Nuggets beat Mavs in Dallas
VLATKO Cancar hit a buzzer-beater from beyond midcourt when the final two seconds of the first half were replayed after the break, and the outmanned Denver Nuggets went on to beat the Mavericks, 98-97, on Sunday in Dallas (Monday, Manila time).
The Nuggets went to the locker room thinking they were down seven on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Dallas star Luka Doncic that appeared to finish a 14-2 half-ending run for the Mavericks.
This two nights after Denver was blown out in Dallas, and again missing Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon with one of the replacements, Jeff Green, out for the night with a right knee injury.
Instead, Doncic's Slovenian countryman brought the Nuggets within a point, and the six-point swing paid off when Michael Porter Jr. hit the deciding 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining in the game.
A video review showed Doncic stepped out bounds before his second-quarter step-back 3, and since the teams were already off the court, the game had to be picked up from that point after the break.
Bones Hyland scored a career-high 29 points, and Porter Jr. had 12 with his only made 3-pointer in five attempts providing the final scoring.
Josh Green had a career-high 23 points for Dallas, but his only miss on an 8-of-9 night, including 6 of 7 from 3, was from long range with the Mavericks leading by two in the final 70 seconds.
Doncic scored 22 with a miss on a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, securing an improbable split of the two games in Dallas for the Nuggets.
Cavaliers blast Heat
DARIUS Garland scored 25 points, Cedi Osman added 20 and extra energy off the bench and the Cavaliers played one of their best games in weeks, rolling to a 113-87 win over the banged-up Miami Heat in Cleveland.
After ending a five-game losing streak with a double-overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, the Cavs didn't have to work nearly as hard while handing Miami its sixth straight road loss.
Cleveland used a 21-2 tear in the second quarter to open a 19-point lead, and the Cavs pushed their advantage to 31 in the third. Guilty of blowing leads in the fourth quarter so many times this season, they finished the job with ease.
Evan Mobley had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which outscored Miami 67-37 over the second and third quarters.
The short-handed Heat fell to 0-3 on a trip that ends in Minnesota on Monday night.
Payne, Booker lead Suns past Knicks
CAMERON Payne scored 21 points, Devin Booker added 20 and the Phoenix Suns used a dominating second half to beat the New York Knicks 116-95, in Phoenix
Deandre Ayton had 13 points and 11 rebounds and all of the Suns' starters scored in double figures. Torrey Craig scored 14 points and Mikal Bridges 13. Reserve Damion Lee scored 15 and shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Suns, playing without Chris Paul (right heel injury) for the sixth straight game, got 3-pointers from eight different players.
Payne, who played 32 minutes and replaced Paul as a starter, also had a game-high nine assists and contributed seven rebounds.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting to lead the Knicks. RJ Barrett finished with 12 points and Quentin Grimes scored 10.
Phoenix outrebounded New York 60-39 overall.
Kings beat Pistons, extend win streak to six
DE’AARON Fox had 33 points and seven assists and the Kings extended their winning streak to six games with a 137-129 win over the Detroit Pistons in Sacramento.
Fox scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 22.6 seconds remaining that extended Sacramento's lead to six points. The Kings have won eight of their last 10 games after starting the season 0-4.
Sacramento closed the game on a 15-5 run.
Harrison Barnes had a season-high 27 points with nine rebounds. He hit two free throws with 14.6 seconds left to help secure the victory.
Kevin Huerter hit four 3-pointers and finished with 24 points as all of the Kings' starters scored in double figures. Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Pistons rookie Jaden Ivey, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, had 24 points.