Denver
Nuggets
108
–
113
FINAL
Cleveland
Cavaliers
Date
Friday, January 2, 2026
Arena
Attendance
N/A
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | 24 | 35 | 38 | 11 | 108 |
| CLE | 28 | 34 | 26 | 25 | 113 |
Game MVPs
Box score star vs. the player whose impact transcended the stat sheet
Key Contributor
Darius Garland
CLE
18
PTS
2
REB
8
AST
-1
+/−
Key Contributions
Deflections2
Contested Shots3
Opp FG% When Defending36.4%
Pts Allowed / Poss0.23
Impact Composite56.7
Hustle: 8.5Defense: 48.3Impact: -0.1
4-8 from 3held opponents to 36.4% FGonly 12 pts allowed on 51.3 possessions
Box Score MVP
Donovan Mitchell
CLE
33
PTS
6
REB
5
AST
+10
+/−
Game Performance
FG14-24 (58.3%)
3PT5-12
FT0-2
TS%66.3%
eFG%68.8%
STL1
TOV4
ORTG119
DRTG107
NET+12
33 points58.3% FG5-12 from 33 deflections+10 plus/minusonly 28 pts allowed on 58.1 possessions
Box Score
| DEN | MIN | PTS | REB | OREB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | FG | FG% | 3PT | 3P% | FT | FT% | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DaRon Holmes II | 23:59 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1-6 | 17% | 1-4 | 25% | 0-0 | 0% | +9 |
| Jalen Pickett | 18:29 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4-5 | 80% | 1-2 | 50% | 0-0 | 0% | +2 |
| Spencer Jones | 36:25 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5-8 | 63% | 3-5 | 60% | 0-0 | 0% | 0 |
| Peyton Watson | 40:13 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9-22 | 41% | 2-9 | 22% | 1-2 | 50% | -4 |
| Jamal Murray | 38:55 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12-28 | 43% | 6-12 | 50% | 4-5 | 80% | +5 |
| BENCH | ||||||||||||||||
| Julian Strawther | 5:43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0-1 | 0% | 0-0 | 0% | 0-0 | 0% | -6 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 28:00 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6-14 | 43% | 3-9 | 33% | 0-0 | 0% | -15 |
| Bruce Brown | 24:20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-4 | 0% | 0-2 | 0% | 0-0 | 0% | -4 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 23:56 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3-6 | 50% | 1-4 | 25% | 6-6 | 100% | -12 |
| TOTAL | — | 108 | 32 | 5 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 40-94 | 43% | 17-47 | 36% | 11-13 | 85% | — |
Curtis Jones —
Hunter Tyson —
| CLE | MIN | PTS | REB | OREB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | FG | FG% | 3PT | 3P% | FT | FT% | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donovan Mitchell | 35:07 | 33 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 14-24 | 58% | 5-12 | 42% | 0-2 | 0% | +10 |
| Darius Garland | 32:09 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 6-12 | 50% | 4-8 | 50% | 2-2 | 100% | -1 |
| Jarrett Allen | 29:48 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3-5 | 60% | 0-0 | 0% | 2-2 | 100% | +12 |
| Jaylon Tyson | 23:46 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3-8 | 38% | 1-4 | 25% | 1-2 | 50% | -8 |
