Cleveland Cavaliers rally to stun Dallas Mavericks, Kevin Durant fuels Phoenix Suns’ NBA win

DALLAS – The Cleveland Cavaliers are not a fancy team with big-name stars who are likely to challenge for top honours at the end of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season.

But, even with their key players sidelined on Dec 27, they made up for what they lacked with “guts, heart and courage”, according to their coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

At the American Airlines Centre, Cleveland’s Caris LeVert made the go-ahead three-pointer with 2min 3sec to play as the Cavaliers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks 113-110.

“Guts, plain and simple,” Bickerstaff said of what carried his team to victory. “It was the ability to dig down and go somewhere when things weren’t going your way.

“We were struggling defensively in the first half, but collectively we went out and just found a way. You don’t do that without heart, courage and fortitude.”

The Mavs looked on their way to following up their Christmas victory over Phoenix, as they led by as many as 20 on the way to a 15-point half-time lead.

Luka Doncic scored 39 points for Dallas and Seth Curry added 19 off the bench. But they went stone cold for five minutes in the fourth quarter as the Cavs unleashed a 15-0 scoring run to take a 111-105 lead with 1:13 left.

A step-back three-pointer from Doncic pulled the Mavs within three points with 17.4 seconds remaining.

But on their final possession, the Slovenian was caught near mid-court and passed to Curry, whose last-gasp three-pointer was blocked by Max Strus.

LeVert scored 29 points off the bench for Cleveland. Jarrett Allen scored 24 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 22 points for the Cavs, who were again without ailing star Donovan Mitchell or the injured Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.

Allen had 20 more points and 19 more rebounds than his rookie counterpart Dereck Lively II of Dallas. The seven-year veteran also had six assists, which was one off his season high.

“He’s relentless. It was impressive,” Bickerstaff said of Allen.

“It was a refusal to let us lose in so many different ways. We asked him to do so many things out there defensively. And then offensively we put the ball in his hands and let him make the right basketball play.”

Dallas coach Jason Kidd, meanwhile, blamed his side for not making the most of their opportunities.

“We got some good looks,” he said. “We just didn’t make them. Luka had looks. Curry had looks. Everybody had looks. They just didn’t go down for us.”

Elsewhere, two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant delivered his 18th career triple-double to lead Phoenix to a much-needed win over the Houston Rockets, and the Philadelphia 76ers downed the Orlando Magic despite the absence of reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid.

In Houston, Durant scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and matched his career high with 16 assists to propel the Suns to a 129-113 victory over the Rockets.

Phoenix snapped a frustrating three-game losing streak, building a 104-84 lead through three quarters and holding on for their first road win in a month.

Eric Gordon, returning to Houston, where he played seven seasons for the Rockets, matched Durant’s 27 points while hitting seven of his 11 three-point attempts.

The Sixers won without Embiid for the first time this season, notching a 112-92 victory over the Magic in Orlando.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points and Tobias Harris and De’Anthony Melton added 22 apiece for Philadelphia.

The Sixers had been 0-4 in games previously without Embiid – who missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle – this season.

In Brooklyn, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists for Milwaukee, who beat the short-handed Nets 144-122.

Khris Middleton added 27 points and 10 assists for the Bucks, who outscored the Nets 44-30 in the fourth quarter to cruise home. AFP