Vanishing act: Magic make Cavs disappear
Nikola Vucevic scored 23 points and the Orlando Magic snapped a 17-game losing streak against the Cleveland Cavaliers, routing the defending Eastern Conference champions 114-93 on Saturday night.
Orlando’s players knew their first win over Cleveland since Nov. 23, 2012, was more than your typical early regularseason victory.
“This game had lots of positives, one of the most positives we’ve had in a long time,” Vucevic said. “I’m really happy for this team because we haven’t had success against them for a while.”
The visiting Magic never trailed and built a 21-point lead late in the first quarter. Orlando led 36-18 after the first, hitting 14 of 24 from the field.
The Magic, which made 14 of 35 three-pointers, took their biggest lead, 106-69, midway through the fourth quarter when both teams cleared their benches.
LeBron James scored 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 22 as the Cavaliers fell to 2-1.
“They came out and gave us one from the beginning of the game and they kept it going,” James said. “We were a couple steps behind and they made us pay.”
Cleveland trailed 56-45 at halftime and cut the lead to 65-58 midway through the third when James blocked D.J. Augustin’s drive and Dwyane Wade hit a three-pointer. The Magic answered with a 12-0 run, including a banked-in 30-footer from Augustin and two baskets by Vucevic.
Vucevic, a night after scoring a career-high 41 points in a loss to Brooklyn, was 11 of 16 from the field.
Spurs 87, Bulls 77: LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds and San Antonio spoiled Chicago’s home opener. Robin Lopez had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who got 13 points and 12 rebounds from rookie power forward Lauri Marakkanen, thrust into the starting lineup because of a fight in practice that sidelined Niko Mirotic (facial fractures) and Bobby Portis (suspension).
Nuggets 96, Kings 79: Paul Millsap had 18 points and nine rebounds in his first home game with Denver, Gary Harris scored 17 points and the Nuggets used a strong defensive effort to beat Sacramento. Rookie De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 18 points off the bench and was one of their few highlights.
Clippers 130, Suns 88: Blake Griffin had 29 points and eight rebounds, Patrick Beverley added 15 points and six steals, and host Los Angeles cruised. Los Angeles saw starting point guard Milos Teodosic carried off with a foot injury. The Suns played Friday night at home and struggled to get into any offensive flow.
Jazz 96, Thunder 87: Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead host Utah, which never trailed after taking a 13-12 lead in the first quarter. Oklahoma City’s All-Star trio of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were bottled up in
the first half by an active Utah defense. By the time George and Anthony got going, the come-from-behind climb was too steep. Anthony scored a game-high 26 and George added 22. Westbrook was held to six points.
Bucks 113, Trail Blazers 110: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 of his career-high 44 points in the fourth quarter, and he gave host Milwaukee the lead for good on a breakaway dunk with 11 seconds left. Damian Lillard scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for Portland, and CJ McCollum also had 26. Rockets 107, Mavericks 91: James Harden scored 29 points and Houston beat Dallas in its home opener. Harden made six of 13 three-pointers and added seven assists in 29 minutes as Houston improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 season when it started 6-0. Dallas fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2011, which followed its NBA title run after the 2010-11 season.
Pistons 111, Knicks 107: Tobias Harris scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half, and Detroit erased a 21-point deficit to spoil New York’s home opener. Kristaps Porzingis scored 33 points for the Knicks.
Heat 112, Pacers 108: Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Dion Waiters added 19 and Miami opened its home schedule with a victory over Indiana, which got 28 points from Victor Oladipo.
Raptors 128, 76ers 94: DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Serge Ibaka had 21 and Toronto won its 10th straight home game over Philadelphia. Rookie Ben Simmons had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers.