Pelicans, Pistons handed first losses
Ricky Rubio had 28 points and 12 assists, Rudy Gobert had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the visiting Utah Jazz became the first team this season to beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 132-111 on Saturday night.
New Orleans played without star forward Anthony Davis. He was ruled out shortly before the game because of his sprained right elbow — an injury through which he’d played in a victory a night earlier over Brooklyn.
The Davis-Gobert matchup has been a competitive and compelling one in recent seasons. With Davis out, Gobert had his best game of the young season. He’d come in averaging 14.5 points and had not scored more than 19 points in a game this season. Rubio, who set up several of Gobert’s dunks with alley-oop lobs, was averaging just 6 points coming in and hadn’t scored more than 13 in a game.
Nikola Mirotic scored 25 points for the Pelicans. CELTICS 109, PISTONS 89 >> Jaylen Brown scored 19 points, Marcus Morris added 18, and Boston handed host Detroit its first loss of the season. Andre Drummond had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Stanley Johnson scored a season-high 16 for Detroit. The Pistons won their first four games of the season for the first time since 2008-09.
The Celtics opened up a 103-74 lead with 5:15 left to play, cruising to a win in the first of consecutive games between the teams. SPURS 110, LAKERS 106 >> DeMar DeRozan had 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and San Antonio overcame 35 points and 11 rebounds from LeBron James to beat Los Angeles. The Spurs beat the Lakers for the second time in a week. The Lakers shot 53 percent in the first half and led by as many as 14 points before the Spurs recovered behind DeRozan.
HEAT 120, TRAIL BLAZERS 111 >> Goran Dragic scored 28 points, Dwyane Wade and Kelly Olynyk each had 19, and Miami scored the home win over Portland. The Heat let a 19-point lead slip entirely away, and then found themselves trailing twice in the fourth quarter before outscoring Portland 19-7 in the final 3:52. Dragic’s 3-pointer with just under a minute left all but sealed the win for Miami, putting the Heat up nine.
Damian Lillard led all scorers with 42 points for Portland, which had its five-game winning streak over Miami snapped. The 111 points were a seasonlow for Portland.
76ERS 105, HORNETS 103 >> Joel Embiid had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and J.J. Redick and Robert Covington hit key 3-pointers late to lead Philadelphia past visiting Charlotte. Embiid was a game-time decision after injuring his left ankle in practice Friday. Kemba Walker scored 37 points for Charlotte.
BULLS 97, HAWKS 85 >> Zach LaVine scored 27 points, and Chicago was 7 of 10 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter to pull away from host Atlanta. Jabari Parker scored half of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls. Rookie Wendell Carter Jr. had 10 points and 10 rebounds while playing his first NBA game in his hometown.
PACERS 119 CAVALIERS 107 >> Bojan Bogdanovic scored 25 points, Victor Oladipo had 24, and visiting Indiana beat Cleveland to drop the Cavaliers to 0-6. Cleveland is off to its worst start since losing its first seven games in the 1995-96 season. Rodney Hood led the Cavaliers with 17 points. GRIZZLIES 117, SUNS 96 >> Marc Gasol scored 19 points, and host Memphis took a big lead in the first half before coasting past Phoenix, which played without leading scorer Devin Booker, who is nursing a left hamstring strain.
BUCKS 113, MAGIC 91 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 21 points, and Khris Middleton had 18 as Milwaukee won its sixth consecutive games to start the season, one shy of the franchise record set by the 197172 team.