Sluggish Fourth Quarter Spoils Home Opener

For the second straight game to start the 2021-22 season, the Cavaliers dug themselves a fourth-quarter hole. But unlike the opener on Wednesday night in Memphis, they couldn’t dig themselves out of this one.

The Cavs trailed by just a point after three quarters, but a sloppy start to the fourth led to a 19-2 Charlotte run that J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad just couldn’t bounce back from, with the Hornets holding on for the 123-112 win to spoil the home opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Cleveland committed just 10 miscues in Wednesday’s opener to keep the game close, but 19 turnovers on Friday – including six in their first eight possessions of the fourth quarter – led to 34 points for a…