De’Andre Hunter’s Cleveland debut was a rousing success — even if he didn’t have to do much — as the Cavaliers never trailed in a 128-107 pounding of the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night.
Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards had a game-high 44 before subbing out with 4:45 left and his team down 26. He finished 13-for-28 from the floor with eight 3-pointers.
Evan Mobley had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, posting his 23rd double-double of the season. Donovan Mitchell added 23 points and eight assists and heard “MVP” chants from the crowd in the second half.
The home crowd was eager to see Hunter in the Cavs’ lineup after coming over in a trade-deadline deal with the Hawks. Starting in place of Max Strus (ankle soreness), Hunter missed his first two shots and picked up a pair of early fouls in the first quarter.
He finished with 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting from deep.
But it didn’t matter who was in the lineup early for Cleveland as Minnesota was frozen solid. The Timberwolves started the game 0-for-16 from the floor and didn’t make a basket until Edwards drilled a three with 2:55 left.
Cleveland led 16-0 before the Wolves scored their first points on a free throw by Rudy Gobert. They led 30-12 after one quarter that saw the Wolves shoot 2-for-21 from the floor.
The lead grew to 40-16 after a long three by Hunter before Minnesota put together an 8-0 run capped by a three from Edwards to make it 46-30. Cleveland closed the half with a flourish, getting two threes from Mitchell and another from Garland to build a 66-44 halftime lead.
Edwards picked up his NBA-high 13th technical of the season walking off the floor at half.
Minnesota pulled to within 15 in the third quarter, but Mitchell and the Cavs were just too much. The final four seconds of the third saw the Cavs score six points: Following a three by Jaylon Tyson with 3.6 seconds left, a Minnesota pass accidentally went straight to Ty Jerome standing on the arc, who drained a three for a 104-78 lead, the biggest to that point.
Cleveland is now 25-4 at home, the most home wins in the NBA.
