Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) shoots over Washington Wizards guard Malcolm Brogdon (15) in the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Cleveland. | AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
CLEVELAND— Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Evan Mobley had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Wizards 118-87 on Tuesday night, extending Washington’s losing streak to 15.
Sam Merrill and Georges Niang each scored 14 points off the bench for Cleveland, which has the best record in the NBA at 19-3 and is 12-1 at home. The 31-point win was the Cavaliers’ largest of the season.
Cleveland point guard Darius Garland had 12 points before leaving with a head injury in the third quarter. Garland was struck by an inadvertent elbow from Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas in the paint. Coach Kenny Atkinson said Garland wasn’t expect to miss any time.
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Valanciunas, Jordan Poole and rookie Bub Carrington scored 13 points for Washington in the final NBA Cup game for both teams. Valanciunas also grabbed 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Bucks advance in NBA Cup
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Damian Lillard had 27, lifting the surging Milwaukee Bucks to a 128-107 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night and into the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The Bucks, who won East Group B with a 4-0 record, have won seven straight and nine of 10.
Detroit was eliminated from the NBA Cup, dropping to 3-1 in the tournament. Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 16, Tim Hardaway scored 15 and Jalen Duren added 11 for the Pistons.
Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr. scored 16 points, Bobby Portis and Taurean Prince each scored 14 and A.J. Green added 11.
The hot-shooting Bucks led 36-31 after the first quarter and were ahead 78-59 at halftime in a game that simply wasn’t competitive.
Antetokounmpo rested in the fourth quarter, after making 10 of 11 shots in 28 minutes. He also had eight assists and seven rebounds after having a triple-double in three of his previous six games.