The point guard Donovan Mitchell overflowed this Tuesday in the NBA with 43 points over the star LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102, who could not count on forward Anthony Davis.
Davis played just eight minutes in Cleveland before ending the night with flu-like symptoms, and Mitchell and the Cavaliers made the most of it to improve their impressive home record to 11-1.
Star power forward Davis had scored 99 points in the Lakers’ last two games, including a burst of 55 in a win over the Wizards in Washington last Sunday.
"Hats off to our boys"Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "They competed with all their hearts"he added.
LeBron had 21 points and 17 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough against the team where he began his NBA career in 2003 and led to a championship in 2016 when he returned after winning two titles with the Miami Heat.
This time, LeBron’s return trip to his native Ohio was overshadowed by the loss of Davis, who had averaged 34.2 points and 15.4 rebounds in his last 10 games as the Lakers began to turn the season around. .
Ham added that Davis wanted "try"even when her symptoms, including fever, worsened overnight.
Even without him, the Lakers managed to stay close, trailing by five with less than five minutes to go.
But Mitchell turned a three-point play into a 10-0 run for the Cavaliers.
He came up with a steal and made a couple of free throws and Jarrett Allen’s steal on the Lakers’ next possession led to hometown Caris LeVert’s fast-break layup.
It was then that Mitchell capped the race with cash and decisive triple.
The Cavaliers’ Allen returned to Cleveland after missing five games with a lower back contusion and made a quick impact, scoring 22 of his 24 points in the first half.
Guard Darius Garland added 21 points and dished out 11 assists for the Cavaliers.
In Miami, Detroit forward Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half as the Pistons beat the Heat 116-96 on the road.
Heat guard Tyler Herro led all scorers with 34 points, 21 of them coming in the first half.
The Heat were without star Jimmy Butler for the second night in a row with a right knee injury.
Detroit never trailed in the fourth quarter.
Alec Burks had 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Saddiq added 14 points off the bench as the Pistons’ reserves outscored the Miami bench 54-19.
On his side, the Slovenian Luka Doncic, with his sixth triple double of the season, and Tim Hardaway Jr, with 29 points and six triples, gave the Dallas Mavericks a valuable victory on Tuesday 116-115 in the field of some Denver Nuggets who suffered their third straight loss.
Doncic had 22 points, ten rebounds and twelve assists, the last of which was decisive for Dorian Finney Smith’s three-pointer that led the way to victory.
At 23 years old, the Slovenian has already 52 triple doubles in his four-season career in the NBA.
The Slovenian once again had the help of Tim Hardaway Jr, who sealed his best performance of the season with 29 points, six of eight on three-pointers, three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Hardaway Jr. made at least five 3-pointers for the fifth straight game, and Dorian Finney Smith had 19 points, with five connecting shots from the arc.
The Mavericks avenged a home loss against the Nuggets on Nov. 20 and moved to seventh in the West with a 13-11 record. The Nuggets are fourth (14-10).
Jason Kidd’s team came to the meeting after crushing the Phoenix Suns, leaders of the West, 130-111, and held up the pace in the best way in the visit to the Nuggets, which marked their seventh game in the last eleven days.
For the Nuggets, the best was Aaron Gordon, with 27 points and eight rebounds, while Nikola Jokic contributed 19 points, with eight rebounds and eight assists.
Bones Hyland scored 20 points, with five of ten on triples, for the Colorado team.
Bruce Brown scored twelve points, including a 3-pointer for the Nuggets’ 112-111 lead with 37 seconds left, but the Mavericks were quick to respond, with Doncic’s behind-the-back assist for Finney Smith’s 3-pointer.
It was the play that ended up being decisive for the Mavericks, who celebrated their third consecutive victory.
