Barnes scores 24 as Spurs beat Rockets 121-110 in NBA Cup opener

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, Julian Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama added 22 points apiece and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets 121-110 on Friday night in the NBA Cup opener for both teams.

Kevin Durant scored 24 points and Alperen Sengun added 22 for Houston, which had its five-game winning streak halted.

Barnes scored the game’s final four points on a pair of free throws and a breakaway dunk after a steal at midcourt with 12 seconds remaining.

Champagnie had nine points in the final quarter and finished 6 for 13 on 3-pointers. Champagnie also collected and saved a contested offensive rebound and scooped a loose ball on the defensive end with the Spurs up 115-108.

CAVALIERS 148, WIZARDS 114

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points, Darius Garland had 20 points and nine assists and Cleveland routed Washington to improve to 1-1 in NBA Cup play.

Cleveland fell a point shy of matching the franchise record for a regulation game, set at Denver in a 149-135 victory last Dec. 28. The overall mark came in a 154-153 quadruple-overtime victory at home over the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 29, 1980. The Cavaliers also had 148 points at home in a December 1991 victory over Miami.

The Cavaliers have won three straight after dropping their Cup opener a week ago at home to Toronto, a game Mitchell missed because of hamstring tightness.

CJ McCollum scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half for Washington in its East Group A opener. The Wizards have lost seven straight to fall to 1-8.

MAGIC 123, CELTICS 110

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Franz Wagner scored 27 points, Desmond Bane added 22 points and seven assists and Orlando beat Boston in its NBA Cup opener.

Jaylen Brown scored 32 points for the Celtics. Payton Pritchard added 27 points and Derrick White had 16 points and 10 assists.

The Celtics and Magic are grouped with Brooklyn, Detroit and Philadelphia in East Group B of the NBA’s in-season tournament. It was their first meeting since the Celtics eliminated the Magic in five games in a first-round playoff series in April.

Paolo Banchero finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Magic.

Wagner, Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black hit 3-pointers as part of a 20-2 run that gave Orlando a 16-point lead in the first quarter, the Magic’s largest advantage of the game.

The Celtics rallied to tie the game in the second half and led 96-95 when Brown hit his final jumper midway through the fourth quarter.

Wagner, Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. (18 points, five rebounds) countered with 3-pointers in a 17-4 run that put the game away.

RAPTORS 109, HAWKS 97

ATLANTA (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 20 points and Toronto rallied to beat Atlanta for its second straight NBA Cup victory and fourth overall.

Down 13 in the second quarter, Toronto took the lead at 82-81 on Scottie Barnes’ layup midway through the fourth. Immanuel Quickley hit a 3-pointer to make it 85-81 and the Raptors pulled away in the opener of a five-game trip.

RJ Barrett added 19 points for Toronto. Quickley had 18, and Barnes finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Jalen Johnson scored 21 points for Atlanta, with the Hawks missing All-Star guard Trae Young because of a sprained right MCL. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points, and Kristaps Porziņgis had 17. Atlanta is 1-1 in NBA Cup play.

PISTONS 125, NETS 107

NEW YORK (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 34 points and 10 assists, Jalen Duren added 30 points and 11 rebounds and Detroit beat Brooklyn in an NBA Cup group opener.

Cunningham was 13 for 18 from the field and made all six of his free throws to help lead Detroit to its fifth straight victory and a 7-2 record. The All-Star point guard has averaged 29.8 points and 11.2 assists while shooting 54% from the field during the streak.

Ausar Thompson had 14 points, and Caris Levert added 10 for the Pistons. They have won their last four meetings against Brooklyn.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 28 points for Brooklyn, and Noah Clowney added 19 as the Nets fell to 1-8. They were without Cam Thomas because of a strained left hamstring. He will be reevaluated in three to four weeks.

BUCKS 126, BULLS 110

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists and Milwaukee opened its NBA Cup title defense with a victory over Chicago.

The Bucks improved to 9-0 in the NBA Cup’s group play stage during the event’s three-year history. Milwaukee lost to Indiana in the semifinals two seasons ago and beat Oklahoma City 97-81 last year in the NBA Cup title game.

Antetokounmpo scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bucks pull away. He shot 16 of 32 from the floor, the first time this season he shot below 61.5%.

Milwaukee’s Myles Turner had 23 points — his highest total since joining the Bucks this year — and Ryan Rollins added 20.

Matas Buzelis had 20 points and eight rebounds for Chicago. Josh Giddey had 16 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds for the Bulls.

Giddey had triple-doubles in his last two games. He’s the first Bulls player to have triple-doubles in consecutive games since Michael Jordan in April 1989.

HEAT 126, HORNETS 108

MIAMI (AP) — Norman Powell scored 25 points and Miami enjoyed a record-setting first quarter on the way to a victory over Charlotte in an NBA Cup game, giving coach Erik Spoelstra a win a day after his home burned down.

Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points and Pelle Larsson added 19 for Miami.

Rookie Kon Knueppel had his highest-scoring game as a pro, finishing with 30 for Charlotte. Tre Mann scored 20 points for Charlotte, and Miles Bridges finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Miami scored a franchise-record 53 points in the first quarter — the second highest-scoring first quarter in NBA history — and led by 26 points with 9:20 left in the second quarter.

It was 64-38. Barely seven minutes later, it was 66-65 — after Charlotte went on a 27-2 run. But the Hornets never led, and the Heat pulled away in the fourth.

TIMBERWOLVES 137, JAZZ 97

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 37 points and Julius Randle added 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists as Minnesota defeated Utah in an NBA Cup game.

Edwards, in his second game back after missing four games with a strained hamstring, shot 7 for 12 from 3-point distance.

Randle was just one rebound shy of completing his triple-double in the first half as Minnesota built a 79-45 lead at the break. He had his second triple-double of the week after accomplishing the feat Monday in a win at Brooklyn.

Jaden McDaniels had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot a season-high 56.8% from the floor.

Keyonte George led Utah with 18 points and Lauri Markkanen added 12 for the Jazz, who shot 37.2% from the field and allowed a season-high point total. Utah allowed at least 134 points for the third time in nine games this season.

GRIZZLIES 118, MAVERICKS 104

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant and rookie Cedric Coward scored 21 points each as Memphis built a big first-half lead and coasted to a victory over Dallas in an NBA Cup game.

Jaren Jackson added 17 points for Memphis and Santi Aldama finished with 16 points as the Grizzlies snapped a four-game losing streak. Morant had 13 assists, while Coward grabbed nine rebounds.

Max Christie led the Mavericks with 18 points, while Naji Marshall added 16 points. P.J. Washington finished with 14 points, 11 of them in the first quarter. Cooper Flagg, the top pick in last summer’s draft, had 12 points.

Dallas played its fourth game without Anthony Davis, who is nursing a left calf strain.