Sexton leads Cavs past Pistons

CLEVELAND — Collin Sexton scored 27 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with just under two minutes to play, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 126-119 on Monday night.

Both teams were missing star players. Blake Griffin (rest) sat out for Detroit, while Kevin Love was out with a sore back for Cleveland after taking a hard fall in Saturday’s loss to Dallas.

Andre Drummond nearly made up for Griffin’s absence with 21 points and 21 rebounds, but the Cavaliers hit clutch shots down the stretch against a Pistons team that is fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

JAZZ 116, WIZARDS 95: Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell scored 19 and the Utah Jazz won their fourth straight by beating the Washington Wizards.

Gobert, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, was perfect from the field (6 of 6) for Utah, which started the night seventh in the West, onehalf game behind San Antonio. NUGGETS 114, CELTICS 105: Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Boston Celtics.

Will Barton added 20 points for the Nuggets, who clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2012-13. They have won four straight.

SPURS 111, WARRIORS 105: Demar Derozan had 26 points and nine rebounds, Lamarcus Aldridge added 23 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors for their ninth straight win. San Antonio won its 11th straight at home and moved into fifth in the Western Conference at 42-29 following Oklahoma City’s loss to Miami. NOWITZKI PASSES CHAMBERLAIN FOR 6TH ON SCORING LIST: Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks became the NBA’S sixth-leading scorer Monday night with another of his signature long-range jumpers. Nowitzki took Luka Doncic’s handoff and backed down New Orleans’ Kenrich Williams before hitting a turnaround from the top of the free-throw circle with 8:33 left in the first quarter.

The basket brought Nowitzki to 31,420 points in his career, one more than Wilt Chamberlain.