Washington (AFP) – Donovan Mitchell and reserve Ty Jerome each scored 26 points to spark the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers over Toronto 122-108 on Sunday, while Boston and Miami each took narrow triumphs. Jarrett Allen added 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 17-1 on the season, while Gradey Dick and Scottie Barnes each scored 18 to lead the Raptors.
The Cavaliers began the campaign 15-0 before losing 120-117 at Boston last Tuesday, but Cleveland bounced back to beat New Orleans the next night and stayed hot against Toronto, improving to 10-0 at home. “It’s a special place to play and we feel it on the court,” Mitchell said. “It’s always loud when we play. It’s always comfortable coming back here and knowing we’re going to get a loud ovation every time.”
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At Boston, Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 to lead the reigning champion Celtics over the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-105. “It was a great effort on both ends of the court,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Great team win. I liked how we constantly interacted with each other. Our defense and physicality and working to get the right shot, I think those were the key to winning.”
The Celtics improved to 14-3, second only to Cleveland among all NBA clubs, and stretched their win streak to five games. Brown made a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 107-102 lead with 1:16 remaining. Julius Randle answered with a layup and free throw, but the T-Wolves (8-8) couldn’t pull level with Boston (14-3) before the final buzzer. Anthony Edwards had 28 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists for Minnesota, which also had 23 points from Randle and 20 rebounds by Rudy Gobert.
At Miami, Jimmy Butler scored 33 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and passed off six assists to lead the Miami Heat over Dallas 123-118 in overtime. Butler’s dunk with 4.1 seconds remaining in regulation lifted the Heat level at 114-114 to force overtime. Bam Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to put Miami ahead to stay, and Butler added a layup for a 122-118 Heat lead with 98 seconds remaining in overtime. Alec Burks added a final free throw to seal the victory. Adebayo had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyler Herro added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Miami. Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 27 points.
At Philadelphia, former 76er James Harden scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over the host Sixers 125-99. At Indianapolis, Pascal Siakam had 22 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 to power the Indiana Pacers over NBA-worst Washington 115-103, snapping a three-game losing streak. At Sacramento, Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas scored a game-high 34 points, and the Nets defeated the host Kings 108-103.
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