The points were distributed between Darius Garland (25, with 12 assists), Ty Jerome (24), Evan Mobley (23) and Jarrett Allen (21, with 15 rebounds).
The road is rising for the “Cavs” who will aim for a 16th victory on the floor of champion Boston on Tuesday.
The Hawks fall asleep in Portland
After two home successes against Minnesota, Portland signed a third consecutive victory on Sunday: 114-110 against Atlanta. Firmly anchored in his starting role, Toumani Camara was the longest player on his team with 35 minutes on the floor. The Brussels winger was not skillful (1/7 on shots). He compensated for his weak contribution to the scoreboard (3 points) with solid collective (5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 offensive) and defensive (4 interceptions) work.
“Rip City” has now balanced its record at home (4 wins-4 losses) and if it does not leave 13th place in the Western Conference it returns to the level of San Antonio (6v-8d) before tackling a series of five trips, the first of which, Wednesday, will take them to Oklahoma City.
Dallas brings down the Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks, NBA finalists in the spring, brought down the Oklahoma City Thunder (121-119), whom they had beaten in the 2nd round of the play-offs, despite the absence of their star Luka Doncic on Sunday.
In front of almost the entire game, Dallas and PJ Washington (27 points, 17 rebounds) were able to resist the return of the Thunder from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (36 points), who lost his first place in the West to the detriment of the Golden State Warriors.
Belgian Ajay Mitchell played 19 minutes, for three points, one rebound and two assists.
The Houston Rockets, surprising 3rd in the same conference, scored a card in Chicago (142-107), for a 5th victory in a row.
During the Los Angeles Clippers’ success at home against the Utah Jazz, James Harden became the second player to have made the most three-point shots in the NBA (2,975), ahead of Ray Allen (2,973) but far behind record holder Stephen Curry (3.782).
Randle adopted
Arriving in early October in Minnesota, in exchange for local darling Karl-Anthony Towns, who had left for New York, Julius Randle achieved the best possible thing for his integration: a three-point shot at the siren for a success against Phoenix (120 -117) which sent fans into a frenzy.
The All-Star interior completed a great performance (35 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists) with his decisive “step back” which allowed the Wolves to remain in a good position in the West (8 wins – 6 losses).
Deprived of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, the Suns relied on Devin Booker (44 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists), in vain.
Big fine for LaMelo Ball, author of “offensive” remarks
Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball was fined $100,000, the maximum amount against a player in the NBA, for “offensive and derogatory” comments made in a post-match interview on Saturday. explained the NBA on Sunday.
For OKC, Ajay Mitchell played 19 minutes, the second longest playing time for a substitute. No more than Camara, the Liégeois showed no skill (1/5 on shots) and his statistical record turned out to be rather meager: 3 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 interception.
After this 3rd defeat in fourteen games, Oklahoma City is 2nd in the West behind Golden State (10-2) at rest on Sunday.
