NBA-leading Cavaliers beat Nets 109-104 for their second 15-game win streak of season

CLEVELAND (AP) — All-Star Darius Garland scored 18 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 109-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, matching the longest winning streak in franchise history at 15 games.

Jarrett Allen had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Evan Mobley had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, which also began this season with a 15-game win streak. The Cavaliers trailed by 18 points in the third quarter.

Cleveland is 55-10 -- tying the fifth-best start in NBA history -- and owns the best home record in the league at 30-4. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell (left groin soreness), forward De’Andre Hunter (illness) and guard Ty Jerome (rest) didn't dress for the game.

Cam Thomas scored 27 points, Cameron Johnson had 17 points and Ziaire Williams added 14 before fouling out for Brooklyn. The Nets dropped five games behind Chicago for the final play-in tournament spot in the East.

Nets: Point guard D’Angelo Russell, who logged 29 minutes Monday in a 111-108 win over the Lakers, sat out the second half of the back-to-back set for right ankle injury management.

Cavaliers: Coach Kenny Atkinson’s club hasn’t lost since Feb. 4, when it was beaten by Boston 112-105 at Rocket Arena. Its other home losses were to Atlanta, Houston and Indiana.

Brooklyn trailed 101-99 with 56 seconds remaining when Johnson missed a 3-pointer that wound up on top of the backboard. Garland raced down for a layup and soon afterward added two free throws to extend the Cavaliers’ lead to six.

Cleveland clinched the Central Division title for the eighth time in its 55-year history. Six of the crowns were won during LeBron James’ two tenures with the team.

The Nets visit Chicago on Thursday. The Cavaliers play at Memphis on Friday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr. (9) shoots as Brooklyn Nets' Trenton Watgford, right, defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr., left, and Brooklyn Nets forward Tyrese Martin, right, dive for the ball in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) shoots in front of Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, center, shoots between Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, left, and forward Ziaire Williams, right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Javonte Green (8) is fouled from behind by Brooklyn Nets forward Ziaire Williams, rear, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Javonte Green (8) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) is fouled by Brooklyn Nets forward Ziaire Williams, right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)