Donovan Mitchell scored 43 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed a rare win over the former face of their franchise LeBron James, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Tuesday.
The Lakers team clearly missed the firepower of ailing Anthony Davis who had scored 99 points in the Lakersā last two games, including a 55-point outburst in a victory over the Wizards in Washington on Sunday.
However, he played just eight minutes in Cleveland before calling it a night with flu-like symptoms, and Mitchell and the Cavs took full advantage to improve their impressive home record to 11-1.
Mitchell’s season-high 43-point haul was the most by a Cavaliers player ever against James, while it meant that the 37-year-old four-time NBA MVP has a 17-3 record against his former side.
LeBron James scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, but it wasnāt enough against the team where he started his NBA career in 2003, and that he led to a championship in 2016 when he returned after winning two titles with Miami.
James was cheered when the Cavaliers played a tribute video during an early time out and Mitchell, who arrived in Cleveland via a trade from Utah in September, was struck by the moment.
āItās well-deserved,ā Mitchell said. āHeās one of the greatest players of all time.ā
But Jamesās return trip to his native Ohio was overshadowed by the loss of Davis, who had averaged 34.2 points and 15.4 rebounds over his past 10 games as the Lakers began to turn their season around.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Davis wanted to āgive it a go,ā even as his symptoms, including a fever, worsened during the evening.
Even without him, the Lakers managed to keep it close, trailing by five with less than five minutes to play.
But Mitchell converted a three-point play to launch a 10-0 Cavaliers scoring run.
He came up with a steal and made a pair of free throws and Jarrett Allenās steal on the Lakersā next possession led to Caris LeVertās fastbreak layup.
Mitchell capped the run with a step-back three-pointer. By the end of the game the cheers of Cleveland fans were for him, not James. And despite his admiration for the Lakers star, Mitchell admitted he was happy to āspoil the homecoming.ā
Allen returned for Cleveland after missing five games with a low back contusion and made a quick impact, scoring 22 of his 24 points in the first half.
Darius Garland added 21 points and handed out 11 assists for the Cavs.
Mavs down Nuggets in a thriller
Dorian Finney-Smith drained a clutch three-pointer with 16.8 seconds remaining as the Dallas Mavericks downed the Denver Nuggets 116-115.
Hardawayās layup with 4:07 remaining put the Mavs up 111-101, but the Nuggets erased the 10-point deficit and took a one-point lead on Bruce Brownās off-balance three-pointer with 37.9 seconds remaining.
Tim Hardaway top scored with 29 points including six three-pointers for the Mavs, who claimed an impressive road win, even with Luka Doncic only managing 22 points on five-of-17 shooting.
Doncic did record a triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Back-to-back reigning MVP Nikola Jokic was also down on his usual output, scoring 19 points with eight rebounds and eight assists, while the center missed a crucial free-throw with 12 seconds left.
Heat humiliated in second-half blitz
The Miami Heat were humiliated at home by the Detroit Pistons who triumphed 116-96, led by Bojan Bogdanovic and his 31 points, with 28 coming in the second half.
The Pistons piled on 69 second-half points after scores were 50-47 in the Heat’s favour at half-time to improve their record to 7-19.
Heat point guard Tyler Herro top scored for the game with 34 points, while Bam Adebayo scored 21 points with 15 rebounds.