Story by
Donovan Mitchell scores 26 as Cavaliers beat Timberwolves 127-125 in OT
- Story by
- Donovan Mitchell scores 26 as Cavaliers beat Timberwolves 127-125 in OT
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 26 points, including five points in overtime, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-125 despite 47 points from Anthony Edwards.
James Harden added 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left, and Evan Mobley scored 18 for the Cavaliers, who have won their last four home games against the Timberwolves.
Advertisement
Meleek Thomas, the 34th overall pick in June's NBA Draft, scored 16 in his NBA debut.
It is the seventh time in Edwards' five-year career he has had at least 47 points in a game. It is the most he has scored against Cleveland.
Edwards was 19 of 33 from the floor, but only 5 of 15 on 3-pointers. Jaden McDaniels had 14 points before he fouled out. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 14 off the bench.
There were 15 lead changes and five ties in the last 21 1/2 minutes
Edwards made a 3-pointer to even it at 121 before Mitchell sank a 19-foot fadeaway jumper with 48 seconds left to give the Cavaliers the lead for good.
Advertisement
Harden's two free throws with 13 seconds remaining put Cleveland up 125-122. Sam Merrill fouled LaMelo Ball with 9.2 seconds left but Ball missed both free throws. Edwards got the rebound and missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key.
HORNETS 110, WIZARDS 103
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Miller scored a career-high 39 points and Charlotte beat Washington for its third win in four games to open the season.
Starters Coby White (left calf) and Kon Knueppel (left hamstring) and top reserve Grant Williams (right hamstring) each have yet to play this season for the Hornets, who have managed their absences well so far.
Advertisement
Miller scored 27 points in the middle two quarters as Charlotte took control.
The fourth-year guard topped 30 points for the 14th time in his career and scored 30 in back-to-back games for the fourth time. A 2023 first-round pick out of Alabama, Miller a week ago signed a five-year, $209 million contract extension .
Naz Reid finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who had a seemingly comfortable 98-84 lead with 5:15 to play.
But the Wizards (2-2), who were seeking their first 3-1 start since the 2022-23 season, knocked down five 3-pointers down the stretch and got as close as 103-100 with 1:13 to play.
Advertisement
Miller hit a jumper and later made a free throw for his final three points to make it 106-100 with 38.3 seconds left.
Grayson Allen added 15 points and Moussa Diabate had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Charlotte.
CELTICS 134, BULLS 99
BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard made all five of his 3-point attempts during Boston's big third quarter and finished with 28 points in a victory over Chicago.
Jayson Tatum had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Paul George scored 16 points for Boston (2-1), which outscored the Bulls 39-21 in the third when Prichard scored 19.
Norman Powell led the Bulls (1-3) with 20 points.
Advertisement
Boston never trailed, opening a 16-point lead early in the second, led by 12 at halftime and 30 after three. Tatum had 19 of his points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating drive at the end of the first and long 3-pointer with .8 left in the second.
The Celtics had been off since winning their home opener against the defending champion Knicks on Friday when Tatum carried them with 36 points and during his postgame press conference attempted to play down any possible beef with former teammate Jaylen Brown, who was traded to Philadelphia during the offseason.
Brown, though, didn't quite let perception fade away a couple of days later.
George, Pritchard and Sam Hauser each nailed a 3 during a 93-second stretch that pushed Boston ahead 89-70 late in the third.
Advertisement
MAVERICKS 113, HEAT 109
MIAMI (AP) — Cooper Flagg had 29 points and 11 assists, plus blocked a shot that would have given Miami the lead in the final moments, and Dallas sent the reeling Heat to 0-4.
PJ Washington added 20 points, Kyrie Irving scored 18 and Walter Clayton Jr. had 15 for Dallas. Flagg had 12 of his points in the fourth, and his block of a 3-point try by Andrew Wiggins with 31 seconds left preserved a two-point Mavs lead.
The 19-year-old Flagg also had six rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Before Monday, the youngest player to have that many points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks in game — since blocks started being charted — was 22-year-old Chris Webber in 1995.
Advertisement
Giannis Antetokounmpo had his first triple-double since joining the Heat, finishing with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. Davion Mitchell scored 21 for Miami.
The Heat are 0-4 for the fifth time in team history, the first since 2008-09.
THUNDER 125, SUNS 114
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ajay Mitchell scored a career-high 30 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 26 and short-handed Oklahoma City beat Phoenix.
Jared McCain scored 18 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 15 points and 13 rebounds to help keep Oklahoma City perfect through four games, a night after Oklahoma City lost starters Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to serious injuries.
