Cavaliers roll past Heat, 115-92
Evan Mobley scored 17 points, Jarrett Allen added 17 and 13 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from an embarrassing loss at Miami 24 hours earlier by beating the Charlotte Hornets 11592 on Monday night.
Mobley also had a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds in only 25 minutes. It was his second game back after he was sidelined for nine by a sprained ankle.
The Cavs were blown out by 37 on Sunday by the Heat, who were up 45 at one point. The loss seemed to be rock bottom for a tired Cleveland team dealing with injuries and sliding backwards in the Eastern Conference standings.
But a matchup against the struggling Hornets was just what the Cavs needed to stop a three-game losing streak.
Georges Niang made five 3-pointers and scored 17 for Cleveland, which had lost six of eight and came in just four games clear of a play-in spot after being among the East’s top teams for months.
Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Miles Bridges had 13 for Charlotte. The 17-win Hornets have dropped five straight and 12 of 14.
NETS 96, RAPTORS 88 >> Dennis Schroder scored 19 points against his former team, Trendon Watford had 11 of his seasonhigh 19 points in the second quarter and Brooklyn snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the shorthanded Toronto Raptors.
Mikal Bridges scored 13 points and Jalen Wilson added 12 as the Nets won for the first time since March 10 at Cleveland.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points and Javon FreemanLiberty had 15 for Toronto. The Raptors have lost 11 straight and are winless since a home victory over Charlotte on March 3.
KNICKS 124, PISTONS 99>>
Donte DiVincenzo made a franchise-record 11 3-pointers and scored a careerbest 40 points, leading New York to a rout of Detroit.
DiVincenzo broke the Knicks’ single-game record of 10 that was held by J.R. Smith and Evan Fournier, and moved into third in the NBA in 3-pointers made this season. He would have had one more, but one of his 3s in the third quarter was later overturned because he had first stepped out of bounds.
But the swingman stayed in the blowout long enough to get the recordsetter with 3:16 remaining, then checked out shortly after to an ovation.
Jalen Brunson added 28 points, and Josh Hart had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in his sixth triple-double this season. The Knicks won for the sixth time in seven games and remained a half-game behind Cleveland for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Marcus Sasser scored 24 points for the NBA-worst Pistons, who lost their seventh straight and fell to 12-60. They were without top player Cade Cunningham, along with Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Simone Fontecchio and Isaiah Stewart because of injuries.
WIZARDS 107, BULLS 105 >>
Jordan Poole scored 23 points and the Washington Wizards won their seasonhigh third straight game, beating the Chicago Bulls 107-105 on Monday night.
Corey Kispert added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Marvin Bagley III scored 16 and the Wizards — owners of the NBA’s second-worst record — got some payback for a 29-point blowout in Chicago last week.
DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 27 points. Coby White scored 22 as the Bulls lost their third in a row.
Poole scored 10 points as Washington grabbed a 15-0 lead, though he also headed to the sideline with three fouls just under five minutes into the game. SPURS 104, SUNS 102 >> Jeremy Sochan hit a key 3-pointer in the final minute and finished with 26 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as San Antonio beat the Phoenix Suns 104-102 on Monday night with Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama sidelined due to injury.
Devin Vassell added 26 points for San Antonio and celebrated the victory by yelling into the house microphone after the game: “That’s a big win. That’s a big win.”
Devin Booker scored 36 points and Kevin Durant added 29 as Phoenix split a two-game set in San Antonio.
The Suns outscored the Spurs 14-7 in the final five minutes, but Sochan’s 3-pointer with 29 seconds was the difference. Booker and Durant missed potential game-winning 3-pointers in the final seconds. ROCKETS 110, TRAIL BLAZERS 92 >> Jalen Green scored 27 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 110-92 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
It was the Rockets’ ninth straight win, their longest winning streak since 2019.
At 36-35, Houston is now just a half game behind Golden State for the final spot in the NBA PlayIn Tournament.
Green entered Monday tied for fourth in the NBA in scoring in March with 27.8 points per game on 51.4% shooting. Against Portland, he made 9 of 26 shots, including 4 of 12 from 3.