Blog

Luka Doncic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes of action and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 108-85 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday.

Daniel Gafford scored a season-high 18 points, Kyrie Irving added 17 and Dereck Lively II had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which led 65-40 at the break after outscoring the Magic 35-18 in the second quarter.

Dallas carried its momentum into the second half and stretched its lead to 82-52 on Doncic’s free throw with 6:05 left in the third quarter.

Orlando lost its third straight game and fell to 0-2 without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who is out indefinitely with a torn right oblique.

Franz Wagner led the Magic with 13 points, Jett Howard scored 12 and Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner had 10 apiece.

Pistons 106, Nets 92

Cade Cunningham scored 19 points to lead six Pistons in double figures as visiting Detroit dominated inside and surged ahead in the second half to beat Brooklyn.

Tobias Harris added 18 points, including the go-ahead three-point play late in the third quarter for the Pistons. Malik Beasley also contributed 18 as he and Cunningham combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Cameron Johnson scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half but the Nets were unable to win a third straight game and move above .500. Cam Thomas added 17 and was Brooklyn’s only other double-figure scorer as the Nets shot 45.1 percent, misfired on 22 of 31 3-point tries and shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) at the foul line.

Hawks 126, Pelicans 111

Jalen Johnson matched his career high by scoring 29 points, Trae Young had a double-double and visiting Atlanta defeated New Orleans.

Young finished with 23 points and 12 assists, former Pelicans Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. scored 16 points and 14 points, respectively, and No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher and Garrison Mathews added 11 apiece for the Hawks.

Brandon Ingram scored 32 points, Jordan Hawkins chipped in 19 and Brandon Boston Jr. and Jamal Cain each finished with 14 to lead the Pelicans, who played without star forward Zion Williamson (hamstring).