CLEVELAND, Ohio — It was the same story for the Cavs.
Only with a different ending.
Cleveland lost to the Charlotte Hornets, 119-111, in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Arena.
Two nights earlier, the Cavs needed a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback to avoid an embarrassing loss versus the three-win Washington Wizards.
Playing against another Eastern Conference bottom feeder Sunday, Cleveland found itself in a similar position.
The Cavs trailed by 10 at the half. They were behind by a game-high 17 at one point in the third quarter. Down nine going into the fourth.
With Charlotte missing its first four shots of the final period, the Cavs mounted a furious rally.
As the deficit shrunk, fans started to stir.
It was a two-possession game with 7:27 remaining. About a minute later, the Cavs took just their second lead of the second half.
It didn’t last long.
The Hornets went back in front two possessions later — and remained in control until there were 21 seconds left. Following a Charlotte defensive rebound, the Cavs forced a timely turnover, reclaiming the lead on Jaylon Tyson’s floater.
It seemed like they were going to narrowly avoid a catastrophic loss for the second time in two days.
Not this time.
After Cleveland increased its lead to three on a pair of Tyson free throws, Charlotte tied the game with 4.7 seconds left thanks to Brandon Miller’s made triple that sent Darius Garland stumbling to the floor.
Following the timeout, Mitchell missed a potential game-winning jumper, sending the game into overtime.
The Hornets outscored Cleveland 8-0 in the extra period. The Cavs missed all 10 of their shots.
Garland finished with a team-high 26 points, including 18 in the second half. Mitchell added 17 on an inefficient 6 of 24 shooting. Tyson chipped in with 16 off the bench. Dean Wade, inserted in the starting lineup in the absence of Evan Mobley (calf strain) added 14 points. Wade even finished the game at center in a small-ball look.
Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel tallied a game-high 29 points. Miller added 25 while Miles Bridges had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Shortly before tipoff, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson pushed back on the negativity surrounding his underperforming team.
He said, vehemently, that the sky was not falling.
It sure felt like that Sunday afternoon.
**Up next**
The Cavs will travel to Chicago for a matchup against the Bulls on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.