Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving drives against Collin Sexton of the Cavaliers during Cleveland’s 125-113 win Friday night. Tony Dejak/Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Collin Sexton had 25 points and nine assists, Andre Drummond added 19 points and 16 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets for the second time in three days, 125-113 on Friday night.
The Nets played without superstar forward Kevin Durant, who was held out as a precautionary measure as he continues his comeback from right Achilles tendon surgery.
Kyrie Irving scored 38 points and James Harden had 19 points and 11 assists for Brooklyn, which lost 147-135 in double-overtime to the Cavaliers in the debut of its high-scoring trio Wednesday. Durant scored 38 points in that game and played 50 minutes, so the Nets rested him Friday, with another game scheduled Saturday.
BULLS 123, HORNETS 110: Zach LaVine continued his strong play with 25 points and nine assists, leading Chicago to a victory at Charlotte.
Lauri Markkanen chipped in with 23 points and Coby White added 18 points and eight assists as the Bulls won their third straight.
Gordon Hayward scored 34 points for the Hornets and Devonte Graham had a season-high 24 points, 22 of those coming in the first half. But the Hornets committed 20 turnovers, leading to 26 Bulls points, as they dropped their fourth straight.
ROCKETS 103, PISTONS 102: Jerami Grant’s driving layup on the final play came just after the buzzer, and Houston held on for a win at Detroit.
Eric Gordon scored 20 points for Houston, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
RAPTORS 101, HEAT 81: Norman Powell scored 23 points, OG Anunoby added 21 and Toronto recovered in the second half after blowing a 21-point lead in Tampa, Florida.
PACERS 120, MAGIC 118: Malcolm Brogdon hit the decisive 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left in overtime, lifting Indiana to a win at home.
Brogdon led the Pacers with 23 points. Evan Fournier scored 26 points for the Magic, and Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 12 rebounds.
HAWKS 116, TIMBERWOLVES 98: Trae Young scored a season-high 43 points, Clint Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks, and Atlanta won in Minneapolis.
MAVERICKS 122, SPURS 117: Luka Doncic had 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and visiting Dallas withstood a late rally to beat San Antonio.
NOTES
CAVALIERS: Kevin Porter quickly went from being a future star with the Cavaliers to part of their past.
Cleveland completed a trade with Houston, sending Porter to the Rockets for a second-round draft pick.
The teams agreed to the swap on Thursday night, less than a week after Porter’s outburst in Cleveland’s locker room convinced the team it had to part with the 20-year-old who averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a rookie and was one of Cleveland’s few bright spots last season.
WARRIORS: The NBA is rescinding the second technical foul assessed to Draymond Green during a 119-104 loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday.
The technical foul will no longer lead to a fine for Green, but the most significant damage from the mistaken call can’t be taken away. After Green was automatically ejected following his second technical foul, the Warriors were forced to play the second half of their matchup against the Knicks without one of their best players.
The technical was called with 1:04 remaining in the first half after Green committed a turnover on a pass intended for rookie teammate James Wiseman.
Official John Butler assessed Green a technical for using profane language that he believed was personally directed at him, but Green was instead yelling at Wiseman. Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said the officiating crew chief, Ben Taylor, apologized to him at halftime.
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