San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MCDERMOTT SINKS SIXERS
Doug Mcdermott hit four 3-pointers and scored all 14 of his points in the second half and the San Antonio Spurs beat host Philadelphia 114105 on Sunday night to send the 76ers to their third straight loss to open the season.
“We are learning that we can play with anyone,” Mcdermott said. “We had a good win last night (against Indiana) and we didn’t get complacent. We came out and competed against a really good team.”
Devin Vassell scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, and Keldon Johnson had 21. Coming off a 134-137 victory at Indiana on Friday night, the Spurs were 16 for 38 from 3-point range and had a 40-10 advantage in bench points.
“We worked real hard,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The quick turnaround is not what any of us love, but we all have them. What it showed me was they are serious about getting better and knowing what the league is like. I thought that was pretty impressive.”
Joel Embiid had 40 points as Philadelphia fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2016-17. Tyrese Maxey added 25 points, Tobias Harris had 15 and James Harden 12.
Mavericks 137, Grizzlies 96: Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and host Dallas rode a hot start to a rout over Memphis.
Ja Morant scored the first six Memphis points, but the first bucket from someone else didn’t come until the 4:30 mark of the first quarter as the Grizzlies trailed 39-17 going to the second.
Morant finished with 20 points a night after a 49point showing in a victory at Houston gave him 83 points through two games. The Grizzlies were trying for their first 3-0 start in five years.
Pacers 124, Pistons 115: Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points, hitting three 3-pointers in a pivotal third quarter, and Indiana beat visiting Detroit to snap a 12-game losing streak dating to last season.
The Pacers dropped their first two games of the season at home this week.
Mathurin, a 20-year-old Canadian forward selected sixth overall, made the three 3-pointers in a 2:20 span as the Pacers surged to an 88-79 lead after three quarters. Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton added 24 points.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 22 points.
Celtics 126, Magic 120: Jayson Tatum and Derrick White combined for 12 straight points late in the fourth quarter to help Boston beat host Orlando.
Tatum had 40 points and eight rebounds. He launched a 10-2 run with two free throws with 4:08 remaining to put the Celtics up for good. White scored 27 points, two short of his career high, to help the Celtics win for the second straight night.
Terrence Ross led the Magic with 29 points, rookie Paolo Banchero had 23 and Franz Wagner added 18. The Magic dropped to 0-3 in losing for the Celtics for a 10th straight time.
Heat 112, Raptors 109: Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Max Strus added 20 off the bench and Miami beat visiting Toronto to stop a season-opening two-game slide.
The teams will meet again Monday night in Miami.
Miami’s Kyle Lowry had 17 points against his former club, Tyler Herro had 14 and Bam Adebayo added 10 for the Heat.
Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. each scored 23 points for Toronto, which got 18 points and 11 rebounds from former Heat forward Precious Achiuwa.
Bucks 125, Rockets 105: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points and became Milwaukee’s career free throws leader as the host Bucks rolled past Houston.
Antetokounmpo went 8 of 13 from the foul line to increase his total to 3,508 free throws out of 4,891 attempts (71.7 percent). Sidney Moncrief made 3,505 free throws with the Bucks from 1979-89.
Jalen Green led Houston with 22 points.
Cavaliers 128, Bulls 96: Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and Cleveland pounded Chicago in the Bulls’ home opener.
Mitchell just missed a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight assists, after scoring 31 points in his Cleveland debut.
Zach Lavine led Chicago with 23 points after missing the first two games with the team trying to manage his left knee after he had surgery in May.
Nuggets 122, Thunder 117: Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists as host Denver held off Oklahoma City. Michael Porter Jr. scored 22 points and Kentavious Caldwellpope added 21 for the Nuggets.
Clippers 111, Kings 109: Paul George scored 40 points to lead Los Angeles to a win at Sacramento without Kawhi Leonard or John Wall playing. De’aaron Fox led the Kings with 36 points.