After scoring 60 points in a losing effort the night before, De'Aaron Fox scored 49 points to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 121-117 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Fox went 16 of 30 from the field and made 14 of 19 from the free-throw line, and he also added nine assists and two steals. Fox now has the most points over a two-game span in franchise history, surpassing DeMarcus Cousins.
Kevin Huerter had 18 points, and Trey Lyles added 17 points for the Kings.
Lauri Markkanen had 25 points, Collin Sexton added 18 and Keyonte George scored 19 points for the Jazz.
DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis were sidelined for Sacramento, and Taylor Hendricks and Walker Kessler did not play for the Jazz.
The Kings led 62-50 late in the second quarter and held on for a 64-63 margin at the half.
The Jazz opened the third quarter with a 10-3 run. They bumped their margin up to 89-78 on a layup by Isaiah Collier before ending the frame with a 94-90 lead.
Sacramento came back in the fourth to take a 118-116 lead on a Jordan McLaughlin 3 with a minute left to play. After Fox made one free and missed the next two with 13 seconds left to play, Clarkson made one free throw before the Jazz were called for a lane violation. Fox made the last two free throws to seal the victory.
Tatum plays hero in Celtics’ win
Jayson Tatum hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 126-123.
Tatum finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 27 points and Al Horford and Derrick White scored 18 points apiece.
Toronto has lost seven straight and failed to register its first road win of the season despite getting a career-high 35 points from Jakob Poeltl, who finished 16 of 19 from the field with 12 rebounds. RJ Barrett added 25 points and 10 rebounds.
With the game tied at 112 in regulation, Barrett connected on a runner in the lane and was fouled by Brown with 59 seconds remaining. But Barrett missed his ensuing free throw.
Boston’s Neemias Queta, who started in place of Jrue Holiday (left knee tendinopathy), scored a driving layup on Boston’s next possession.
With the game tied at 123, Toronto won a coach’s challenge on an out of bounds call that originally was awarded to Boston. But Barrett had his driving layup attempt blocked by Queta, giving the ball back to the Celtics with 20.2 seconds remaining.
Davis powers streaking Lakers
Anthony Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to five games with a 104-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
LeBron James highlighted a 21-point performance with a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the final minutes, but his career-long four-game triple-double streak came to an end.
Rookie Dalton Knecht hit five 3s to finish with a career-high 27 points in a spot start for the Lakers.
One night after posting 40 points and 12 rebounds in a victory at San Antonio, Davis reached the 30-point plateau for the eighth time in 12 games played this season.
Brandon Ingram scored 32 points, and reserve Jaylen Nowell scored 16 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the 10th time in their last 12 games.
Right after a clutch 3 by Ingram gave the Pelicans a late two-point lead, James responded with consecutive 3s to put the Lakers up 101-97 with 37 seconds left.
Bulls croak as Cavs celebrate 14-0 start with new frog mascot
The Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated the longest winning streak in franchise history with their new frog mascot on Friday, leaving the defeated Chicago Bulls hopping mad.
Donovan Mitchell scored 18 of his season-high 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavs pulled away for a 144-126 victory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, their 14th in as many games this season.
That result ensured they went one better than the previous team record of 13 successive wins, which they managed on three occasions during the LeBron James era.
They are just the sixth team in NBA history to go 14-0 from the start of a season and the first since 2015-16, when the Golden State Warriors did so en route to the Western Conference title.
After the victory, Mitchell – as well as team-mates Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen – celebrated by dancing with a man in a frog costume, which had gone viral as an impromptu mascot during the team's historic start to the campaign.
"That was fun," Mitchell said. "It shocked the hell out of me when I saw the frog. It was pretty dope. It was like just a vibe."
"It's Cleveland," Allen said when asked about the frog's arrival. "It's just a vibe in the city, and I hope it doesn't change.
"I've been wanting to dance with that frog since I first saw him!"
After scoring 49 first-quarter points in a blistering start, the Cavs found themselves just five points up at half-time, prompting coach Kenny Atkinson to angrily throw a sandal in the locker room.
"That's what we want," Mitchell said when asked about the incident after the game. "We all prefer that. We hear how good we are.
"For us, that's how we get better. We haven't lost, but how do you continue to find ways to build habits? It's continuing to coach hard and not let any lapses. That's what you want in a coach."
Cleveland have some way to go to record the best start to a campaign in NBA history, with the Warriors going 24-0 to begin the 2015-16 season.
However, a victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday would make their start the joint-second best in league history, along with the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.
James records career-best triple-double run as Lakers beat Spurs
LeBron James made it four straight games with a triple-double, the best run of his illustrious career, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 120-115.
Having won the inaugural NBA in-season tournament last year, the Lakers began their defence of the crown with a group-stage win over Victor Wembanyama and company.
James scored the Lakers' last four points to make sure of the victory, finishing with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists for the 117th triple-double of his NBA career – the fifth-most of all time.
As well as going four consecutive games with a triple-double for the very first time, the league's all-time leading scorer also matched the Lakers' franchise record for consecutive triple-doubles.
