Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Dallas Mavericks, rocked by the sudden trade of superstar Luka Doncic and wracked by injuries, were blown out 144-101 by the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. The Cavaliers remained five and a half games ahead of the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference after the reigning champion Celtics matched the biggest comeback of the season, erasing a 26-point deficit late in the third quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-110.
In an inauspicious start to the post-Doncic era, the Mavs came stumbling out of the gate, hindered not only by the emotional aftermath of the deal announced on Saturday night but also by the injury absences of a string of regular starters, including Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford. With Anthony Davis, the star big man acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Doncic, and Dallas-bound Laker Max Christie not yet available for their new team, the Mavs were outscored 50-19 in the first quarter.
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There was little let-up from the Cavs, who poured in a franchise-record 26 three-pointers and led by as many as 53 points. Sam Merrill came off the bench to lead the Cavs with 27 points, including nine three-pointers on 13 attempts. It was his final three-pointer that broke the record of 25 in a game that the Cavs had achieved twice before. But Merrill was just one of eight Cleveland players to score in double figures. Evan Mobley added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Garland chipped in 17 points and 10 assists before sitting out the entire fourth quarter along with the rest of the Cavs starters.
Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 21 points off the bench. Dante Exum, playing just his second game of the season after October wrist surgery, scored 14, but sharpshooter Klay Thompson had just two points on 1-of-10 shooting. In a pre-game press conference focused largely on the trade, Dallas’s Jason Kidd sounded like a coach who knew just what his team would be up against less than 24 hours after the deal sent shockwaves through the league. “So you guys don’t have any questions about the game?” he asked reporters a bit wistfully, before reading out a list of seven absentees that included both Christie and Davis, who were listed as inactive due to “trade pending.”
On a day when the Doncic-Davis trade had the NBA buzzing, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla opened his pre-game remarks in Philadelphia by telling reporters: “Don’t ask me about the trade, because I don’t really care.”
The Celtics appeared to have the same nonchalant attitude to the 76ers in the early going, but flipped a switch in the second half. Ice cold from three-point range in the first half, the Celtics made 14 of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half and finished with 21 treys. Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 35 points in the second half, and the Celtics authored a 20-1 scoring run in the fourth quarter to seize control. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 10 rebounds and Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 18 points for the Celtics. Tyrese Maxey had his fifth straight 30-point game, leading the Sixers with 34.
The Memphis Grizzlies, fueled by 37 points from Jaren Jackson Jr., emerged from a frenetic back-and-forth battle with a 132-119 victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Grizzlies shook off the absence of star Ja Morant with a sore shoulder and pulled away late in a game that featured 14 lead changes, making six of their 14 three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Bucks, who dropped their third straight.
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