The Cleveland Cavaliers set a franchise record by building a 41-point half-time lead en route to their latest victory, a 136-117 drubbing of the Golden State Warriors on Friday.

Cleveland moved to 10-0 to extend the best-ever start in team history despite All-Star Donovan Mitchell managing just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Plenty of other Cavaliers stepped up with the playmaking guard struggling, however, as Darius Garland went 6 of 11 from 3-point range while totalling 27 points and Evan Mobley put up 23 points in 26 minutes.

The Cavaliers, the first team in NBA history to open a season with 10 straight wins while scoring at least 110 points in each, also received 13 points and 12 rebounds from Jarrett Allen and 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench from Ty Jerome.

Cleveland also held Stephen Curry to just 12 points while putting an end to the Warriors' five-game winning streak. 

Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 21 points, while fellow reserve Brandin Podziemski finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavaliers began the game on a 20-2 run and never looked back, as they sped out to a 39-22 lead after one quarter before completely dominating the second.

Cleveland outscored the Warriors by a 44-20 margin in the next period to own an insurmountable 83-42 advantage at the intermission, which tied a franchise record for points in a half. 

The Cavs shot 63.6 per cent (14 of 22) from 3-point range over the first two quarters, with Jerome and Isaac Okoro each tallying 13 first-half points and Garland and Mobley recording 11 apiece.

Nurkic's late surge lifts hot Suns over Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns are now on a seven-game winning streak after rallying in the fourth quarter for a 114-113 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Jusuf Nurkic scored the Suns' final five points and snapped a 113-113 tie by making one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left. The veteran centre was fouled after grabbing the rebound of team-mate Royce O'Neale's missed shot to set up the go-ahead point.

Nurkic finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kevin Durant scored 26 points to help Phoenix improve to 8-1, which matches the 2009-10 team for the best start in franchise history. 

Luka Dončić had 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Dallas, but misfired on a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Kyrie Irving compiled 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks, who have alternated losses and wins over a five-game stretch since starting 3-1. 

Dallas fought back from a 63-50 half-time deficit to take a 97-91 lead on Naji Marshall's layup with 7:47 remaining, but Bradley Beal had seven points during a 9-3 run that brought the Suns even at 100-100 with five minutes to go.

Nurkic scored on back-to-back possessions to give Phoenix a 113-111 edge with 31.4 seconds left. The Mavericks answered on their next trip down the court, however, as Doncic fed Daniel Gafford for a game-tying alley-oop dunk with 23.5 seconds left to play.

Thunder keep rolling with dominant win over Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder kept pace with the Suns atop the Western Conference by cruising to a 126-107 win over the Houston Rockets.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren each scored 29 points to help Oklahoma City (8-1) bounce back from its lone loss of the season, a 124-122 setback at Denver on Wednesday. 

The Thunder also kept Houston's top two scorers in check, as Jalen Green was held to 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Alperen Sengun missed nine of 12 shots while finishing with 11 points. 

Dillon Brooks led the Rockets, who had a two-game winning streak stopped, with 17 points.

After the teams played to a 31-31 tie through one quarter, the Thunder took control in the second by outscoring Houston by a 44-20 margin for the period.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren each had 10 points during the second quarter, and Oklahoma City shot 70 per cent from the field for the frame to go into half-time with a comfortable 75-51 lead.

The Thunder extended the margin to as many as 29 points in the third quarter, and Houston never got its deficit under 19 points the entire second half.

Jalen Brunson needed only three quarters to score 39 points and the New York Knicks continued their push for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 118-109 win over the league-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.

Brunson was 15 of 23 from the field and 6 for 11 from long range, while Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points and Josh Hart had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

New York won its third straight and pulled within a game of Milwaukee for second in the East, with each team having two games left. The Knicks would need to win both and have the Bucks lose their games at Oklahoma City and Orlando, because Milwaukee has the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Knicks dominated on the glass, 52-36, and had 22 second-chance points compared to 12 for the Celtics.

Boston got 18 points from Jayson Tatum and lost its second in a row.

Surging Warriors handle Trail Blazers

Stephen Curry scored 22 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 22 to propel the Golden State Warriors to their ninth win in 10 games, 100-92 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Golden State, which played without Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, has already clinched a play-in spot but can potentially improve its playoff seeding in the final two games.

With their 45th victory, the Warriors surpassed their win total from last season, when they advanced to the conference semifinals.

