NBA Roundup: Evan Mobley scores career-high 41 to lead Cavs over Hornets
Evan Mobley had a huge first quarter on his way to a career-high 41 points as the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Charlotte Hornets for a 116-102 victory Saturday afternoon.
Mobley, who finished with six 3-pointers and shot 16 for 23 from the field, had 23 points in Cleveland’s 40-18 first-quarter domination. With five 3s in the quarter, he set his career-high mark for 3s in a game. He was 9-for-10 from the field and perfect on 3-pointers.
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In the opening half, Mobley’s five 3-pointers were one fewer than Charlotte’s team total of 3s.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell each posted 18 points and Jarrett Allen tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds as Cleveland won its fourth in a row.
Brandon Miller racked up 25 points, DaQuan Jeffries added 17 points off the bench and Josh Green had 16 points for the injury-riddled Hornets, who’ve lost eight consecutive games. Charlotte couldn’t overcome its 11-for-39 shooting on 3-pointers. Vasilije Micic had 13 points and seven assists, and Mark Williams was 5-for-5 from the floor and finished with 12 points.
Jeffries, a guard in his second NBA game of the season, ended one point shy of his career-high total on 7-for-11 shooting with three 3s. He has played in 66 games across parts of five NBA seasons.
The Hornets cut the gap to 104-100 in the fourth before Garland’s floater and two close-range shots from Mobley. Mitchell’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 113-100 with 2:17 left in the game.
Mobley finished with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Hornets went on a 12-4 run midway through the third quarter to close within 84-74 with 3:59 left. The gap dipped to 90-83 before Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to end the third-quarter scoring.
Charlotte, which fell to 0-2 against the Cavaliers this season, had a slow start and ended sluggishly on offense with 19 fourth-quarter points.
Cleveland has won five of its past six visits to Charlotte.
Morant leads Grizzlies to road win over Celtics
Ja Morant had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the visiting Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Boston Celtics 127-121 Saturday night and earn their first win in Boston since 2013.
The victory ended Boston’s six-game winning streak against Memphis. The Grizzlies had lost 16 of their last 17 games against the Celtics, including the last 10 in Boston.
Boston led 103-99, but a 10-0 run handed Memphis a six-point lead with 7:19 to play. The Grizzlies maintained the lead after that.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Grizzlies, who went 15 of 33 on 3-point attempts. Jackson scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Jayson Tatum had 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for the Celtics, who shot 18 of 60 from long range. Boston received 23 points from Jrue Holiday and 22 from both Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown.
Boston’s Sam Hauser left the game in the first half with right adductor tightness and did not return.
Marcus Smart, who spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Celtics before he was traded to Memphis in a three-team deal that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, was 1 of 11 from the field and scored three points.
The loss ended Boston’s three-game winning streak and its seven-game home winning streak.
A 10-0 run gave Memphis an early 18-8 lead, and the Grizzlies led 31-27 going into the second quarter.
Memphis took a 12-point lead following a Morant basket with 29.8 seconds remaining in the first half and led 66-54 at halftime. The Celtics shot 36 percent from the field in the first two quarters and made only 9 of 31 from long range.
Pritchard’s 3-pointer capped a 13-3 run that sliced the Memphis lead to 88-86 with 1:37 left in the third quarter, but Boston trailed 94-89 entering the fourth.
First-place Thunder take charge early, coast to win over struggling Pelicans
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder never trailed while defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 119-109 on Saturday night.
Jalen Williams scored 27 points, Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso had 14 each, Isaiah Hartenstein added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Ajay Mitchell scored 10 for the West-leading Thunder (18-5), who won for the seventh time in their last eight games.
Dejounte Murray scored 26 points, Herbert Jones had 24, Trey Murphy III had 16 and CJ McCollum and Brandon Boston Jr. added 11 each for the Pelicans (5-19), who lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games. Forward Brandon Ingram, the team’s leading scorer who was playing in his second game after a five-game absence due to a calf injury, scored five points before leaving the game in the third quarter after injuring his left ankle.
The Pelicans were behind by 26 points when Ingram was injured 17 seconds into the second half, and the closest they got the rest of the way was a nine-point deficit.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored the first six points of the game and the Thunder scored the first 10. They expanded the lead to 17 points as New Orleans committed six turnovers during the first six minutes.
Murphy had five points and an assist during the final three minutes of the first quarter, but Gilgeous-Alexander made all seven of his field-goal attempts and finished with 16 points to help the Thunder to a 35-23 lead at the end of the period.
Ingram made two free throws to start the second-quarter scoring, but that would be the closest the Pelicans would get. Five Oklahoma City players scored during an 11-2 run that took the lead to 46-27. Oklahoma City increased the lead to 30 points twice on its way to a 77-51 halftime lead.
Mavericks hold off Raptors for 7th straight win
Luka Doncic had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists and the visiting Dallas Mavericks defeated the Toronto Raptors 125-118 on Saturday night for their seventh straight win.
It was the second consecutive triple-double for Doncic and the 79th of his career, good for seventh on the all-time list.
Kyrie Irving added 29 points for the Mavericks, who have won 11 of their past 12 games. Klay Thompson scored 20 points, P.J. Washington scored 13 and Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 11.
Gradey Dick scored 27 points for the Raptors, who have lost two games in a row. Scottie Barnes added 19 points and 14 assists, Jakob Poeltl had 20 points and seven rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 18 points. Kelly Olynyk made his season debut and went for 13 points.
Dallas led by as many as 24 in the third quarter before the Raptors staged a ferocious comeback attempt.
It was 100-76 Mavericks following a layup from Washington with 2:47 to go in the third, which Toronto closed with an 11-0 run. Olynyk canned a 3-pointer and sank a pair of free throws during the outburst, which had the Raptors within 100-87 heading into the fourth.
Barnes opened the final period with a jumper to get Toronto’s deficit down to 11, and the hosts were later within five, 120-115, after Dick connected from beyond the arc with 1:35 remaining.
However, Dallas took all the wind out of the Raptors’ sails by making four free throws before Toronto scored again on a Barnes triple. That made it 124-118, and the Mavericks held on for the win.
Doncic and Irving combined for 33 points before the break to send Dallas into halftime with a commanding 70-54 advantage. Barrett netted 14 points over the first 24 minutes of action for Toronto.
Irving exploded for 16 points in the first quarter to guide the Mavericks to a 35-28 edge.
Cunningham’s triple-double helps Pistons down Knicks
Cade Cunningham finished with 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 120-111 win over the host New York Knicks on Saturday.
Cunningham shot 9 of 17 from the field and went 5-of-8 from three-point range. Malik Beasley added 23 points off the bench, making 7 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Jaden Ivey chipped in 16 points and Tobias Harris added 13 points for Detroit, which ended a three-game skid. The Pistons also ended their 16-game losing streak to the New York Knicks.
The Knicks were without their leading scorer Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed the game because of a knee injury. Jalen Brunson had 31 points and 10 assists and Mikal Bridges added 20 points for New York, which had its four-game win streak end. Josh Hart and OG Anunoby each finished with 17 points. Hart was ejected after receiving his second technical foul with a little more than a minute left in the game.
After taking a four-point lead into the fourth, Detroit opened the quarter on a 14-4 run, capped by Beasley’s three-pointer, to push its lead to 103-89 with 7:55 left. The Pistons continued to extend their advantage, leading 107-91 with 6:38 left on Jalen Duren’s dunk.
Brunson’s floater got the Knicks within 118-111 with 1:22 left but New York failed to score from there.