Kyrie Irving scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Brooklyn Nets survived a shaky finish and extended their winning streak to a season-high nine games with a 125-117 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
On the 11th anniversary of his NBA debut with Cleveland, Irving made 11 of 19 shots and hit seven 3-pointers as Brooklyn took a pair of 19-point leads before withstanding Cleveland’s late comeback try that featured several big shots by Darius Garland, who led all scorers with 46 points. While Garland made 14 of 20 shots and finished with his fourth 40-point game of his career, Donovan Mitchell was held to 15 points.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points but fouled out for the sixth time in his career when he bumped Garland with 1:54 remaining. Durant also moved past Tim Duncan for 15th place on the all-time scoring list and ended the night at 26,516 career points.
Garland scored 18 of his points in the fourth, including a jumper in the lane that made it 121-117 with 44 seconds left. After two free throws by Irving, Garland was blocked in the lane by Nic Claxton with 31.3 seconds remaining and T.J. Warren hit two free throws to ice it with 13.8 ticks left.
Clippers 142, Pistons 131 (OT)
Paul George scored 32 points and handed out 11 assists as visiting Los Angeles, which rallied from a 14-point deficit in the last three minutes of regulation, captured an overtime victory over Detroit.
Luke Kennard had 18 points for Los Angeles, while Marcus Morris Sr., Norman Powell and John Wall supplied 16 points apiece.
Bojan Bogdanovic led eight Pistons in double figures with 23 points. Isaiah Stewart had 21 points, Killian Hayes tossed in 18 with 10 assists and Jalen Duren added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Heat 113, Timberwolves 110
Miami’s defense forced 22 turnovers, the last coming on Kyle Lowry’s steal in the closing seconds, to hold off visiting Minnesota.
Max Strus led the way with 19 points, including 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Strus was one of five Miami players to score in double figures. Lowry finished with 18 points and a game-high nine assists.
Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 29 points. Edwards, however, committed eight of Minnesota’s 22 turnovers, the last of which came on the Wolves’ final opportunity when D’Angelo Russell lost the ball and Lowry came up with it to deny Minnesota a look at a potential overtime-forcing 3-pointer.
Pelicans 113, Pacers 93
Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 12 rebounds and short-handed New Orleans routed visiting Indiana for its third win in a row.
Naji Marshall added a career-high 22 points for the Pelicans, who played without Zion Williamson (reconditioning), Brandon Ingram (toe), Herbert Jones Jr. (health and safety protocols), Trey Murphy III (non-COVID illness) and Dyson Daniels (non-COVID illness).
Bennedict Mathurin put up 15 points and Myles Turner scored 14 to lead the Pacers, who finished a 2-1 road trip.
Rockets 133, Bulls 118
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 15 of his season-high 36 points in the fourth quarter as Houston snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over host Chicago.
After the Bulls cut what was a 19-point deficit to 109-100, Porter responded with back-to-back 3-pointers and a midrange pull-up that allowed the Rockets to finally seize control of a back-and-forth affair. Porter had plenty of help, however, as Alperen Sengun added 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 31 points and nine assists. Zach LaVine scored 22 points and Coby White had 14 off the bench for the Bulls, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Spurs 126, Jazz 122
Devin Vassell scored 24 points and Tre Jones hit two shots in the lane in the final seconds to allow San Antonio to outlast visiting Utah.
The Spurs, who had lost four of their previous five games, held on down the stretch after being up by 20 points late in the third quarter and by 14 heading to the fourth. Keldon Johnson added 21 points for the Spurs, with Malaki Branham scoring a career-high 20.
Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 32 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson added 25 points for Utah, which had a two-game winning streak end.
Trail Blazers 124, Hornets 113
Jerami Grant recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds, Jusuf Nurkic scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Portland continued its home domination of Charlotte.
Nurkic made a career-best five 3-pointers (in seven attempts) and Grant made four as Portland ended a three-game slide. LaMelo Ball registered 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists before fouling out for the Hornets, who lost for the 10th time in the past 12 games.
The setback was Charlotte’s 15th in a row in Portland dating back to a 93-85 victory on March 29, 2008, when the franchise was known as the Bobcats.
–Field Level Media