The Cleveland Cavaliers played an exciting basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday and won 133-129 after extra time, called overtime. This victory was their 10th win in a row, making them the best team in the NBA right now with 50 wins and only 10 losses this season. In another game, the Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets 110-103.
For the Cavaliers, a player named De’Andre Hunter stepped up big time. Their usual star, Donovan Mitchell, was resting, so Hunter got to start the game. He scored 32 points, the most of anyone, with 18 of those points coming late in the game during the fourth quarter and overtime. He helped the Cavaliers come back from being 18 points behind.
Hunter explained his success simply: “Made open shots, tried to get to the rim and get fouled.” This means he took shots when no one was blocking him, drove to the basket, and got hit by defenders to earn free throws. With just 30.8 seconds left in overtime, he made a three-point shot that gave the Cavaliers a 131-129 lead they never lost. After that, he stole the ball and grabbed a rebound when Portland’s Deni Avdija missed a shot. Then, Hunter made two free throws to lock in the win.
Another Cavaliers player, Ty Jerome, scored 25 points as a substitute, and six players on the team scored 10 or more points, showing they worked well together.
For the Trail Blazers, Deni Avdija was a standout with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists—a triple-double, which means doing great in three different stats. Anfernee Simons added 27 points. Portland was ahead for most of the first half and even went on a 15-0 run to lead 54-42 at halftime after the Cavaliers got a slight edge earlier.
The game stayed close late. The Cavaliers tied it at 101-101 with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter. The lead switched back and forth three more times until Simons made two free throws to tie it at 119-119, forcing overtime. Jerome said, “We’re a resilient group,” meaning the team doesn’t give up easily. He also said the Blazers are a good team, and the Cavaliers had to keep fighting after a tough win against Boston the day before.
In the other game, the Boston Celtics, who won the championship last year, beat the Denver Nuggets, the 2023 champions. The Celtics were up by 20 points in the third quarter, but Denver fought back to make it close, getting within 102-99 with 1:15 left. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 22 points and eight assists—passes that help teammates score. Jamal Murray scored 26 points for Denver, including 13 late in the game, and Nikola Jokic, a super talented player, had 20 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists. But Boston made the shots they needed to win and stop a two-game losing streak.
Other Celtics players helped too: Al Horford scored 19 points, Derrick White had 17, and Jayson Tatum added 16 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists. Brown said, “Defensively, I thought we were good tonight.” He meant their defense—stopping the other team—was strong, even though they missed some easy shots. He added, “Offensively we missed some good looks. I missed some layups, I missed some open shots, but we were able to hang on.” This means they didn’t score every time they could have, but they still won.
Both games showed how exciting basketball can be, with big comebacks and close finishes!
