Basketball: Cavaliers storm back in OT, knock off Nuggets

(REUTERS) - Lauri Markkanen's three-pointer with 28.3 seconds left in overtime was the decisive basket in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 119-116 come-from-behind victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday (March 18).

Markkanen had a season-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Evan Mobley had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Darius Garland put up 25 points and 14 assists.

The Cavs closed the overtime period on a 10-2 run, capped by Mobley's contested lay-up with 11.5 seconds remaining.

Most Valuable Player candidate Nikola Jokic had a game-high 32 points, plus 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets, who had their franchise-record seven-game road winning streak snapped. Aaron Gordon added 20 points and eight rebounds and guard Bones Hyland had 17 points for Denver.

Meanwhile, at the Golden 1 Centre, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 62 points as the Boston Celtics made it two straight wins to start their Western trip with a 126-97 pounding of Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

Payton Pritchard made all five of his shots, including a four-for-four effort on three-pointers, on a 14-point night off the bench as the Celtics overpowered the Kings with 56.1 per cent shooting overall and 55 per cent accuracy from beyond the three-point line.

Domantas Sabonis compiled a 30-point, 20-rebound double-double for Sacramento, who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.

Twenty-one of Tatum's 32 points came on seven three-pointers in 10 attempts, helping Boston connect 22 times from beyond the arc.

Brown added three-for-five on threes en route to 30 points for the Celtics, who opened a four-game trip with a 110-88 romp over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Wednesday night.

En route to their 18th win in the last 21 games, Boston trailed only momentarily after scoring the game's first 11 points. Brown and Al Horford had two hoops apiece in the early flurry.

The Celtics went up by as many as 21 in the second quarter, 23 in the third and 29 in the fourth in completing a one-sided, season-series sweep.

Boston had beaten Sacramento 128-75 at home in January.

Daniel Theis added 11 points for the Celtics, who got scoring from 11 different players.

Marcus Smart chipped in with a game-high eight assists to complement nine points, four rebounds and four steals, while Horford finished with a team-high nine rebounds to go with six points.

Sabonis' double-double was his 45th of the season, his eighth with at least 30 points and third with at least 20 rebounds. He had never previously had 30 points and 20 rebounds in the same game.

Justin Holiday went for 21 points for the Kings, while Trey Lyles had 19, Davion Mitchell had 12 and Chimezie Metu had 10.

De'Aaron Fox sat out the game with a bruised right hand, while Harrison Barnes went scoreless in 24 minutes, missing all five of his shots.