James Harden, Nets 8th straight loss at the hands of Cavaliers

James Harden had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists after missing two games with a fractured right thumb as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on in the final seconds of their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday in New York.

Harden was listed as questionable after losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons, but he played 36 minutes in Cleveland while nearly notching his first career triple-double.

Former Net Jarrett Allen added 20 and Evan Mobley had 17 as the Cavs survived their third straight game without Donovan Mitchell (groin injury). Sam Merrill contributed 15 and Dennis Schroder had 12 as Cleveland shot 48.6% and made 25 free throws (9) in the fourth quarter.

Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers with 26 points and helped the Nets nearly erase a nine-point deficit in the final minute. Rookie Danny Wolf added a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds, while first-year guard Nolan Traore contributed 17.

The Nets have lost eight straight and were much more competitive than Friday’s 148-111 loss at Boston. Brooklyn shot 50.7 percent and never trailed by more than 11 percent before a comeback attempt failed.

Brooklyn rested rookie Egor Demin and replaced Nic Claxton (thumb) in the recent loss to Cleveland.

The Cavaliers bounced back after blowing a 13-point lead at Detroit on Friday, but nearly lost another late cushion.

Cleveland took a 98-89 lead on Mobley’s basket with 3:15 left, but cut the lead to 102-101 with 9.2 seconds left. The Cavs finally won their seventh straight win over the Nets when Mobley split a pair at the line with 3.7 seconds left in the final margin.

After shooting 70.6 percent in the opening quarter, Cleveland went 4-of-18 in the second quarter and the Nets took a 52-46 lead at halftime. The Cavs took a 70-64 lead with 4:40 left in the third on Harden’s four-point play, but trailed the Nets 75-74 heading into the fourth.

–Field level media