It wasn’t a buzzer-beater, but it was the same opponent and same fantastic finish for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Darius Garland sank a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left and set up Jarrett Allen for a layup with 12.2 seconds remaining for the clincher as the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 116-114 on Monday.
Garland finished with a game-high 39 points.
The Cavaliers equaled a franchise record set in 1976-77 with their eighth straight win to start the season. Cleveland beat the Bucks 114-113 on Saturday when Donovan Mitchell sank a shot with 0.3 seconds left.
Milwaukee, which played without star Giannis Antetokounmpo (adductor), lost its sixth game in a row since a season-opening win. Damian Lillard scored 36 points and AJ Green had 21 off the bench for the Bucks. Green made a 52-footer at the final buzzer, his seventh 3-pointer of the game.
For the better part of the first three quarters, it looked like a Cleveland rout, but Milwaukee got hot at the end of the third, rallying from 73-60 down at halftime. A Brook Lopez 3-pointer tied the score at 86 with 3:43 left in the third period, and then the teams traded treys before going almost three minutes without another basket.
Milwaukee went up 106-98 on a 3-pointer by Green with 6:06 left in the fourth but didn’t score again for four minutes as the Cavaliers went on a 10-0 run highlighted by seven points from Garland — a trey and two baskets in the lane.
Cleveland appeared to take control in the first quarter, racing out to a 22-10 advantage after Garland converted a pair of free throws with 5:14 remaining. Milwaukee came back, taking a 31-30 edge on a 3-pointer by Andre Jackson Jr. with 31.3 seconds left. Garland answered with a trey and Cleveland owned a 35-31 lead after one. Mitchell had 13 points and Garland 12 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Cleveland took a 69-50 lead on three by Garland with 2:30 left. That was the Cavaliers’ biggest lead of the contest.
Cleveland played without reserves Caris LeVert (knee) and Dean Wade (illness).
• • •
Kings 111, Heat 110
Domantas Sabonis swished a short put-back in the lane with 0.7 seconds left as the Sacramento Kings defeated the host Miami Heat 111-110 on Monday night.
After Sabonis’ rebound and basket off a De’Aaron Fox miss, Miami called timeout. On the other end, Terry Rozier missed a hurried 30-foot shot.
Fox led Sacramento with 28 points and DeMar DeRozan added 26. Sabonis had 16 points and game highs in rebounds (16) and assists (seven). Keegan Murray logged 14 points, and Malik Monk had 12.
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 27 points for Miami while Bam Adebayo contributed 16 points and nine boards. Butler put up 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Miami’s Pelle Larsson, a rookie second-round pick, scored a career-high 13 points, and Rozier added 10.
Kevin Huerter, a Kings starter, missed his second straight game due to an illness.
Both teams were coming off games outside the U.S. on Saturday — the Kings lost in overtime at Toronto, while the Heat beat the Washington Wizards in Mexico City.
In the first quarter, Herro made 4 of 5 3-point attempt, putting up 13 points as the Heat took a 25-22 lead. There were six ties and four lead changes in that period, during which Sacramento shot just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Larsson scored 12 points in the second quarter on perfect shooting: 4-for-4 from the floor, 3-for-3 on 3-point attempts and 1-for-1 at the free-throw line.
That shooting helped the Heat stretch their lead to 61-48 at halftime. DeRozan led the Kings with 11 second-quarter points, giving him 15 in the half.
Sacramento outscored Miami 37-17 in the third quarter, finishing the period on a 17-4 run. Fox had 16 points in the period — one fewer than the entire Heat squad.
Then came the fourth-quarter drama.
With 1:11 left, DeRozan made a four-point play — Herro fouled him on a made 3-pointer — to cut Miami’s lead to 108-107.
Then after Herro missed a short jumper and DeRozan grabbed the rebound. DeRozan tried for a mid-range jumper at the other end, but Herro stripped him with 37.8 seconds left.
Herro followed by sinking two free throws, but a Monk dunk with 32.2 seconds cut Miami’s lead to 110-109.
On the following possession, Butler missed a contested turnaround jumper, and Sacramento got the ball and called timeout with 9.1 seconds left. That set it up for Fox’s miss and the rebound and swish by Sabonis.
• • •
Suns 118, 76ers 116
Kevin Durant scored 15 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter, including the decisive driving basket with 24 seconds left, as Phoenix rallied for a victory over visiting Philadelphia.
Durant shot 14-for-20 and had six assists for the Suns, who own a five-game winning streak. Durant’s heroics capped a game-ending 14-3 run for Phoenix. Tyrese Maxey made six 3-pointers and scored 32 points to lead Philadelphia, which has lost five of six games to start the season.
Former Clippers star Paul George made his 76ers debut and scored 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting. George, who missed a tying 23-foot attempt with 3.4 seconds left, sat out the 76ers’ first five games due to a left knee injury.
• • •
Clippers 113, Spurs 104
Norman Powell scored 23 points and Amir Coffey added 21 while leading a second-half rally as Los Angeles pulled out a victory over San Antonio for its first win at its new arena in Inglewood, Calif.
