The Cavaliers’ season seems closer to drama every day. If in the first weeks we were talking about a team that was far from transmitting the feeling of dominance of last year but that was little by little achieving results, in the last few weeks this last part is no longer even true. For some time now, the defeats are beginning to be more abundant than the victories in Cleveland.
And this morning was the worst of all.
Kenny Atkinson’s team lost at home to the Charlotte Hornets 111-118, a painful result for those from Ohio for many reasons. The first and most obvious, defeat; Next, the fact of losing to a rival from the lower zone that arrived with significant casualties. But the most serious thing, what seemed to really sink the Cavs to the point of making them give up, was how. Specifically, how the extra time was reached in which his stumble would end up being certified.
Miller to the rescue
A setback that, however, was in the making long before, and in fact for many minutes it seemed that Charlotte was going to win without the need for extra time. With excellent defense on Donovan Mitchell, who was mainly shot by Sion James at 6/24, the Hornets managed to control the duel and create countless problems for the hosts, especially in the first half, taking the match to a low score that benefited them.
Because Charles Lee’s team did not have enough artillery either, although with the help of Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller, all with over 20 points, they managed to compensate for the lack of contribution from the rest of the team in this aspect. And above all, they managed to build a lead of 17 points midway through the third quarter that invited us to think about the machada.
But Cleveland wasn’t going to go down that easily. Between the awakening of Darius Garland, who scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half, and the best defensive performance of the fourth quarter, they managed to turn the match around and get closer to a victory that, although not very lustrous, at least avoided disaster. And precisely that, believing that they had managed to avoid the fall, made it much more painful.
BRANDON MILLER SENDS IT TO OVERTIME WITH THE LATE TRIPLE 🔥
5 extra minutes in Hornets-Cavs on NBA League Pass! pic.twitter.com/zmtWrSHgly
— NBA (@NBA) December 14, 2025
And with only five seconds left, Brandon Miller converted the triple that made the home advantage disappear in an action in which Garland looked for the foul in attack, the referees let the game play, and the forward’s pulse did not tremble and he tied the game 9 meters from the rim. Tied at 111-111, the score with which regulation time would end after Mitchell missed the potential game winner on the horn. The game was not over.
Just one team
And yet, somehow the game was over for the Cavaliers. The five minutes of extra time were quite similar to what you would expect from a team that has hit rock bottom, that has taken such a beating that it has not even attempted to get back up. It’s not that the Hornets were incredibly inspired, but they didn’t need to. The minimum effort would have been worth it against a practically decomposing rival.
It is not just that Cleveland did not score a single point in the entire overtime, it is that the image reached desolating limits as the minutes passed. In the final possessions in which they could still close the gap and get back into the game, they chained a Garland turnover right out of timeout and a air-ball of Mitchell that were the perfect definition of how they had reached that stage. Mentally out, emotionally exhausted.
And although a triple that sends a match you had won to overtime is a hard emotional blow, it is not enough to cause such an impact. An image like this is the product of accumulated weeks of frustration and seeing how things don’t work out. And it is certainly a dangerous dynamic to get into.
(Cover photo: David Richard-Imagn Images)
