Jalen Johnson matched a career high by scoring 29 points, Trae Young had a double-double and the visiting Atlanta Hawks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 126-111 on Sunday night.
Young finished with 23 points and 12 assists, former Pelicans Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. scored 16 points and 14 points, respectively, and No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher and Garrison Mathews added 11 apiece.
Brandon Ingram scored 32 points, Jordan Hawkins chipped in 19 and Brandon Boston Jr. and Jamal Cain each finished with 14 to lead the Pelicans, who played without star forward Zion Williamson (hamstring).
Atlanta scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a six-point lead before Ingram’s layup gave New Orleans its first points of the period.
Young had eight points and four assists as the Hawks increased their lead to 88-77 with 3:53 to go in the third. Jose Alvarado, Boston, Hawkins and Ingram then scored two points apiece as the Pelicans trimmed their deficit to 93-85 by the end of the quarter.
Atlanta increased its lead to 11 points before the Pelicans twice closed within five, but Johnson scored seven points during a 14-0 run that put the Hawks well ahead, 116-97, with 5:20 left in the game.
Atlanta outscored New Orleans 68-52 in the second half.
The Hawks scored the first seven points of the game before opening up a 15-6 lead, which included seven points from Risacher. Atlanta ended up settling for a 33-30 edge after 12 minutes of action because of an Alvarado fadeaway at the buzzer.
New Orleans would go on to lead by as many as seven in the second quarter, when Ingram sank 1 of 2 free throws to put the hosts up 52-45 with 4:23 remaining.
Luka Doncic, Mavericks rout depleted Magic
Luka Doncic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes of action and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 108-85 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Daniel Gafford scored a season-high 18 points, Kyrie Irving added 17 and Dereck Lively II had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which led 65-40 at the break after outscoring the Magic 35-18 in the second quarter.
Dallas carried its momentum into the second half and stretched its lead to 82-52 on Doncic’s free throw with 6:05 left in the third quarter.
The Mavericks led by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter and finished shooting 49.4 percent from the field and went 10-for-32 (31.2 percent) from beyond the arc for the game.
Orlando lost its third straight game and fell to 0-2 without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who is out indefinitely with a torn right oblique.
Franz Wagner led the Magic with 13 points, Jett Howard scored 12 and Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner had 10 apiece.
Orlando was held to a season-low point total while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 8-for-41 (19.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Doncic scored 14 points in the first quarter to help give the Mavericks a 30-22 lead.
Orlando missed seven of its eight 3-point attempts in the opening period.
Dallas began the second quarter on a 10-2 run and moved ahead 40-24 with 9:47 left in the first half.
The Magic struggled to contain Doncic, who later scored eight straight points to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 55-28 with 4:01 remaining in the half.
Doncic finished with 25 points in the first half on 9-of-15 shooting, including a 5-of-10 mark from beyond the arc.
Orlando went 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range in the first half. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. had six points before exiting the game at the break with a strain of his left plantar fascia.
Pistons drive past Nets in second half
Cade Cunningham scored 19 points to lead six Pistons in double figures as visiting Detroit dominated inside and surged ahead in the second half for a 106-92 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Tobias Harris added 18 points, including the go-ahead three-point play late in the third quarter. Malik Beasley also contributed 18 as he and Cunningham combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Jaden Ivey added 15 and Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 14 as the Pistons shot 48.1 percent, including 68.8 percent (22-of-32) in the paint, to earn their second win of the season. Jalen Duren collected 13 points and 17 rebounds as the Pistons controlled the glass by a commanding 47-27 margin.
Cameron Johnson scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half but the Nets were unable to win a third straight game and move above .500.
Cam Thomas added 17 and was Brooklyn’s only other double-figure scorer as the Nets shot 45.1 percent, misfired on 22 of 31 3-point tries and shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) at the foul line.
Trailing 67-58 after a 3 by Dorian Finney-Smith, the Pistons outscored the Nets 25-10 over the final 7:58 of the third and 48-25 over the final 19:58 of the game.