CLEVELAND (AP) Dennis Schroder scored a career-high 28 points as the Atlanta Hawks handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season, 110-106.
Cleveland (6-1) cut into two large second-half deficits, but Atlanta converted clutch shots down the stretch.
”It was a weird game,” said LeBron James, who scored 23 points after having only two in the first half for the reigning NBA champions.
Atlanta led by 18 points in the third quarter before Cleveland cut the margin to two. The Hawks rebuilt the lead to 15 early in the fourth, but the Cavaliers got within two with 25 seconds remaining.
Kent Bazemore, who scored 25 points, hit a jumper from the corner with 7 seconds left and put the game away.
”They’ve dominated the Eastern Conference for a long time now,” Bazemore said. ”They’re definitely the measuring stick, and we passed our first test tonight.”
Atlanta had lost 11 straight to Cleveland, including playoff sweeps the last two seasons.
”For my two years here, they’ve kicked our butts,” Bazemore said. ”This is one of the biggest wins I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Brook Lopez scored 26 points as the Brooklyn Nets kept the Minnesota Timberwolves winless on the road with a 119-110 victory.
Trevor Booker added 15 points and Sean Kilpatrick had 14 for the Nets while Andrew Wiggins scored a career-high 36 points for the Wolves, making a career-best six 3-pointers. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, but scoring wasn’t the problem for Minnesota.
”We keep hearing we’re young, that’s why we’re playing the way we play,” Towns said. ”That’s not the reason. We’re just not executing.”
Marc Gasol scored on an inbounds pass from Vince Carter at the buzzer to lift Memphis to a 108-107 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Gasol’s basket came over Emmanuel Mudiay on a high-arcing pass from Carter underneath the Memphis goal. When Carter inbounded the ball there were 0.7 seconds left.
Carter scored 20 points and Gasol had 19 for the Grizzlies, while Mudiay had 23 points for the Nuggets.
”The play was executed to perfection,” Carter said. ”I just wanted to put it up there where only Marc could get it and let him take care of the rest.”
Damian Lillard scored 38 points, including key free throws in the waning seconds, as Portland edged Phoenix 124-121
Lillard scored 38 points, making key free throws in the waning seconds, as the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Phoenix Suns for a 124-121 victory.
CJ McCollum added 33 points for the Blazers, who have won three straight but after leading by 18 points early, it shouldn’t have been so close at the end, Lillard said.
”We talk about just being able to play the way we want to play for longer spans of time,” he said. ”We’ll play really well for seven minutes, and then in four minutes we’ll give up a 15-2 run and give up everything we just worked for. We got to continue to work on that. The good thing is, we’re able to find a way to win games while we work on it.”
Harrison Barnes scored 31 points as Dallas won its second straight game, 109-97 while DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points to lead the Sacramento Kings beat the winless New Orleans Pelicans 102-94.
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