CLEVELAND — Evan Mobley scored 28 points, fellow All-Star Donovan Mitchell added 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke out to a big early lead and had little trouble against Minnesota, beating the Timberwolves 128-107 on Monday night.
The East-leading Cavs scored the game’s first 16 points. They welcomed new addition De’Andre Hunter and improved to 25-4 at home.
The versatile Hunter, who gives Cleveland a much-needed wing defender for the playoffs, was acquired last week from Atlanta. He started his Cavs debut in place of an injured Max Strus and finished with 12 points in 23 minutes.
All-Star Anthony Edwards scored 44 to pace Minnesota, which missed its first 16 shots and scored just 12 in the first quarter.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Trae Young scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and Atlanta beat Orlando.
Young was 6 for 17 from the field and committed nine turnovers. But he also had eight assists and five rebounds on the same day he was added to the All-Star roster as an injury replacement for Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Caris LeVert had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who won for the fourth time in five games after an eight-game losing streak. Terance Mann made three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points on perfect shooting.
Franz Wagner led Orlando with 35 points. Paolo Banchero added 31 points, including a career-high 20 in the third quarter.
WASHINGTON — Victor Wembanyama had 31 points and 15 rebounds to help San Antonio hold off Washington.
Wembanyama scored a career-high 50 points against Washington in November, and it looked like the All-Star might be on his way to another game like that Monday when he made his first four 3-point attempts within the first eight minutes.
He didn’t keep up that scoring pace, but the San Antonio big man was still a force against a Washington team that was missing rookie 7-footer Alex Sarr because of a sprained left ankle.
De’Aaron Fox contributed 30 points for the Spurs, and Chris Paul had 10 assists. Rookie Stephon Castle added 16 points.
Tristan Vukcevic led Washington with 18 points.
NEW YORK — Nic Claxton scored 16 points and Brooklyn pulled away after LaMelo Ball was lost to another ankle injury and beat Charlotte.
Cam Johnson and Day’Ron Sharpe each added 14 points for the Nets, who won for the fifth time in six games in the best stretch of their first season under Jordi Fernandez. This was their second easy victory over Charlotte during that span.
Moussa Diabate had a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hornets before he was forced out of the game with a right eye abrasion. Tidjane Salaun scored 16 points.
MIAMI — Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 17 and Boston rolled past Miami.
Al Horford scored 16 points, Sam Hauser had 15 and Derrick White added 13 for the Celtics. Boston took 53 3-pointers in the game and only 32 2-pointers.
Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Miami, which was without Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. — both sidelined by illness.
Andrew Wiggins had 11 points in his Heat debut. Miami shot 33.7% and has been held under 90 points in each of its last five matchups with Boston.
MILWAUKEE — Stephen Curry scored a season-high 38 points and Golden State pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Milwaukee.
Jimmy Butler had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists in his second game with the Warriors. Buddy Hield added 16 points, while Quinten Post and Moses Moody added 13 each.
The Bucks were playing for a second straight day after beating the Philadelphia 76ers 135-127 at home on Sunday.
Milwaukee also was playing a sixth straight game without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be out through the All-Star break as he deals with a left calf strain.
Damian Lillard scored 38 points for the Bucks after collecting 43 on Sunday. Kyle Kuzma scored 21 and Taurean Prince added 19.
THUNDER 137, PELICANS 101
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points in three quarters as Oklahoma City routed New Orleans.
Oklahoma City hit a franchise-record 27 3-pointers, despite no individual making more than four. Eleven players drained at least one for a team that made 49% of its 55 3-point tries.
Aaron Wiggins scored 24 points and Jalen Williams added 16 for the Thunder, who won their sixth straight game.
Chet Holmgren had 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks in his second game back since missing three months with a fractured pelvic bone. The 7-foot-1 forward played 25 minutes — up from 22 last Friday against Toronto.
KINGS 129, MAVERICKS 128, OT
DALLAS — DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 42 points, including a baseline floater with 2 seconds left in overtime, and Sacramento beat depleted Dallas.
Zach LaVine and Malik Monk each scored 17 points for the Kings in the opener of a three-game trip. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 15 rebounds.
The Mavericks lost center Daniel Gafford to a sprained right knee after he had a knee-to-knee collision with Monk early in the second quarter.
Dallas already was playing without power forwards Anthony Davis and P.J. Washington, and centers Dereck Lively II and Dwight Powell — all because of injuries.
Kyrie Irving scored 30 points for the Mavericks. Irving was added to the All-Star roster earlier in the day, replacing Davis.
NUGGETS 146, TRAIL BLAZERS 117
DENVER — Nikola Jokic scored 40 points, Christian Braun had 26 points, and surging Denver beat Portland for their seventh straight win.
Jamal Murray added 17 points and eight assists before picking up his second technical foul and Julian Strawther finished with 18 for Denver.
The seven-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Nuggets, who played without Michael Porter Jr. for the second straight game due to hamstring tightness.
Portland was missing Jerami Grant, Kris Murray and Robert Williams III.
Donovan Clingan scored a career-high 21 points and Dalano Banton added 22 for the Blazers, who lost their second straight after winning 10 of 11.
LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic scored 14 points in limited playing time during his debut with the Lakers on Monday night, joining their starting lineup alongside LeBron James and immediately getting into the flow during Los Angeles’ victory over Utah.
Doncic got multiple standing ovations from a Los Angeles crowd wearing thousands of gold T-shirts with his name and No. 77. He scored 11 points while the Lakers streaked out to a 25-point halftime lead, and he sat down for good with 3:07 left in the third quarter with the Lakers far ahead in their sixth consecutive victory.
The Slovenian superstar’s first bucket was a 3-pointer in the opening minutes on his second shot for the Lakers. Doncic finished with five rebounds and four assists — none prettier than a three-quarter-court strike to James for a layup late in the first half.
The game was Doncic’s first in nearly seven weeks since he strained his left calf on Christmas with the Mavericks, who shocked the sports world by trading their 25-year-old centrepiece and NBA scoring champion. The grateful Lakers gave up Anthony Davis and Max Christie.
