LOS ANGELES, United States: The Cleveland Cavaliers boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks on Friday, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display.
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc.
Cleveland out-scored the Knicks 66-38 in the paint and held a 23-6 edge in fast-break points, pushing their lead to as many as 42 on the way to a sixth straight victory.
Evan Mobley added 21 points and Jarrett Allen scored 10 before departing in the third quarter with a right hand injury.
Cleveland guard Darius Garland took a hard fall in the first half, striking his head on the court, but stayed in the game.
Jalen Brunson scored 16 of his 26 points in the first quarter for the Knicks but was held scoreless in the second period as the Cavs roared to a 77-50 halftime lead.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points for New York, who are in third place in the East but fell to 0-6 this season against the three teams with the league’s best records: Cleveland, Boston and Oklahoma City.
“I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with the fact that they could yet meet in this post-season.
“For us, it’s about how do we continue to build and get better – we may see them in the playoffs,” Mitchell said. “So we’re trying to measure ourselves, continue to do what we’ve been doing.”
It came down to the wire in Orlando, where Memphis star Ja Morant drove for a layup that tied it at 104-104 with 1:50 remaining and Desmond Bane delivered the decisive free-throw in the Grizzlies’ 105-104 victory over the Magic.
Morant scored 23 points while Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 16 apiece for the Grizzlies, with Jackson blocking a potential game-winner by Orlando’s Paolo Banchero at the buzzer.
Milwaukee’s trade-deadline acquisition Kyle Kuzma scored 19 points to lead the Bucks to a 104-101 victory over his former team, the Washington Wizards.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was limited by foul trouble and scored 18 points before fouling out with 3:37 left to play.
Khris Middleton, who arrived in Washington in the four-team deal that sent Kuzma to Milwaukee, scored 12 points against his former team in his Wizards debut.
Down by 10 with 4:53 to play, the Wizards cut the deficit to 102-101 on Middleton’s three-pointer with 1:01 remaining.
But Brook Lopez made a pair of free-throws and blocked a Middleton layup, with Middleton coming up empty again on a last-gasp three-point attempt.
Cavaliers crush Knicks in battle of NBA East elite
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Cavaliers crush Knicks in battle of NBA East elite
- Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures
- Cleveland out-scored the Knicks 66-38 in the paint and held a 23-6 edge in fast-break points
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
