Mitchell nets 29 as Cavs rally past Bulls, win streak hits 6

CLEVELAND(AP) — All-Star Donovan Mitchell scored 19 of his 29 points in thesecond half and Jarrett Allen had 23 points and 10 rebounds,rallying the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 97-89 victory over theChicago Bulls on Saturday night.

Mitchelladded 10 rebounds and Darius Garland scored 19 for Cleveland, whichtrailed 61-48 in the third quarter before unleashing a 43-17 run togo up by 13. The Cavaliers won their sixth straight and are 24-6 atRocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“This was abig-time win for us,” Mitchell said. “We were getting good looksearly and making the right plays, but the shots weren’t falling.Once we started hitting them, we know it’s tough to play herebecause of our fight and our fans.”

Zach LaVinescored 23 points, Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 14 rebounds, andAll-Star DeMar DeRozan had 16 points and six assists for the Bulls.Chicago was outscored 20-4 to start the fourth and dropped itsthird in a row.

The Cavalierswere playing the second half of a challenging back-to-back set,arriving in Cleveland at 4 a.m. following their 118-107 win in NewOrleans. That nationally-televised game tipped after 10 p.m.Eastern.

“To find thefortitude to grind this one out, that’s special,” Cavaliers coachJ.B. Bickerstaff said. “The mental toughness the guys showed whenthings weren’t going our way, you talk about growth, that’s whatthis was.”

Evan Mobleyhad 14 points and Garland dished out seven assists, helpingCleveland extend its lead over Brooklyn for fourth place in theEastern Conference to 2 1/2 games. The Cavaliers swept theirfour-game season series with Chicago.

The Bullscommitted 23 turnovers, were 5 of 21 on 3-pointers and only managed60 points over the final three quarters.

“We just shotourselves in the foot an enormous amount tonight,” Chicago coachBilly Donovan said. “A lot of it is the team learning how to stopthe bleeding. Everyone is trying their best, but we’re not gettingthe results we want.”

Cleveland’sreserves missed 18 of their 19 field goal attempts, including all13 3-pointers, with Ricky Rubio coming up empty on six tries andDean Wade missing his five shots.

Mitchellscored a franchise-record 71 points in the teams’ previous meetingJan. 2, a 145-134 overtime win at home by the Cavaliers. It tiedfor the eighth-most points in a game in NBA history and was thehighest total in the league in 17 years.

EYESWIDE OPEN

The Bulls arein the thick of the battle for a play-in tournament spot in theEast. Chicago hasn’t made a roster move since mid-December, butthat could change soon as vice president Arturas Karnisovas andgeneral manager Marc Eversley are actively looking atcontract-buyout possibilities around the NBA.

“There havedefinitely been discussions and we have talked some names, butobviously, I can’t say who they are,” Donovan said. “You would takea good player who we would all feel confident could help us.”

TIP-INS

Bulls: GLonzo Ball (left knee surgery), who has not played in a game sinceJan. 14, 2022, will have his status updated by Karnisovas followingthe All-Star break. Ball has been able to dunk in recent weeks andcould be nearing a return. … C Andre Drummond averaged afranchise-high 12.9 rebounds over two seasons with Cleveland,leading the NBA in 2019-2020. … Chicago wrapped up a three-gametrip.

Cavaliers: GDylan Windler (right ankle sprain) was in uniform for the secondtime, but did not get into the game. The 2019 first-round selectionhas missed the entire season after experiencing multiple setbacks.“It’s been tough because there have been random bumps in the roadthat you can’t account for,” Bickerstaff said. Windler has onlyappeared in 81 games as a pro. … Cleveland has sold out all 30 homegames.