Javonte Green scored 21 points and Daniss Jenkins added 19 as the short-handed Detroit Pistons won their ninth straight game, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-105 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night.
The Pistons are on their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2008 despite playing the last two games without several key players. Cade Cunningham (hip), Tobias Harris (ankle), Ausar Thompson (ankle) and Jalen Duren (ankle) were among the players on the sidelines against Philadelphia.
Duncan Robinson scored 15 and Isaiah Stewart and Caris LeVert each had 14.
Tyrese Maxey had 31 to lead the Sixers, who played without Joel Embiid (knee).
Detroit trailed by five until Jenkins hit a half-court three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer. The Pistons then started the fourth period with a 10-2 run to go up by six.
Maxey scored six points in the fourth, but none of his teammates could get going and the Pistons took a 114-103 lead on LeVert’s dunk with 1:44 to play.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Franz Wagner scored 25 points, Tristan da Silva added 22 points and nine rebounds and Orlando held Brooklyn scoreless over the final two-and-a-half minutes for a victory.
The win was Orlando’s second in NBA Cup Group play and dropped Brooklyn to 0-2.
Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who led 98-94 after a basket by Nic Claxton with 2:37 remaining. But Wagner hit two three-pointers, da Silva made one and Brooklyn never scored again.
Desmond Bane scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for Orlando and Jalen Suggs finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Ziaire Williams had 15 points and a steal late in the fourth quarter — off Orlando’s 19th turnover — that put the Nets up 96-92. Noah Clowney had 12 points before fouling out with 1:58 remaining.
NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 39 points and Landry Shamet added a career-high 36 points off the bench as New York beat Miami in an NBA Cup game.
Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points, Mikal Bridges had 15, and Josh Hart recorded his first triple-double of the season with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as the Knicks posted a season-high point total.
Jalen Brunson missed his first game of the season due to a sprained right ankle sustained in Wednesday’s loss to Orlando. OG Anunoby left the game after two minutes with a left hamstring strain and did not return.
Norman Powell scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Heat. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 23. Andrew Wiggins and Kel’el Ware scored 15 points apiece, while Pelle Larsson had 14 and Davion Mitchell 11.
ROCKETS 140, TRAIL BLAZERS 116
HOUSTON — Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Alperen Sengun added 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and Houston won its third straight with a win over Portland in an NBA Cup game.
Durant, who had 16 points in the first period, finished 12 of 19 from the field. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points, Amen Thompson had 19 points and Reed Sheppard 13.
The Rockets have won eight of their last nine games and improved to 1-1 in NBA Cup play. Houston shot 50 per cent, including 17 of 45 on three-pointers. The Rockets forced the Trail Blazers into 20 turnovers and converted them into 30 points.
Tari Eason left with a bruised right hip after being bumped and falling to the floor. He went to the locker room with a trainer midway through the second quarter.
Deni Advija had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Shaedon Sharpe added 19 points and eight rebounds, Toumani Camara scored 16 points and Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant each had 13 for Portland, which fell to 1-1 in NBA Cup play. The Trailblazers shot 47 per cent and were 13 of 36 from three-point range.
NEW ORLEANS — Austin Reaves scored 31, Luka Doncic had 24 points and 12 assists, and Los Angeles cruised to a victory over New Orleans in an NBA Cup game.
Deandre Ayton made 10 of 11 shots and finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds, two steals and a block for the Lakers, who improved to 2-0 in cup play to remain atop West Group B.
Trey Murphy III scored 35 for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight game, fell to 0-2 in the in-season tournament, and fell to a Western Conference-worst 2-10 overall.
Rui Hachimura scored 14 and Marcus Smart 13 for the Lakers, who led 65-52 at halftime after Doncic fed Ayton for an alley-oop dunk.
Doncic, Ayton and Reaves all scored during an 11-0 third-quarter run that pushed Los Angeles’ lead to 88-66, a surge capped by Reaves’ 16-foot driving floater as he was fouled by Jose Alvarado.
TIMBERWOLVES 124, KINGS 110
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards scored 30 points and Julius Randle added 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat the Sacramento Kings 124-110 in an NBA Cup game Friday night.
Donte DiVincenzo made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Timberwolves, who have won four in a row and are 2-0 in the NBA Cup. Naz Reid had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota.
Domantas Sabonis led the Kings with 34 points and 11 rebounds. Zach LaVine scored 25 points, while Russell Westbrook extended his NBA record with his 205th career triple-double, posting 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
Sacramento, which gave up a season-high 144 points in a loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday, has lost five straight overall and is 0-2 in the NBA Cup.
Leading 92-91 after three quarters, the Wolves started the fourth on an 11-2 run, keyed by two DiVincenzo three-pointers, the second coming after Jaden McDaniels rebounded a Randle missed free throw and found DiVincenzo, who buried a 32-foot shot to make it 103-94.
After two quick buckets by the Kings, the Wolves went on a 16-2 run to break the game open. Rudy Gobert had a dunk and a tip-in on consecutive possessions as Minnesota pulled away.
BUCKS 147, HORNETS 134 (OT)
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 18 assists and seven rebounds in his return and the Bucks outlasted former Milwaukee high school star Kon Knueppel and Charlotte in overtime in an NBA Cup game.
The teams split a home-and-home set, with both also playing the front end of a back-to-back. On Wednesday night in Charlotte, with Antetokounmpo sidelined because of patellar tendinopathy in his left knee, the Hornets beat the Bucks 111-100.
Knueppel scored a season-high 32 points in his first NBA game in his hometown. Drafted fourth overall, he spent last season at Duke after leading undefeated Wisconsin Lutheran High School to the 2024 Wisconsin Division 2 title.
Knueppel hit two late tying three-pointers in regulation, the first pulling the Hornets even at 125 with 1:34 to go and the second squaring it at 129 with 21 seconds left. The latter came after Knueppel grabbed the rebound after Miles Bridges missed a dunk. Antetokounmpo — who also had seven turnovers — shot an air-ball at the buzzer for Milwaukee, sending it to overtime.
Kyle Kuzma led Milwaukee with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan Rollins added 20 points.
CLIPPERS 133, MAVERICKS 127
DALLAS — James Harden scored four of his 10 overtime points in the second extra period and finished with season highs of 41 points and 14 rebounds, along with 11 assists, as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 133-127 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night.
Harden had the 82nd triple-double of his career and Ivica Zubac added a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as the Clippers (4-8) snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 2-0 in the NBA Cup.
Naji Marshall, making his first start of the season, and D’Angelo Russell, coming off the bench, scored 28 points apiece to lead the Mavericks (3-10), who are 0-2 in group play. Dallas has lost three straight games and seven of its last eight.
Harden, who had two 3-pointers in the first OT, followed two made free throws with a driving basket to give the Clippers a 129-125 lead with 3:07 left in the second OT. Los Angeles led 133-127 with 2:20 to go when Russell committed two of his seven turnovers over the next minute.
