Idle Sixers ride Cavs victory over Nets into playoffs

LOS ANGELES: Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-109 on Tuesday to send the Philadelphia 76ers into the postseason.

Mitchell made 10-of-22 from the field including five three-pointers while Caris LeVert added 18 from the bench against his former club as Cleveland improved to 46-28 to tighten their grip on fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland’s victory ensured that third-placed Philadelphia became the latest team to punch their ticket to the playoffs despite not playing on Tuesday.

While Cleveland are yet to clinch, it will take a monumental collapse in the final weeks of the season for them not to advance to the postseason.

Tuesday’s game could well turn out to be a sneak preview for the playoffs, with Brooklyn still occupying the sixth automatic qualifying spot in the Eastern Conference.

Against Cleveland they started brightly, taking a 30-23 lead into the second quarter before being outscored 71-48 in the next two periods to effectively cede the game, even if they managed to reduce the deficit to single digits in the final stages.

Day’Ron Sharpe led Brooklyn’s scoring with 20 points while Spencer Dinwiddie had 19 points with 11 assists and five rebounds.

Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff was unhappy that his team eased off late in the fourth quarter.

“We need to play a complete game,” Bickerstaff said.

“We allowed the lead to dictate our emotions, we allowed a big play to dictate our emotions, instead of doing the job and finishing the game the way we need to finish the game,” Bickerstaff added.

Nets coach Jacques Vaughn lamented his team’s collapse in the second and third quarters.

“That’s a big question for us,” Vaughn said. “I think we got a little