Darius Garland bags 40 as Cleveland Cavaliers down Toronto Raptors for 12th straight win

CLEVELAND – Darius Garland was singled out for praise by Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson on Jan 9, and he rightfully deserved all the plaudits going his way.

The point guard erupted for 40 points, as the Cavaliers came from behind to extend their unbeaten National Basketball Association (NBA) streak to 12 games with a 132-126 home win over the Toronto Raptors.

A day after their bruising win over the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland looked poised to suffer an upset after the Raptors opened up a 12-point lead late in the third quarter.

But a late burst of scoring from Garland hauled the team back into the contest and a lopsided 34-23 fourth quarter sealed a battling victory for the Eastern Conference leaders.

Garland finished with 40 points from 14-of-22 shooting – 14 points coming in a fourth-quarter flurry that swung the game decisively to the Cavs.

Atkinson was left in no doubt as to the size of Garland’s contribution in a win which leaves the Cavs leading the standings with a 33-4 record, six games clear of reigning champions the Boston Celtics.

“He carried us,” Atkinson said of Garland’s performance.

“This is the first game all year where I felt like one guy carried us. We weren’t good but he single-handedly took over this game.”

He also said Garland’s performance was further proof of why he should be a shoo-in for February’s All-Star game.

“I respect the league but he’s got to be in that top, All-Star tier. He’s phenomenal. He completely took over the game and carried us,” Atkinson added.

With Donovan Mitchell missing from Cleveland’s line-up, Garland’s scoring support came from Evan Mobley with 21 points, while Jarrett Allen provided 18 points with 15 rebounds, two blocks and a steal to cap a fine all-round display.

In another game, the injury-hit Mavericks also produced a late fourth-quarter escape to grab a 117-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Dallas.

The Mavs, missing injured stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, looked headed for defeat after trailing by 10 points with just over four minutes remaining.

But an electrifying 16-0 run flipped the script and set up an unlikely Dallas win.

Jaden Hardy led the scoring with 25 points, while P.J. Washington (23) and Dereck Lively (21) helped to secure the win.

“I just want to say thank you to my teammates, (for) finding me in the right spot,” said Lively.

“No matter who it was, everybody out there, we are playing great basketball together. We just knew what kind of game we had to play. We had to be aggressive, we had to bring it to them.”

Elsewhere, Alperen Sengun collected 32 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Green added 27 points and Fred VanVleet contributed 22 to lead the Houston Rockets past the Memphis Grizzlies 119-115 for their fifth straight road victory.

In Orlando, Julius Randle finished with 23 points and Anthony Edwards added 21 as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 104-89 victory over the Magic.

In Detroit, Buddy Hield scored 19 points to help lead the Golden State Warriors to a 107-104 win over the Pistons. Stephen Curry had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Trayce Jackson-Davis added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State, who ended a two-game skid.

“I just thought there were a lot of guys tonight who contributed to defence and offence,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “The game connected, that’s why we had multiple runs – our defence led to good offence possessions.

“There was a huge improvement (from previous games).”

Cade Cunningham had 32 points and eight assists and Malik Beasley scored 21 points for Detroit, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. AFP, REUTERS