Leonard (35) lifts Raptors
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 35 points, Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 10 assists, and the Raptors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-105 last night in Toronto to improve to 5-0 and match the best start in franchise history.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 points, Serge Ibaka had 15 and Norman Powell added a season-high 10 for the Raptors, who also won five straight to start the 2015-16 season.
Toronto won its 15th straight home game against Minnesota, extending its franchise record for consecutive home victories over a single opponent. The last time the Raptors lost at home to the Timberwolves was Jan. 21, 2004.
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Derrick Rose had 16 and Taj Gibson 13 for Minnesota, which has yet to win back-to-back games this season.
Karl-Anthony Towns shot 5 for 17 and scored 14 points.
Nets 102, Cavaliers 86 — D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points, Joe Harris added 16 and Brooklyn won to keep host Cleveland winless .
Brooklyn outscored Cleveland 38-17 in the third quarter, forcing Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue to use four timeouts in the period. The Nets placed six players in double figures.
Cleveland is off to a rocky start as it tries to move on without LeBron James. The Cavaliers lost their first two games on the road to Toronto and Minnesota. Cleveland was coming off a 133-111 loss in its home opener to Atlanta Sunday.
Pacers 116, Spurs 96 — Victor Oladipo had 21 points and Indiana led for all but the opening seconds in a victory over San Antonio.
Indiana led by 29 points at one point while handing San Antonio its first home loss. Seven Pacers scored in double figures, including 19 points by Tyreke Evans and 16 by Domantas Sabonis.
DeMar DeRozan had 18 points to lead the Spurs.
Heat 110, Knicks 87 — Hassan Whiteside scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Josh Richardson added 21 points and host Miami rolled past New York.
Rodney McGruder added 19 points on only eight shot attempts and Goran Dragic scored 13 points for the Heat, who outscored New York 76-38 in the middle two quarters.
Hawks 111, Mavericks 104 — Kent Bazemore scored 32 points, including a thunderous slam with just over a minute to go, and host Atlanta rallied from a 26point deficit in the first half to stun Dallas.
Trae Young added 17 points on a tough shooting night, bouncing back in the fourth quarter to help the youthful Hawks complete their comeback in a rookie showdown with Luca Doncic of the Mavericks.
Doncic finished with 21 points.
Jazz 100, Rockets 89 — Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points to lead visiting Utah over Houston in a game James Harden left with an apparent injury.
The Rockets got within five points midway through the fourth quarter but Harden headed to the locker room soon after and didn’t return. It was unclear how he was injured or what the problem was.
Bulls 112, Hornets 110 — Zach LaVine made two free throws with 0.5 seconds left to give hostChicago its first victory of the season.
LaVine was fouled driving to the basket. He finished with 32 points for his fourth straight 30-point game to start the season.
Elsewhere in the NBA —Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton and Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris were each fined $15,000 by the league.
Walton’s penalty was for public criticism of the officiating, while Morris’ hit was for unsportsmanlike conduct for grabbing an opponent’s uniform.