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Scoot Henderson tallied 18 and 12 assists for the Trail Blazers, who have won just two of their past 15 games.

Pelicans complete season sweep of Kings

CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson scored 31 points apiece and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a five-game season sweep of the Sacramento Kings with a 135-123 win.

McCollum matched a season high with nine 3-pointers in 12 tries and added seven assists for the Pelicans, who improved to 27-14 on the road, a franchise record for wins and tied with Boston for the best mark in the NBA.

New Orleans is sixth in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Phoenix with two games remaining.

De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points as the Kings lost for the fourth time in five games and failed in a bid to avoid the play-in tournament.

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama shrugged off Trayce Jackson-Davis' dunk after the Golden State Warriors ran out winners on Monday.

Jackson-Davis got the better of Wembanyama with just over a minute left of the fourth quarter, spinning the NBA draft's number one overall pick before finishing in style.

Wembanyama was left tumbling to the deck, and the Warriors went on to win 112-102.

But Wembanyama, who missed the Spurs' win over the Warriors at the weekend due to an ankle problem, is not overly concerned.

"Getting dunked on is nothing. It's part of the game," said the French youngster, fresh from finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

"I dunk on a lot of people and a lot of people dunk on me too. But I think I block more often than I get dunked on, so that's positive."

Reflecting on the Spurs' performance, Wembanyama added: "Consistency is always [important], but today I think it's also responding to the physicality that they put [out]. We didn’t have a strong enough response."

Explaining his thought process behind the dunk, Warriors rookie Jackson-Davis said: "I saw that he overplayed it, and he overplayed it to my right.

"I'm left-handed. So, I think I spun or got to my left hand and then I had to step on him. I just tried him.

"I told Kevon [Looney] before the game that if I got the chance to try him, I would. At the end of the day, sometimes you dunk on people, sometimes you get dunked on. It's just a basketball play."

Monday's win saw the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry, bounce back from back-to-back losses, with Golden State limiting the Spurs to just one point in the final stages of the fourth quarter.

"We weren't doing anything differently, just the effort and the connection," said coach Steve Kerr.

"If one guy is out of place and everybody's giving great effort, it still results in two points. I just felt we were better connected in the second half and as that went, we picked up some momentum."

Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 22 points, with Klay Thompson adding 21, to go with a contribution of 19 from Chris Paul.

Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and the Boston Celtics overcame Luka Dončić’s second straight triple-double in a 138-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks for their 10th consecutive win on Friday.

Jaylen Brown had 25 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 24 as seven Celtics scored in double figures.

Doncic had 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season and 68th of his career.

NBA-leading Boston knocked down 21 3-pointers and shot 55.3 percent (52-of-94) from the field to remain unbeaten since a loss to the Lakers on Feb. 1.

The 10-game streak is the longest for the Celtics since a 10-game run during the 2019-20 season.

Kyrie Irving scored 19 points against his former team but shot 9 of 23 as Dallas lost for the third time in four games.

Antetokounmpo powers streaking Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 46 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Chicago Bulls 113-97 for their fifth consecutive win.

Antetokoumpo shot 16 of 22 from the field, made 2 of 3 from long range and sank 12 of 16 free throws in his eighth 40-plus point game this season.

Patrick Beverley scored 14 points and Brook Lopez added 12 for the Bucks, who improved to 8-7 under Doc Rivers and moved into a virtual tie with Cleveland for first place in the Central Division.

Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan became the 35th player in NBA history to accumulate 23,000 points. He scored 12 points – all but two in the second half – and was 5 of 13 from the field after missing his first six shots.

Coby White led the Bulls with 22 points and Nikola Vucevic added 17 with nine rebounds.

Warriors win again on road

Stephen Curry scored 25 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 24 to lead the Golden State Warriors to their eighth straight road win, 120-105 over the Toronto Raptors, who lost All-Star Scottie Barnes.

Moses Moody had 17 points and Klay Thompson was next with 14 as the Warriors won their third straight and 13th in 15 games.

Barnes broke his left middle finger late in the first half and the Raptors said he would be out indefinitely. He had 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes, ending a career-best streak of five consecutive double-doubles.

Golden State overcame some troublesome travel after it had to switch planes following Thursday night’s win over New York. The Warriors endured a long wait on the tarmac, finally arriving at its Toronto hotel shortly after 7 a.m. Friday morning.