Ivica Zubac produced 17 points and 13 rebounds and James Harden added 17 points after a slow start as the Clippers came out on top for the first time in five tries at the $2 billion Intuit Dome.
Victor Wembanyama amassed 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots as the Spurs lost without head coach Gregg Popovich, who is not with the team because of an undisclosed illness. San Antonio led by 26 at the end of the first quarter but couldn’t hold on.
• • •
Thunder 102, Magic 86
Jalen Williams scored 23 points to help Oklahoma City remain undefeated with a win over visiting Orlando. The 7-0 record marks the Thunder’s best start since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.
The Thunder led from wire-to-wire and Orlando never drew closer than 10 points after the first quarter.
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t attempt a shot until nearly nine minutes into the game but still made an early impact with seven first-quarter assists, a career high for a quarter. He finished with 21 points. Franz Wagner paced the Magic with 22 points.
• • •
Celtics 123, Hawks 93
Jayson Tatum posted 28 points and nine assists as Boston breezed host Atlanta, which also lost star guard Trae Young to a rib injury.
Derrick White added 21 while Payton Pritchard scored 18 points off the bench as the Celtics won their third straight.
The injury-riddled Hawks, who lost their fifth game in six tries, were led by Jalen Johnson’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. Young, who came in averaging 27 points per game, was limited to a career-low two points on 1-for-10 shooting from the field, including 0-for-6 from 3-point land. He played 23 minutes, leaving in the third quarter with a right rib sprain.
• • •
Pistons 115, Lakers 103
Jaden Ivey had 26 points and host Detroit surprised Los Angeles, snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Lakers.
Cade Cunningham notched 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Pistons. Tim Hardaway Jr. supplied 19 points, and Tobias Harris had 15 points and seven rebounds.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 37 points and nine rebounds. LeBron James had 20 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, and Austin Reaves added 17 points.
• • •
Rockets 109, Knicks 97
Alperen Sengun posted a double-double, Fred VanVleet added 19 points and Houston held off a second-half charge from visiting New York.
Sengun paired 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting with 14 rebounds and five assists. Jalen Green had 15 points for the Rockets, who finished with a 62-38 advantage on points in the paint.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points and eight assists. OG Anunoby hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and totaled 21 points while Karl-Anthony Towns produced 17 points and 19 rebounds.
• • •
Timberwolves 114, Hornets 93
Naz Reid came off the bench to score 25 points and grab nine rebounds, and Minnesota cruised past Charlotte in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards added 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting overall and 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc for the Timberwolves. Donte DiVincenzo scored 14 points off the bench.
LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Three Charlotte players, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Tre Mann, scored 10 points apiece.
• • •
Jazz 135, Bulls 126
Keyonte George matched his career high with 33 points and John Collins had 28 points and 13 rebounds as visiting Utah topped Chicago for its first victory of the season.
Outscored by 112 points during a six-game losing streak to open the campaign, the Jazz led by as many as 15 against the Bulls, who made a push in the third quarter but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Coby White led Chicago with 28 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting, Ayo Dosunmu added 25 points and Nikola Vucevic had a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• • •
Nets 106, Grizzlies 104
Dorian Finney-Smith hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:13 left as Brooklyn outlasted visiting Memphis for its third win in four games.
Finney-Smith scored all 17 of his points in the second half and hit a season-high five 3-pointers. Cameron Johnson and Dennis Schroder each scored a team-high 20 points for the Nets.
Ja Morant had several highlight-reel plays and scored 25 points for the Grizzlies, who had won two straight. Rookie Zach Edey matched Morant’s point total to set a career high and grabbed 12 rebounds.
• • •
Trail Blazers 118, Pelicans 100
Deandre Ayton had a double-double, Dalano Banton scored all 20 of his points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Trail Blazers pulled away to a victory against the Pelicans.
Ayton finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Anfernee Simons scored 24 and Jerami Grant and Toumani Camara had 16 each for Portland.
Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans’ leading scorer and the only one of its top five scorers healthy enough to play, had 27 points, Brandon Boston Jr. scored 20.
• • •
Nuggets 121, Raptors 119
Nikola Jokic amassed 28 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, Russell Westbrook scored 21 points and host Denver rallied to beat Toronto.
Michael Porter Jr. added 19 points for Denver, which played without Jamal Murray and lost Aaron Gordon to a right calf strain in the first quarter.
Gradey Dick scored 26 points and Jakob Poeltl had 24 points before fouling out for Toronto. RJ Barrett added 16 points and 10 assists but missed a 3-point attempt at the horn that would have won the game.
• • •
Pacers 134, Mavericks 127
Myles Turner made five 3-pointers and finished with season highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds as Indiana beat host Dallas.
Tyrese Haliburton had a season-high 25 points and 12 assists for the Pacers. Pascal Siakam scored 23 points.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 34 points, seven rebounds and a season-high 15 assists. Kyrie Irving scored 27 points, and Naji Marshall added 20.