 9 Assists Devonte' Graham 5
Ricky Rubio 13 Rebounds Jonas Valanciunas 10
Ricky Rubio 4 Free Throws Made Devonte' Graham 7
Lauri Markkanen 2 Steals Jaxson Hayes 1
Ricky Rubio 2 Blocks Herbert Jones 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Cleveland 104 42.0 14-41 16-19 27 42 3 6 8
New Orleans 108 45.0 16-36 20-26 24 44 8 3 13
Upcoming Games
  • New Orleans will play their next game on the road against Milwaukee. The Pelicans have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .391 after a loss.
  • Cleveland will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .462 after a loss.