DONOVAN Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points to fuel the host Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
Mitchell made 17 of 27 shots from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range to eclipse his previous season-high point total of 41, set during the Cavaliers’ 132-123 overtime win at Boston on Oct. 28.
Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half and finished with 11 rebounds in his return from a five-game absence due to a back injury.
Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists to propel Cleveland to its eighth win in the last 11 games overall and improve to an NBA-best 11-1 at home this season.
Former Cavaliers star LeBron James collected 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt. Thomas Bryant scored 19 points and Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder each added 16 in a losing effort.
In other games, it was the Pistons 116, Heat 96; and Mavs 116, Nuggets 115.
Pistons 116, Heat 96
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half as Detroit rallied past host Miami.
Miami, which had a five-game home winning streak snapped, was powered by Tyler Herro, who scored a game-high 34 points on 12-for-17 shooting. He also had six assists. Bam Adebayo added 21 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for the Heat.
Detroit started the season 0-10 on the road, but the Pistons have won three of their past four games away from home. Bogdanovic made 12 of 16 shots from the floor, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range. Detroit’s bench outscored Miami’s reserves 54-19.
