NBA roundup: Donovan Mitchell leads Cavaliers past Nuggets for 6th straight win
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 149-135 on Friday night.
Evan Mobley scored 26 points, Darius Garland contributed 25 points, Caris LeVert had 13 off the bench and Dean Wade returned from missing one game with 11 points for Cleveland, which set a season best for points in its sixth straight win.
ADVERTISING
Nikola Jokic notched his NBA-best 12th triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, Jamal Murray also scored 27 points and tied a season high with 11 assists and Michael Porter Jr. and Peyton Watson scored 18 each for Denver, which allowed a season high in points.
Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon missed the game with a right calf strain suffered in Wednesday’s 110-100 loss at Phoenix. Russell Westbrook started in his place and scored 11 points, Julian Strawther also had 11 and Christian Braun scored 16
The Cavaliers led by 15 at halftime. Denver got within 12 early in the third but the lead swelled to 96-77 when Mitchell made two free throws with 7:46 left in the quarter.
The Nuggets trimmed the lead back down to 107-93 on Braun’s first 3-pointer of the game but LeVert drained two from deep to give Cleveland a 113-93 lead, and the Cavaliers took a 116-101 advantage into the fourth.
With Jokic on the bench, Denver made a push to begin the final period. Watson hit a 3-pointer and DeAndre Jordan slammed home an alley-oop but Mobley hit a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws to make it 122-108, and a tip-in by Allen and a fastbreak dunk made it 134-115 with 6:41 left, and Cleveland closed it out.
Denver led 53-50 early in the second quarter but the Cavaliers scored 16 straight points to take control. Garland scored nine of his 15 points in the first half over the final 7:16 and Mitchell hit two 3-pointers to stake Cleveland to an 18-point lead.
The Cavaliers took an 80-65 lead into intermission.
Mavericks, minus Luka Doncic, hold off skidding Suns
Kyrie Irving made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points as the Dallas Mavericks notched a 98-89 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Friday night while playing without injured Luka Doncic.
Daniel Gafford tallied 16 points, Maxi Kleber had 15 points and seven rebounds and Spencer Dinwiddie also scored 15 points as Dallas won for the 15th time in 19 games. Klay Thompson added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Mavericks opened a four-game road trip with a victory.
Doncic will miss at least a month after sustaining a left calf strain during a Christmas Day game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks are 7-2 this season without the five-time All-Star.
Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who lost for the fourth time in the past five games. Royce O’Neale had 14 points off the bench and Bradley Beal had 11 on 5-of-18 shooting for Phoenix.
Suns star Devin Booker (left groin strain) missed his fourth straight game and teammate Grayson Allen (concussion) sat out his third consecutive contest.
Phoenix shot 38.6 percent from the field, including 13 of 35 from 3-point range.
Dallas made 43.8 percent of its shots and was 12-of-34 from behind the arc. Irving finished 6-of-21 from the field after making his first four shots.
Dallas also played without Dereck Lively II (left hip).
Early in the third quarter, Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington of the Mavericks and Jusuf Nurkic of the Suns were ejected after a brief altercation.
Nurkic and Marshall exchanged punches and Washington then shoved Nurkic to the floor with 9:02 left in the period.
Later in the quarter, Irving scored five points during an 8-0 run to give Dallas a 70-52 advantage with 3:45 left.
Phoenix answered with a 12-2 surge to trail 72-64 entering the final stanza.
O’Neale’s trey brought the Suns within 81-75 with 6:32 to play before Dallas rattled off nine straight to take a 15-point lead.
After Phoenix later crept within eight, Gafford slammed home two dunks in an eight-second span to make it 96-84 with 1:11 remaining and the Mavericks closed it out.
Irving had 12 points on four first-quarter treys as Dallas led 28-25.
The Mavericks later scored the final seven points of the half, including a basket by Marshall with 5.1 seconds remaining, to hold a 55-39 lead at the break.
Irving had 15 at halftime for Dallas, while Durant had 13 in the half for the Suns.