CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 29 points in his return after missing five games with an ugly eye injury, Donovan Mitchell added 25 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 114-113 in overtime on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.
Garland added 12 assists, including an alley-oop to Mitchell in OT that put the Cavs up 112-109 in their second victory over the Celtics in less than a week.
Jayson Tatum’s basket with 1:04 left pulled Boston within a point, and thanks to some poor possessions by Cleveland, the Celtics had a chance to win it at the buzzer before Jaylen Brown’s 18-footer went off the back of the rim.
Brown scored 30 and Tatum 26 for the Celtics, who were looking to avenge an OT loss at home last week to the Cavs, who overcame a 15-point deficit.
Tatum forced this overtime with two sensational plays in the final 6.7 seconds.
BUCKS 116, PISTONS 91
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 12 rebounds and the Bucks matched a franchise record with their seventh straight win to open the season, beating the Pistons.
Milwaukee’s 7-0 season-opening run matches the starts of the 2018-19 and 1971-72 teams.
Jrue Holiday, who was uncertain to play because of a non-COVID-19 illness, added 26 points for the NBA’s only undefeated team. Jordan Nwora scored 12 off the bench.
Four Pistons scored in double-figures, led by Saddiq Bey’s 22 points. Isaiah Stewart finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic added 14 points and Cade Cunningham 10.
LAKERS 120, PELICANS 117, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Ryan hit a tying 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer, Lonnie Walker made a key 3-pointer in overtime while scoring 28 points, and the Lakers beat the Pelicans for their second straight victory after an 0-5 start to the season.
Anthony Davis had 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who blew a 16-point lead and appeared to be finished before Dyson Daniels’ two missed free throws with 1.4 seconds left in regulation allowed the Lakers to run one last play.
Austin Reaves made a crosscourt pass to Ryan, and the undrafted newcomer who surprisingly made the Lakers’ roster last month drilled a fallaway 3 in front of their bench to force OT. Ryan, who made his NBA debut with one game for Boston last season, is playing rotation minutes for the Lakers because of his outside shooting stroke.
Walker’s early 3-pointer put the Lakers ahead for good in overtime.
Zion Williamson scored 27 points and McCollum had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Pelicans.
RAPTORS 143, SPURS 100
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in just 28 minutes, and the Raptors beat the depleted Spurs for their largest victory of the season.
San Antonio was without starters Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell, and reserves Isaiah Roby and Blake Wesley. The Spurs also sat rookie forward Jeremy Sochan early in the second quarter due to restricted minutes after a one-game absence with flulike symptoms.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 24 points for the Raptors, who were without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet but had plenty left to score a season high in points and force a season-high 23 turnovers.
Keita Bates-Diop had 17 points for San Antonio. He was the only starter in double figures.
CLIPPERS 109, ROCKETS 101
HOUSTON (AP) — Paul George scored 28 points, Marcus Morris added 21 and the Clippers beat the Rockets.
t’s the Clippers’ second win in a row over Houston following a 95-93 victory on Monday that snapped a four-game skid.
Los Angeles was without Kawhi Leonard, who did not make the road trip because of stiffness in his surgically repaired right knee. It’s the fifth straight game he’s missed, and his time off will stretch to six games Friday when the team visits San Antonio.
Alperen Sengun had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Jalen Green scored 22 points for the Rockets, who have dropped five straight since their only win this season.
BULLS 106, HORNETS 88
CHICAGO (AP) — Javonte Green scored 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting, leading a strong performance by Chicago’s reserves and helping the Bulls beat the Hornets.
Patrick Williams had 16 points and Nikola Vucevic added 14 points and 13 rebounds as Chicago cruised to its second straight win despite an off night for stars DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
Led by Green and Goran Dragic, who had 16 points, Chicago’s reserves outscored Charlotte’s bench 49-28.
Kelly Oubre Jr. led Charlotte with five 3-pointers and 24 points. Mason Plumlee had 11 points and 13 boards.
HAWKS 112, KNICKS 99
NEW YORK (AP) — Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 36 points and the Hawks overcame a 23-point deficit to beat the Knicks.
Trae Young added 17 points despite missing time in the second half because of a left eye contusion, before returning wearing protective glasses with 7:04 left in the game.
De’Andre Hunter finished with 21 points and John Collins added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Atlanta.
Jalen Brunson scored 20 points for the Knicks. RJ Barrett had 19 and Julius Randle finished with 14.
WIZARDS 121, 76ERS 111
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis had 30 points and nine rebounds, Bradley Beal added 29 points and the Wizards took advantage of Joel Embiid’s absence for a victory over the 76ers.
Kyle Kuzma also added 18 points for Washington, which didn’t trail for the final three quarters of the game.
Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points for the 76ers, while James Harden had 24 and Tobias Harris added 16.
Embiid missed his third game of the season, sitting out with an illness the team said was not related to COVID-19.
HEAT 110, KINGS 107
MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left became the game winner, lifting the Heat past the Kings.
Herro had a game-high 26 for the Heat, who won for the second straight night after topping Golden State on Tuesday. Kyle Lowry scored 22 and Bam Adebayo added 20 for Miami.
Kevin Huerter and Domantas Sabonis each scored 22 for Sacramento, which got 19 from Malik Monk and 12 from Harrison Barnes. Sabonis added 12 rebounds and eight assists.
It was the first game in the NBA this season where neither team held a lead of more than seven points. Sacramento’s biggest lead was seven, Miami’s was six.
GRIZZLIES 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 106
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 29 points and the Grizzlies withstood a late rally by the Trail Blazers.
Ja Morant had 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 17 early in the fourth quarter. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak.
Anfernee Simons scored 31 points for the Trail Blazers, who played without injured star Damian Lillard. Jusuf Nurkic added 23 points and 13 rebounds.
MAVERICKS 103, JAZZ 100
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 33 points, his seventh consecutive game of at least 30 to begin the season, reserve Christian Wood added 17 of his 21 in the second half and the Mavericks beat the Jazz..
Doncic also had 11 assists while becoming the third NBA player to score 30 or more points in his team’s first seven games of the season, the first since Wilt Chamberlain in 1962-63.
Chamberlain also did it beginning 1959-60, and Jack Twyman did it that same season.
Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points for the Jazz, but his 3 from the left corner at the buzzer fell short.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
The Associated Press
