Darius Garland scored 40 points on 14-of-22 shooting, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers narrowly avoid an upset with a 132-126 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers, who trailed by 12 points in the third quarter, extended their winning streak to 12 games while handing the Raptors their fourth loss in a row.
Cleveland’s Evan Mobley scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting in addition to grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Jarrett Allen chipped in 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds, while Caris LeVert also had 18 points.
Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 24 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Chris Boucher followed with 23 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and pulled down 12 rebounds. RJ Barrett added 20 points, and Jakob Poeltl had 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Mavericks 117, Trail Blazers 111
Jaden Hardy came off the bench to score a season-high 25 points and Dallas closed with an 18-2 run to rally for a victory over visiting Portland.
P.J. Washington recorded 23 points, 14 rebounds and three steals, and Dereck Lively II added 21 points, a season-best 16 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 17 points and Quentin Grimes added 13 for Dallas, which won its second game in a row following a five-game skid.
Shaedon Sharpe had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Anfernee Simons also had 22 for Portland, which led nearly the entire contest before the late collapse.
Rockets 119, Grizzlies 115
Alperen Sengun collected 32 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, Jalen Green added 27 points and Fred VanVleet contributed 22 to lead Houston past Memphis for its fifth straight road victory.
Ja Morant paced the Grizzlies with 27 points, and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points and eight rebounds. Santi Aldama came off the bench to finish with 12 points and nine rebounds. Jackson, the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for December, had a season-high six blocks.
Morant and Aldama returned to action Thursday after brief injury-induced absences. Morant had been out since Dec. 27 with a shoulder injury, and Aldama hadn’t played since Dec. 26 because of an ankle sprain. Desmond Bane also returned after missing Monday’s win over Dallas with an ankle injury. He scored 16 points.
Timberwolves 104, Magic 89
Julius Randle collected 23 points and 10 rebounds and Anthony Edwards added 21 points, lifting visiting Minnesota to a victory over Orlando.
Edwards had seven assists and joined Donte DiVincenzo in draining four 3-pointers to pace the Timberwolves to their third win in a row. Edwards, however, made just 5 of 19 shots from the floor and 4 of 11 from beyond the arc. Naz Reid scored 16 points off the bench, DiVincenzo finished with 12 and Rudy Gobert recorded 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Orlando’s Goga Bitadze collected 15 points and eight rebounds and Caleb Houstan had 14 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 13 points and Cole Anthony added 12 for the Magic.
Warriors 107, Pistons 104
Buddy Hield scored 19 points and Stephen Curry had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists to help lead Golden State past host Detroit.
Trayce Jackson-Davis added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which ended a two-game skid. Cade Cunningham had 32 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals, and Malik Beasley scored 21 points for Detroit, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
After trailing by 18 midway through the fourth quarter, Detroit rallied and cut the deficit to 102-98 with 1:21 remaining in the game on a basket by Jalen Duren. A dunk by Beasley with 23 seconds left sliced the gap to 104-102, but the Pistons could not complete the comeback.
Suns 123, Hawks 115
Bradley Beal scored a game-high 25 points off the bench, leading Phoenix past visiting Atlanta for its second win in its last three games.
Grayson Allen and Kevin Durant added 23 points apiece for the Suns, and Devin Booker collected 20 points and 12 assists.
Trae Young led Atlanta with 21 points and seven assists and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points as the Hawks finished their road trip with a 2-4 record.
Heat 97, Jazz 92
Tyler Herro scored 23 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 20 as Miami sent Utah to its ninth consecutive home loss in Salt Lake City.
Herro and Jaquez each drained key free throws in the waning moments as Miami improved to 2-1 on its six-game trip. Bam Adebayo contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots in the victory. Adebayo hit two buckets in a row with under three minutes left to break an 86-86 tie.
Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton each scored 23 points for the Jazz, who lost their second straight overall. Utah overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit but fell short.
–Field Level Media
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