Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points and sparked a second-half rally that lifted the still-unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers to a 119-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday. (More NBA News)
Cleveland fought back from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter to become only the eighth team in NBA history to begin a season 12-0. The Cavaliers are the only team to win each of its first 12 games while scoring at least 110 points in all of those contests.
Darius Garland added 17 points and Evan Mobley had 15 with 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which once again received a big contribution from its second unit. Reserves Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Ty Jerome each recorded 12 points, with Jerome dishing out six assists as well.
Zach LaVine had 26 points on 12-of-20 shooting in his second outing back from a three-game absence, but Chicago was hurt by 20 turnovers and lost for the fifth time in six games.
Nikola Vucevic and Coby White each finished with 20 points for the Bulls, while Josh Giddey scored 18 to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Cleveland trailed 85-76 with four minutes left in the third quarter before getting back into it with a 9-0 run led by its bench. LeVert and Dean Wade started the flurry with back-to-back 3-pointers before Niang converted a three-point play to tie the game with 2:53 left in the period.
The teams were again tied at 106-106 with five minutes to go, but the Cavs put together a 9-2 spurt capped by LeVert's 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining to go ahead for good.
Cleveland owned a 52-42 lead midway through the second quarter before the Bulls answered with a 14-2 run to take a 56-54 edge with four minutes to play before half-time.
Gilgeous-Alexander scores career-high 45 as Thunder bounce back
One night after losing one of their star players for an extended period, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to their winning ways behind a huge performance from another.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander racked up a career-high 45 points as Oklahoma City got back in the win column with a 134-128 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Thunder were coming off Sunday's 127-116 home defeat to the Golden State Warriors in which starting center Chet Holmgren suffered a pelvic fracture that will sideline him at least eight weeks. With the 7-footer unavailable, the Clippers recorded a 47-29 rebounding advantage while also going 20 of 37 (54.1 per cent) from 3-point range.
Oklahoma City still prevailed in large part due to Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished 13 of 21 from the field and 15 of 16 from the foul line while adding nine assists.
The Thunder also received a big 28-point, eight-rebound, six-assist effort from Jalen Williams and 19 points from Luguentz Dort to overcome a 31-point display from Los Angeles' Norman Powell, who went 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak snapped despite Ivica Zubac's 22 points and 14 rebounds and a near triple-double from James Harden, who tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
The Clippers couldn't stop Gilgeous-Alexander, though, as the two-time All-Star put up 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half to propel the Thunder to a 66-53 lead at intermission.
Oklahoma City's margin swelled to 20 points in the third quarter, though Los Angeles closed out the period with an 11-2 run to pull within 99-94 on Powell's 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
The Clippers cut the lead to two late when Zubac converted a three-point play to make the score 130-128 with 42.3 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws on the other end, however, before Willams sealed the outcome with a dunk off a Harden turnover.
Wembanyama dominates as Spurs cruise past Kings
Victor Wembanyama joined an elite group of NBA players with a 34-point, 14-rebound effort that carried the San Antonio Spurs to a 116-96 win over the Sacramento Kings.
The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year added six assists in his 82nd career game and became only the sixth player in league history to record 1,700 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists over a first full season. That list includes such legends as Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird.
Chris Paul contributed 12 points and 11 assists for San Antonio, which had lost three of its previous four games but got back on track by making a season-high 22 shots from 3-point range. Wembanyama led the way in that category as well by going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.
The Kings, coming off an overtime win at Phoenix on Sunday, built a 31-22 lead early in the second quarter but relinquished it before the end of the first half.
San Antonio answered with a 10-2 run to cut its deficit to one, then closed out the half with seven straight points to own a 60-55 edge on Paul's 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Kings then shot just 25 per cent in the third quarter while being outscored by a 24-16 margin for the period as the Spurs took an 84-71 lead into the fourth. Their margin never dipped below double-digits over the final 12 minutes.
De'Aaron Fox paced Sacramento with 24 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 12 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan finished with 21 points in the loss.
