The Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 118-113 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, thanks to Donovan Mitchell’s 32 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Charlotte Hornets 118-113 on Friday night for their seventh straight victory and 12th win in 13 games.
Jared Allen had 25 points and 14 rebounds and James Harden added 18 points and eight assists for the Cavaliers.
Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel finished with 33 points on seven 3-pointers, giving him 193 made 3s for the season — the second most in NBA history by a rookie. Keegan Murray holds the record with 206 set in the 2022-23 season.
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller each had 18 points and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte.
Miller’s and-one layup off a no-look feed from Ball cut Cleveland’s lead to four with a minute remaining, but Mitchell made a short jumper and four free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
The Cavaliers built a 14-point lead in the second quarter and looked like they were preparing to break the game open, but Knueppel began to heat up, finishing with four 3s and 16 points in the first half to cut Cleveland’s lead in to six. Charlotte took the lead late in the third quarter behind three more Knueppel 3s.
But Mitchell began to take over with his physical play. He got to the line 13 times and made 12 free throws.
Charlotte played without suspended forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams, who sat out with knee injury management forcing them to play younger, less experienced players in the frontcourt.
The Cavaliers outscored the Hornets 50-28 in the paint.
Other NBA Games
GRIZZLIES 123, JAZZ 114
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 23 points, GG Jackson added 20, and Memphis put together a second-half rally to beat Utah.
The Grizzlies trailed by 14 in the first half, but a strong third quarter led to a 21-6 run and a 10-point Memphis advantage early in the fourth. The lead reached 16 on Jackson’s 3-pointer with 4:31 left.
Eight of the nine Grizzlies who played reached double figures as Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak.
Isaiah Collier led the Jazz with 24 points, while Kyle Filipowski and Ace Bailey finished with 20 points each.
WIZARDS 131, PACERS 118
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alondes Williams had career highs with 25 points and 10 rebounds in his 11th NBA game and Washington swept a back-to-back set with Indiana.
Sharife Cooper matched his career high with 18 points for Washington, which moved two games above Indiana at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and a half-game in front of Brooklyn, which played later at Oklahoma City.
Jay Huff scored 22 points and tied a career best with five 3-pointers for Indiana. The Pacers finished 2-4 on a six-game trip.
HEAT 128, HAWKS 97
ATLANTA (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 24 points in his return from a rib injury and Miami never trailed in a victory over Atlanta.
Bam Adebayo had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Miami, and Norman Powell added 15 points in his first game since participating in his first All-Star game. Kel’el Ware had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Jalen Johnson had 16 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for Atlanta for his 11th triple-double of the season. It is the most in franchise history for a single season and leads the Eastern Conference.
Oneka Okongwu led Atlanta with 22 points. CJ McCollum had 20 points off the bench. He hit four 3-pointers.
Herro played his 12th game of the season. He missed the last 15 because of a rib injury and returned with a flak jacket.
TIMBERWOLVES 122, MAVERICKS 111
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards returned to Minnesota with his All-Star Game MVP award and scored 40 points to help the Timberwolves hold off Dallas, the 10th straight loss for the Mavericks.
Rudy Gobert had 22 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks and Naz Reid added 21 points for the Timberwolves, who squandered a 17-point first-half lead before Edwards took over down the stretch.
Tyus Jones tied the game at 103 on a floater with 6:55 left, capping a 12-2 spurt for the Mavericks and ending a stretch of 36:32 during which the Timberwolves were ahead. But Edwards answered with a step-back 3-pointer and Reid hit one too less than a minute later, and the Mavericks never grabbed the lead.
Edwards, who has eight 40-point games this season, had 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Khris Middleton had 18 points and Marvin Bagley added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who are on their longest losing streak in 28 years
BUCKS 138, PELICANS 118
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ryan Rollins made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to help Milwaukee beat New Orleans t for its third straight victory and sixth in seven games.
Playing without injured star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 24-30. Antetokounmpo has been sidelined four weeks by a strained right calf.
Bucks newcomer Cam Thomas, a former LSU star, had 27 points in 21 minutes off the bench, and Kevin Porter added 25 points. Rollins was 7 of 10 on 3s and had six assists, four steals and two blocks. The Bucks were coming off a victory at defending champion Oklahoma City before the All-Star break.
Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 32 points in the first game of home back-to-back, while scoring leader Trey Murphy sat out because of a sore right shoulder. The Pelicans dropped to 15-42.
THUNDER 105, NETS 86
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jared McCain scored a season-high 21 points and short-handed Oklahoma City beat Brooklyn.
McCain, the former Philadelphia 76er the Thunder acquired in a trade this month, posted his highest points total in five games with Oklahoma City. He made 7 of 12 field goals and 3 of 6 3-pointers in a reserve role.
The Thunder have several players dealing with injuries, including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) and 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring). Both are to be re-evaluated in the coming weeks.
Oklahoma City compensated with balanced scoring. Chet Holmgren scored 15 points, Isaiah Joe had 11 and Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort each added 10.
Michael Porter Jr. had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Nolan Traore added 17 points for the Nets. Brooklyn shot just 36.7% from the field in its third straight loss.
NUGGETS 157, TRAIL BLAZERS 103
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 29 1/2 minutes and Denver routed Portland for the most points on the road in franchise history and the most in an NBA game this season.
Jamal Murray added 25 points a night after missing the third of three free throws with 0.9 seconds left in a 115-114 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Julian Strawther and Tim Hardaway Jr. each had 19 points.
Denver led 82-53 at the half, going 13 for 22 from the 3-point range. The Nuggets pushed the lead to 55 in the second half.
Jrue Holiday led Portland with 19 points. Deni Avdija had 15 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds, but also had six turnovers.
Jokic scored 19 points in the first quarter and had 24 at the half. He was 10 of 15 from the field, making 3 of 4 3-pointers. Denver finished 21 of 41 on 3s.
LAKERS 125, CLIPPERS 122
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 38 points and 11 assists, Austin Reaves added 29 points and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch for a victory.
LeBron James had 13 points and 11 assists for the Lakers in their return from the All-Star break. They blew a 15-point lead in the second half, but Doncic scored 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers split the four-game season series with their crosstown rivals.
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points before missing the final 5:10 with an apparent ankle injury for the Clippers (27-29), who fell just short of getting back to .500 in incredible fashion after their 6-21 start to the season.
Bennedict Mathurin had 26 points and seven rebounds in his second straight outstanding game for his new team before fouling out with 1:49 to play. The athletic guard acquired from Indiana for center Ivica Zubac dropped a career-high-tying 38 against Denver on Thursday.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored on consecutive possessions to trim the Lakers’ lead to 123-120 with 46 seconds left. Nicolas Batum then stole James’ pass in the final seconds, but the Frenchman missed a tying 3-point attempt with 4 seconds left.
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