Darius Garland scored 28 points and Evan Mobley added 21 to go along with 11 rebounds and seven assists, helping the host Cleveland Cavaliers clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
Garland sank six 3-pointers and finished 10 of 17 from the field for the Cavaliers (63-16), who erupted for 43 points in the second quarter on their way toward completing a four-game season sweep of Chicago.
Cleveland’s Ty Jerome scored 18 points and De’Andre Hunter had 17 off the bench.
Jarrett Allen contributed 12 points and nine rebounds to send the Cavaliers to their seventh win in the last nine games.
Cleveland shot a robust 51.0 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from 3-point range to overcome the absence of leading scorer Donovan Mitchell (left ankle sprain).
Patrick Williams scored 21 points and Matas Buzelis added 19 for the undermanned Bulls (36-43), who couldn’t overcome the absences of Coby White (rest), Josh Giddey (forearm) and Nikola Vucevic (right calf soreness).
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 17 points off the bench for Chicago, which is slated to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night in a pivotal contest in the play-in tournament race.
Cleveland was nursing a 25-24 lead after the end of the first quarter before Garland scored 14 points in the second to give his team some breathing room.
The Cavaliers pushed their advantage to 44-31 after Mobley, Dean Wade and Jerome each drained a 3-pointer, and Garland converted from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions later in the quarter to extend Cleveland’s lead to 66-45.
Chicago cut a 27-point deficit to nine at 101-92 early in the fourth quarter, however Sam Merrill sank a 3-pointer and Max Strus added two more to highlight a 13-2 run for the Cavaliers. Garland converted from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions to push Cleveland’s lead to 122-99 with 5:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