| Evan Mobley | 32:17 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4-10 | 40% | 0-2 | 0% | 0-5 | 0% | -9 |
| BENCH | ||||||||||||||||
| De'Andre Hunter | 25:36 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5-12 | 42% | 2-7 | 29% | 4-4 | 100% | +1 |
| Nae'Qwan Tomlin | 18:39 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2-5 | 40% | 0-1 | 0% | 2-2 | 100% | +6 |
| Lonzo Ball | 14:46 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2-3 | 67% | 2-3 | 67% | 0-0 | 0% | +11 |
| Craig Porter Jr. | 23:12 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4-7 | 57% | 2-2 | 100% | 0-0 | 0% | +6 |
| TOTAL | — | 113 | 55 | 14 | 32 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 43-86 | 50% | 16-39 | 41% | 11-19 | 58% | — |
Thomas Bryant —
Tyrese Proctor —
Sam Merrill —
Shot Chart & Zone Quality
Every shot plotted with zone efficiency vs league average
Team
View
Player
DEN40/94 (43%)
Paint
17/31 (55%)
Mid
11/20 (55%)
3PT
17/49 (35%)
ATB3 31%RA 55%Paint 39%Corner 3 50%Mid 71%
CLE43/86 (50%)
Paint
25/43 (58%)
Mid
6/14 (43%)
3PT
16/39 (41%)
ATB3 27%RA 73%Paint 35%Corner 3 69%Mid 100%
Made
Missed
Hot (+5% vs avg)
Cold (-5% vs avg)
Matchup Breakdown
Matchup Matrix
Defense:
View:
Primary Matchup
Donovan Mitchell
defended Peyton Watson
4.1 min • 10 pts • 80%
Best Defender
Darius Garland
held Jalen Pickett
2.5 min • 0 pts • 0%
Got Cooked
Donovan Mitchell
vs Peyton Watson
4.1 min • 10 pts • 80%
| CLE Defense | Bruce Brown | DaRon Holmes II | Jalen Pickett | Jamal Murray | Julian Strawther | Peyton Watson | Spencer Jones | Tim Hardaway Jr. | Zeke Nnaji |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan Mobley | — | 1.7m 0pts 0% | 1.1m 4pts 67% | 1.9m 0pts 0% | — | 1.9m 0pts 0% | 3.5m 2pts 25% | — | 2.3m 4pts 100% |
| Donovan Mitchell | 1.5m 4pts 50% | — | — | 2.8m 5pts 33% | — | 4.1m 10pts 80% | 1.9m 7pts 75% | 1.1m 2pts 50% | — |
| Jarrett Allen | — | 4.1m 4pts 100% | — | 1.1m 0pts 0% | — | 1.4m 0pts 0% | 1.5m 0pts 0% | — | 3.1m 2pts 50% |
| Darius Garland | 1.1m 0pts 0% | — | 2.5m 0pts 0% | 2.8m 5pts 40% | — | 1.9m 5pts 100% | 1.6m 2pts 50% | — | — |
| Jaylon Tyson | — | — | 1.1m 3pts 100% | 2.1m 0pts 0% | — | 1.3m 0pts 0% | 2.1m 3pts 33% | — | — |
| De'Andre Hunter | — | — | — | 2.0m 0pts 0% | — | 1.1m 7pts 50% | 1.3m 3pts 50% | 1.8m 2pts 50% | — |
| Craig Porter Jr. | 2.3m 0pts 0% | — | — | — | 1.2m 0pts 0% | — | — | 2.1m 5pts 50% | — |
| Nae'Qwan Tomlin | 1.0m 0pts 0% | — | — | — | — | 1.2m 0pts 0% | — | 2.5m 0pts 0% | — |
| Lonzo Ball | 1.2m 0pts 0% | — | — | — | — | 1.0m 3pts 100% | — | — | — |
| Other | — | 3.2m 9pts 67% | — | 1.7m 2pts 33% | — | 1.0m 5pts 100% | — | 3.0m 12pts 83% | 3.6m 7pts 50% |
Game Flow
Game Flow
Score margin over time — positive = CLE leads, negative = DEN leads
CLE Largest Lead
9
Q2 3:11
DEN Largest Lead
11
Q3 3:41
Key Scoring Runs (8+)
DEN 9-0 run
Q2 12:00 – Q3 1:27
+3 → -4
DEN 8-0 run
Q3 1:58 – Q3 3:24
-4 → -9
DEN 10-0 run
Q3 1:58 – Q3 3:41
-4 → -11
DEN 8-0 run
Q3 10:13 – Q3 11:08
-1 → -6