Russell Westbrook recorded four in a row for Los Angeles from December 25 to December 31, 2021, while Magic Johnson did so on two occasions (March 28 to November 3, 1981 and March 31 to April 5, 1987).
"The best thing about my game is I can have no rhythm offensively and still have an impact on the game," James said after the win. "I was able to do that tonight."
Asked what made him most proud of his achievement, James added: "Probably that I did it in Season 22.
"To still have the energy to do that and the effort, it takes a lot. But also, it takes great team-mates along the way, too.
"Those assists only happen when guys are making shots, and I just try to put the ball on time, on target and then defensively, rebound and try to help on the glass with Anthony [Davis] and the rest of the guys.
"And I try to sprinkle in a little points from time to time... but waiting 22 years to do something is wild, so, that's a good question right there."
Davis led the Lakers with 40 points and 12 rebounds, while Wembanyama had a team-high 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for San Antonio.
NBA: Cavaliers run record to 14-0
Donovan Mitchell scored 18 of his season-high 37 points in the fourth quarter as the unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away for a 144-126 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday to achieve the longest winning streak in franchise history.
Cleveland has now won its first 14 games of the 2004-05 campaign, tied for the fourth-longest undefeated run to begin a season in NBA history.
Mitchell led the way in this latest victory by making 7 of 13 shots from 3-point range, though the Cavs also received big performances from other core players to stay perfect. Darius Garland added 29 points and nine assists, Jarrett Allen amassed 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting along with 10 rebounds and Caris LeVert contributed 22 points off the bench.
Chicago got 29 points from Coby White, who went 6 of 11 on 3-point tries in the Bulls' sixth loss in eight games. Leading scorer Zach LaVine was kept squarely in check, however, as the two-time All-Star was held to eight points on 4-of-16 shooting.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 25 points and eight rebounds for Chicago, while Patrick Williams totalled 17 points and a career-high nine assists.
Cleveland came out on fire, making good on 19 of 22 field goal attempts in the first quarter to build a 49-34 lead after 12 minutes. The Cavs were up by as many as 19 points in the second, though the Bulls finished the quarter strongly and closed the gap to 77-73 at intermission behind Vucevic's 18 first-half points.
Chicago carried the momentum into the third quarter and took a 90-89 advantage on White's 3-pointer midway through the period. Cleveland responded with a 16-5 run, however, to go up 105-95 with under two minutes left in the quarter.
The Cavs later put the game out of reach with a 21-7 run over the game's final 2:40, with Mitchell tallying nine points during the spurt and LeVert recording eight.
Timberwolves overcome Fox's 60 points to top Kings in overtime
Julius Randle scored the tie-breaking basket in the final minute of overtime as the Minnesota Timberwolves recorded a 130-126 win over Sacramento despite a franchise-record 60 points from the Kings' De'Aaron Fox.
Fox finished 22 of 35 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range to break the club record of 59 points set by Jack Twyman in 1960, when the franchise was then known as the Cincinnati Royals. The star point guard also rallied the Kings from a 20-point second-half deficit and forced overtime with a short jumper with 38.6 seconds left in regulation.
The Timberwolves were still able to end a three-game losing streak as Anthony Edwards put up 36 points and Randle added 26.
Sacramento also received 23 points and 12 rebounds from Domantas Sabonis while playing without two key players, DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, due to injuries.
Minnesota appeared on the way to an easy win after beginning the second half with a 12-0 run to stretch an eight-point half-time lead into a 74–54 advantage just over 3 1/2 minutes into the third quarter.
The Timberwolves entered the fourth up 98-82 before Fox, who amassed 20 points for the quarter, led the Kings back. He scored 14 of those points during a 19-2 run to start the period that gave Sacramento a 101-100 edge with seven minutes left in regulation.
Fox later forged a 126-126 tie with a 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining in overtime, but Randle quickly put Minnesota back ahead with a short jumper on the next possession. After Fox missed a 3-pointer on the other end, Edwards sealed the victory by knocking down a 21-foot shot with 14.3 seconds on the clock.
Thunder shut down injury-plagued Suns
The Oklahoma City Thunder got 28 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a stout defensive effort to come away with a 99-83 win over the short-handed Phoenix Suns.
Oklahoma City prevailed in this matchup of two of the Western Conference's top teams by limiting Phoenix to 29.3 per cent shooting, the Suns' lowest field goal percentage in a game since shooting 26.8 per cent in a loss to the then-New Jersey Nets on March 27, 2006.
Phoenix was without two of its main scorers, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, due to injuries. The Suns are now 1-3 since Durant was forced out of action with a strained calf after starting the season 8-1.
The Thunder, on the other hand, have won three straight since starting center Chet Holmgren fractured his pelvis in a loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
Luguentz Dort added 15 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, which also received 14 points and eight boards from Jalen Williams.
Josh Okogie paced the Suns with 15 points and nine rebounds on a night where their other All-Star, Devin Booker, managed just 12 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Suns missed 18 of 21 shot attempts in the first quarter as the Thunder built a 29-14 lead after one period. Oklahoma City took a 48-36 advantage into half-time and maintained a double-digit margin throughout the second half, with its lead getting as large as 25 points.
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