Advertisement
Williams and Wallace were hurt in Sunday night's 108-101 win over the Clippers and both will require surgery that could be season-ending.
Big man Chet Holmgren was sidelined Monday with patellar tendinitis in his right knee. A fourth player, reserve guard Alex Caruso, was assisted to the locker room late in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle and did not return. Caruso, seeing extended minutes because of the Thunder's other injuries, came up limping after colliding with another player.
Jalen Green scored 20 points, Dillon Brooks added 19 and Miles Bridges had 17 for Phoenix. Devin Booker was limited to three points on 1-for-7 shooting.
BUCKS 110, PACERS 102
Advertisement
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tyler Herro had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Milwaukee defeated Indiana for its first win of the season.
The Bucks avoided their first 0-4 start since 1976-77, when they dropped their first five games and went on to finish 30-52.
Ryan Rollins scored 19 points, Kyle Kuzma scored 17 and Kel'el Ware scored 16 for the Bucks. Ware also had 14 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Pascal Siakam collected 20 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
The Pacers were playing one night after a 136-109 victory at Brooklyn in which center Ivica Zubac sprained his left ankle, leaving him unavailable for Monday's game.
Advertisement
Indiana also was missing T.J. McConnell (hamstring strain), Andrew Nembhard (back) and Ben Sheppard (meniscus tear).
ROCKETS 120, HAWKS 110
HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 29 points, nine assists and nine rebounds and Houston remained unbeaten with a win over Atlanta.
The Rockets are 4-0 this season and Monday was their second consecutive win over the Hawks after they got a 121-114 win in Atlanta on Saturday night.
A 7-0 run by the Hawks, capped by a 3 from Nickeil Alexander-Walker cut the lead to 95-93 early in the fourth.
Houston got hot after that, using a 14-0 spurt, with 3s from Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason, to make it 109-93 with less than seven minutes to go.
Advertisement
Jalen Johnson gave the Hawks their first points in 3 ½ minutes on a dunk after that, but the Rockets went on an 8-0 run to push their advantage to 117-95 with under five minutes left.
Johnson led the Hawks with 21 points and CJ McCollum had 20.
Kevin Durant added 22 points for the Rockets and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 16 points, had five assists and led the team with 12 rebounds.
GRIZZLIES 110, JAZZ 105
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Cedric Coward tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Memphis to a victory over Utah — its second in four games over Utah.
Ty Jerome, who entered the night leading the NBA in scoring, was held to 15 points on 4-of-15 shooting after scoring 45 points against Utah in the season opener, but he also dished out eight assists. Jaylen Wells chipped in 14 points while Cameron Boozer and Jerami Grant added 13 apiece to help the Grizzlies stay unbeaten.
Advertisement
Keyonte George led the Jazz with 26 points. Ace Bailey tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds while Darryn Peterson added 14 points. Mo Bamba had 14 points and seven boards in his season debut.
The Jazz played most of the game without two of their top three scorers after Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. both suffered injuries early in the first half and did not return .
Memphis led by 16 points late in the third quarter after Quinten Post, Cam Spencer, and Coward made 3s on three straight possessions to put the Grizzlies up 87-71.
Utah used a 15-3 run to make it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter, making it 102-101 on George's 3-point play with 3:37 left. Back-to-back baskets from Jerome kept the Jazz from claiming the lead.
Advertisement
WARRIORS 134, NUGGETS 114
DENVER (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg had 31 points and 12 rebounds as Golden State beat Denver for its first win of the season.
The big night from the rookie out of Michigan helped the Warriors avoid their first 0-4 start since 2007-08. The team shot 54.1% from the field, including 22 of 44 from 3-point range, and outrebounded Denver by a 50-36 margin.
Stephen Curry scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half. He finished 8 of 8 from the floor to help the Warriors steadily pull away from the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokic had 19 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists before being subbed out with 3:33 remaining and the Nuggets trailing by 21. Denver allowed 74 points after halftime.
Advertisement
Jokic admonished Nuggets fans for booing Saturday night in the home opener after the Nuggets fell behind 23 points before storming back for a 141-135 OT win against New Orleans.
This time, some fans just filed out early in a game that started late.
The frustration spilled over for Aaron Gordon in the fourth quarter when he was assessed a double-technical and exited the court. Gordon had seven points.
Lendeborg was 9 of 19 from the field — 1 of 8 from beyond the 3-point line — and 12 of 13 from the free throw line. He entered the game averaging 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
The Warriors had Curry, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski back after they sat out the game in Phoenix. Podziemski finished with 18 points and was a plus-33.
