Cavs score vs. Kings | Live game updates, highlights as Cavaliers look to secure No. 1 seed

The Cavaliers are on the doorstep of the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference as they take on the Sacramento Kings Sunday night at Rocket Arena.

The Cavs’ magic number to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference is down to one. A win over the Kings or a Boston Celtics loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday will give Cleveland home-court advantage through at least the Eastern Conference Finals, should they advance that far.

The Cavs already know the four teams that will make up the NBA’s Play-In Tournament, one of which will be their first opponent in the playoffs.

Tipoff for Cavs (62-15) versus Kings (37-40) occurred at 6:10 p.m. Sunday. Follow along here for live score updates, analysis and highlights as the Cavs look to lock up the No. 1 seed.

Ty Jerome is on fire in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ sharp-shooting as Sacramento on top 105-101 midway through the fourth quarter.

Jerome has 10 points in the fourth quarter alone and 20 over the night in his return to the lineup. Every time the Cavs recapture the lead for a moment, the Kings have nailed a 3 in response.

Donovan Mitchell gave the Cavs a score in the third, but he’s taking over in the fourth.

Mitchell scored five points in the span of 10 seconds of game clock. Mitchell had a layup fall through contact, then stole the ball and quickly put back another layup while drawing a foul and hitting the ensuing free throw.

Mitchell also just found Evan Mobley on the other end of an alley-oop, and the Cavs have cut the Kings lead to 93-91 with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs were behind the Kings 91-79 at the end of the third quarter. The Cavs were outscored 35-22 during the quarter in which All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell suffered a left ankle injury, left the game and later returned.

Forward DeMar DeRozan and guard Zach LaVine scored 11 points apiece for the Kings in the third quarter. LaVine has 26 points, Kings center Domantas Sabonis 25 points and DeRozan 19 points.

Despite missing a chunk of the third quarter, Mitchell leads the Cavs with 14 points.

With 3:02 left in the third quarter and the Cavs behind 79-75, Mitchell returned to the game despite suffering a left ankle injury earlier in the same quarter.

Cavaliers news: Donovan Mitchell gives Cleveland Cavs an injury scare, leaves game vs Kings but returns

The Cavs led the Kings 73-72 during a Sacramento challenge with 4:29 left in the third quarter.

The Kings won the challenge, keeping center Domantas Sabonis from picking up his fourth foul of the game, a would-be offensive against Cavs center Jarrett Allen.

During the stoppage, the Cavs announced what should represent a huge relief for the team: Mitchell is probable to return with a left ankle injury (see more below).

Mitchell made a layup with 10:08 left in the third quarter. As he ran down the court to play defense, he appeared to stumble near Kings guard Keon Ellis and went down on the sideline in obvious pain.

Medical personnel tended to Mitchell, and he limped to the locker room with the Cavs ahead 62-56.

The Cavs will take a 57-56 lead into halftime, but Keon Ellis has the highlight of the day so far.

As time expired on the second quarter, Keon Ellis heaved up a half-court shot that banked in as the buzzer sounded, making it a one-point score.

For the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell has a team-high 12 points with three rebounds and one assist.

Isaac Okoro has again made a major impact and has helped the Cavs to a 45-39 lead with 5:21 left in the second quarter.

Okoro hit a 3 and then grabbed an offensive rebound the next time down the floor, which he followed with a put-back layup. Okoro has seven points and two rebounds in six minutes off the bench.

The Cavs and Kings are deadlocked 33-33 with 8:50 left in the second quarter.

Ty Jerome, in his return, has made his presence felt with an alley-oop lob to Evan Mobley and then a nice basket he got to fall through contact. In 10 minutes, Jerome has six points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Cavs were behind the Kings 31-27 when the first quarter ended.

Kings center Domantas Sabonis dominated the first quarter, scoring 15 points.

Guard Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in the opening quarter with eight points.

The Cavs went 11-of-25 shooting (44%) from the floor (2 of 12 on 3-pointers, 16.7%).

The Kings went 12-of-24 shooting (50%) from the floor (3 of 11 on 3-pointers, 27.3%).

Sabonis is putting on a clinic in the first quarter.

With 3:20 left in the first quarter, Sabonis produced a three-point play against Cavs forward Evan Mobley, who had just missed two free throws at the other end of the floor with 3:34 remaining.

Then Sabonis stole the ball from Cavs guard Ty Jerome and parlayed the turnover into a coast-to-coast layup, giving the Kings a 28-23 lead with 3:01 left. The Kings led by the same score during a timeout.

At this juncture, Sabonis had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

The Cavs led the Kings 16-15 when they called a timeout with 7:03 left in the first quarter.

A 3-pointer by Kings guard Zach LaVine cut Cleveland’s lead to a point and prompted the timeout.

Sabonis gave the Cavs the most trouble out of the gate, though. He had seven points in roughly the first five minutes of the game.

Cavs center Jarrett Allen picked up two fouls early, including one on a call with which he clearly disagreed. Sabonis used an elbow to essentially hook Allen en route to a three-point play with 7:57 left in the first quarter, but the officials ruled Allen had fouled Sabonis.

Mitchell had six points at this early stage, despite missing two of his first five free throws.

Below is some pregame information.

Guard Ty Jerome (knee) is expected to play Sunday against the Kings, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. Jerome has missed the last five games. The Cavs have been hopeful that Jerome would be able to return to the floor before the playoffs started.

Forward Dean Wade is also available after being sidelined with an illness.

Sunday’s game can be watched nationally on NBA TV and locally on the FanDuel Sports Network. It can be heard on the radio via WMMS (100.7-FM) and WTAM (1100-AM).

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavs score vs Sacramento Kings live game updates, highlights

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Cavs score vs. Kings | Live game updates, highlights as Cavaliers look to secure No. 1 seed

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