Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers drilled a season-high 22 three-pointers in a 126-114 NBA victory over Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
Darius Garland added 24 points and Caris LeVert contributed 21 off the bench as the Cavs withstood a triple-double from NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic to improve to 13-1 at home and 20-3 overall.
Cleveland made 22 three-pointers off 48 attempts as Denver connected with just three of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets made it close in the first half with a strong showing in the paint, where they would out-score the Cavs 76-40.
Jokic scored 27 points with 20 rebounds and 11 assists, helping the Nuggets claw back from an 18-point second-half deficit and cut the lead to nine with less than four minutes to play.
LeVert and Donovan answered with three-pointers and the Cavs cruised home.
“It took everybody,” Mitchell said. “Jokic is MVP for a reason, he makes that team phenomenal.
“They’re a team that gets out in transition… so (we were) just trying to stay disciplined and stay locked in,” Mitchell said. “It takes communication, but it takes focus for 48 minutes.”
In Washington, Luka Doncic posted a triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Dallas Mavericks piled more misery on the Wizards with a 137-101 victory.
Dallas guard Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 25 points and the Mavs handed the Wizards a 16th straight defeat — matching the team’s longest-ever losing streak.
It’s the second straight campaign that the Wizards have dropped 16 straight.
The Mavericks, in contrast, have won six straight and 10 of their last 11.
Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on a show in his hometown, scoring 30 points to lead the Western Conference-leading Thunder to a crushing 129-92 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
The Thunder notched a sixth win in their last seven games to push their record to 17-5.
Oklahoma City’s suffocating defensive effort included 14 steals and 11 blocked shots and they turned 19 Toronto turnovers into 28 points.
In New York, a big third quarter saw the Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets 125-101 to push their winning streak to four games.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and OG Anunoby scored 15 of his 25 points in the third, when the Knicks outscored the Hornets 38-16 to take control for good.
Brandon Miller scored 26 points to lead the Hornets, who led by as many as 13 in the first quarter and were down by just three at halftime.
But with key contributors LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Tre Mann sidelined the Hornets suffered a seventh straight defeat.
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