DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks rode a hot start to a 137-96 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in their home opener Saturday night.
Ja Morant scored the first six Memphis points, but the first bucket from someone else didn’t come until the 4:30 mark of the first quarter as the Grizzlies trailed 39-17 going to the second.
Morant finished with 20 points a night after a 49-point showing in a victory at Houston gave him 83 points through two games. The Grizzlies were trying for their first 3-0 start in five years.
Christian Wood had 25 points and 12 rebounds in his home debut for Dallas following an offseason trade that brought the 6-foot-10 center from Houston.
The Mavericks led by 25 points in the first, and the 22-point margin after the quarter matched the lead the 2022 Western Conference finalists blew in a 107-105 loss at Phoenix to open the season.
SPURS 114, 76ERS 105
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Doug McDermott hit four 3-pointers and scored all 14 of his points in the second half and San Antonio sent Philadelphia to its third straight loss to open the season.
Devin Vassell scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, and Keldon Johnson had 21. Coming off a 134-137 victory at Indiana on Friday night, the Spurs were 16 for 38 from 3-point range and had a 40-10 advantage in bench points.
Joel Embiid had 40 points as Philadelphia fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2016-17. Tyrese Maxey added 25 points, Tobias Harris had 15 and James Harden 12.
PACERS 124, PISTONS 115
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points, hitting three 3-pointers in a pivotal third quarter, and Indiana beat Detroit to snap a 12-game losing streak dating to last season.
The Pacers dropped their first two games of the season at home this week.
Mathurin, a 20-year-old Canadian forward selected sixth overall, made the three 3-pointers in a 2:20 span as the Pacers surged to an 88-79 lead after three quarters. Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton added 24 points.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 22 points.
CELTICS 126, MAGIC 120
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jayson Tatum and Derrick White combined for 12 straight points late in the fourth quarter to help Boston beat Orlando.
Tatum had 40 points and eight rebounds. He launched a 10-2 run with two free throws with 4:08 remaining to put the Celtics up for good. White scored 27 points, two short of his career high, to help the Celtics win for the second straight night.
Terrence Ross led the Magic with 29 points, rookie Paolo Banchero had 23 and Franz Wagner added 18. The Magic dropped to 0-3 in losing for the Celtics for a 10th straight time.
HEAT 112, RAPTORS 109
MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Max Strus added 20 off the bench and Miami beat Toronto to stop a season-opening two-game slide.
The teams will meet again Monday night in Miami.
Miami’s Kyle Lowry had 17 points against his former club, Tyler Herro had 14 and Bam Adebayo added 10 for the Heat.
Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. each scored 23 points for Toronto, which got 18 points and 11 rebounds from former Heat forward Precious Achiuwa.
The Heat saw a 24-point lead cut to six early in the fourth, with Toronto getting on a huge roll after a scuffle — which spilled into a row of baseline seats — seemed to inspire the Raptors. Toronto’s Christian Koloko and Miami’s Caleb Martin were both ejected with 7:46 left in the third quarter.
BUCKS 125, ROCKETS 105
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points and became Milwaukee’s career free throws leader as the Bucks rolled past Houston.
Antetokounmpo went 8 of 13 from the foul line to increase his total to 3,508 free throws out of 4,891 attempts (71.7%). Sidney Moncrief made 3,505 free throws with the Bucks from 1979-89.
Jalen Green led Houston with 22 points.
NUGGETS 122, THUNDER 117
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic tied Wilt Chamberlain for sixth place with his 78th triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 16 points in his first game at Ball Arena in more than 18 months as Denver outlasted Oklahoma City.
Murray sank a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds left to put the Nuggets ahead by four and Jokic capped the scoring by sinking one of two foul shots with 2.5 seconds remaining.
Jokic had 19 points, 16 points and 13 assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 22 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 28 points.
CAVALIERS 128, BULLS 96
CHICAGO (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and Cleveland pounded Chicago in the Bulls’ home opener.
Mitchell just missed a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight assists, after scoring 31 points in his Cleveland debut.
Zach LaVine led Chicago with 23 points after missing the first two games with the team trying to manage his left knee after he had surgery in May.
CLIPPERS 111, KINGS 109
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) —Paul George scored 40 points to help Los Angeles hold off Sacramento.
The Clippers (2-0) were missing Kawhi Leonard and new acquisition John Wall. Both players didn’t play because of knee injury management. They traveled with the team to Sacramento and worked out pregame.
De’Aaron Fox had 36 points for the Kings.
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The Associated Press
