National Basketball Association results | Tuesday
Cavaliers 115, Nets 109
NEW YORK — Donovan Mitchell had five 3-pointers and one sensational slam dunk among his 31 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers opened a big lead in the third quarter and held on for a victory over Brooklyn Nets.
Caris LeVert added 18 points for the Cavaliers in the opener of a two-game series. Cleveland led by only six after a competitive first half, but quickly blew it open in the third en route to its seventh win in nine games.
The Cavs opened a 24-point lead and Mitchell’s slam over Yuta Watanabe came with the Nets desperately hoping to get back into it early in the fourth.
Day’Ron Sharpe had 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Nets, who lost their fourth straight game. Spencer Dinwiddie had 19 points and 11 assists, and Mikal Bridges scored 18 points.
The teams play again Thursday night to complete what could be a postseason preview.
Hawks 129, Pistons 107
ATLANTA — Bogdan Bogdanovic sank three 3-pointers in a 16-0 run early in the second half that allowed Atlanta to extend its lead to double digits for the first time.
Trae Young had 30 points and 12 assists for the Hawks (36-36), who are eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hawks completed their first four-game season series sweep of the Pistons since the 1993-94 season.
Marvin Bagley III scored a season-high 31 points in Detroit’s fourth straight loss. The NBA-worst Pistons (16-57) have lost 15 of 16.
Magic 122, Wizards 112
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rookie Pablo Banchero had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, sending the Magic to the victory.
Orlando won for the first time in eight games against Washington. Gary Harris scored 22 points for the Magic, and Franz Wagner had 20 points. Reserve guard Cole Anthony finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 30 points for the Wizards, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Bradley Beal had 16 points and seven assists before fouling out with 2:55 remaining.
Pelicans 119, Spurs 84
NEW ORLEANS — Brandon Ingram scored 32 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Pelicans, who led by as many as 36 points before closing out their second straight victory. Trey Murphy III scored 17, and CJ McCollum added 15 points.
Ingram scored 16 in the third quarter, when New Orleans widened a 25-point halftime lead to 31.
New Orleans entered the day a game behind Oklahoma City and Utah for the ninth and 10th spots in the Western Conference. The Jazz were idle Tuesday night, while the Thunder played the Clippers in Los Angeles.
Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 20 for the Spurs, who came in having won three of six but had previously slipped well out of realistic contention for a postseason berth.
Tre Jones and former Pelican Devonte’ Graham each scored 15 and Keita Bates-Diop added 12 points.
The Pelicans took their first double-digit lead late in the first quarter after Ingram and McCollum combined for 11 points during a 13-2 run that made it 27-16.
New Orleans opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run, highlighted by Murphy’s alley-oop dunk.
Murphy’s 3 gave New Orleans a 20-point lead late in the quarter and McCullum closed out the first half with a floater and a 3 to put the Pelicans up 64-39.
Celtics 132, Kings 109
SACRAMENTO — Jayson Tatum scored 36 points and the Boston Celtics ended a long road trip on a high note by beating the Sacramento Kings.
Boston bounced back from blowing a 19-point lead in Utah on Saturday night by knocking off one of the top teams in the Western Conference. It won four of six on the road trip.
Jaylen Brown added 27 points and Derrick White scored 20 to help the Celtics open up a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.
Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for the Kings, who lost consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 3-5. De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points.
Sacramento fell 1½ games behind Memphis in the race for second place in the Western Conference. The Kings are trying to clinch their first playoff berth since 2006 — the longest postseason drought in NBA history.
Playing their fifth game in seven nights in their fourth time zone, the Kings offered little defensive resistance for Boston.
The Celtics shot 53.3% from the field, turned the ball over only five times and took control of the game during a torrid shooting stretch coming out of halftime.
Boston hit 10 of its first 11 shots from the field in the third quarter, scoring 27 points in less than six minutes to build the lead up to 14 points on a 3-pointer by White.
Thunder 101, Clippers 100
Due to an earlier deadline because of inclement weather, the Clippers did not make it into the print edition. See the full Clippers story online at www.avpress.com.