Cavs clinch postseason spot

For the first time since LeBron James left them a second time, the Cavaliers are a playoff team again.

Jarrett Allen scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell added 22 points and the Cavs clinched a postseason spot for the first time since 2018, beating the Houston Rockets 108-91 on Sunday night.

After James left five years ago, the Cavs went through a massive rebuild while enduring coaching changes, a pair of 19-win seasons and just missing the postseason last year before finally getting back.

"It was a winding road to get here," said Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff.

Along with ending the five-year drought, Cleveland has also returned to the playoffs without James on its roster for the first time since 1998.

"That's crazy that that's the stat or whatever," said center Evan Mobley, who was born in 2001. "I'm just here trying to win the most I can, and I guess that's a big deal for a lot of people."

The Cavs, who made it to four straight Finals with James from 2015-18, are closing in on locking up the No 4 spot — and home-court advantage in the first round — in the Eastern Conference. They've won 9 of 11.

Mobley added 19 points and Darius Garland 17 for Cleveland, which after making the play-in tournament last season, signaled it was ready to compete for a championship when it traded for Mitchell in September.

Following the game, All-Star guard Mitchell told his teammates to celebrate but not to be satisfied.

"I told the guys in there, this is what you should just come to expect," said Mitchell, who has qualified for the playoffs in each of his six NBA seasons. "You made your first one. Appreciate and enjoy it. Celebrate it for the city, for the organization, for you individual guys who have made it.

"We should come to a point now where that's expected of us making the playoffs and continuously being here and continuously pushing forward."

Jalen Green scored 30 to pace the Rockets, who have lost five straight.

Houston trailed by 20 in the third quarter but rallied and closed within five early in the fourth when Allen single-handedly put the Cavaliers back in control.

Agencies via Xinhua