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Growing up in New York, Donovan Mitchell idolized LeBron James.
On Tuesday night, he upstaged him as The King returned back to the house that he built.
Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points and Jarrett Allen returned from injury to add 24, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in James’ only visit home this season.
Donovan Mitchell was instrumental in the Cavaliers’ dismantling of LeBron James’s LA Lakers
With Anthony Davis missing the final three quarters because of the flu, the Cavs improved to an NBA-leading 11-1 on their floor, their best start at home since 2015-16, when James led them to a championship.
Mitchell, who has Cleveland fans dreaming of another title run, took over in the second half and scored 29 points with the kind of performance James had routinely during his 11 seasons for the Cavs.
With Cleveland leading by 12 in the fourth, Mitchell buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to finish the Lakers.
James returned to his hometown and fell to the Cavaliers as LA lost its first game in five
After dropping the shot, the All-Star guard strutted around the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor nodding his head as James helplessly watched.
Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists for Cleveland. Meanwhile, James finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, losing for just the third time in 20 games against the Cavs.
Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook added 16 points apiece as Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak stopped.
Mitchell produced a blistering performance with 43 points, six rebounds and five assists
PISTONS 116, HEAT 92
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half, Alec Burks added 18 and the Pistons ran away in the final two quarters to beat the Miami Heat 116-96 on Tuesday night.
Saddiq Bey scored 14, Isaiah Stewart had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Cory Joseph also finished with 11 points for the Pistons, who trailed 50-47 at halftime – then outscored Miami 69-46 in the final two quarters.
It was Detroit´s biggest margin of victory this season. The Pistons had won only one game by more than seven points, that being a 128-114 triumph over Golden State on Oct. 30.
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Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half as the Pistons went on a run
Tyler Herro led all scorers with a season high-tying 34 points for Miami, which has dropped three of its last four games. The Heat are off to an 11-14 start for the third time in the last five seasons.
Herro averages 27.8 points in five career games against Detroit, his most against any team.
He and Bam Adebayo combined for 55 points but the other eight Heat players who played Tuesday combined for only 41.
Tyler Herro led all scorers with 34 points for the Heat, who have lost three of the past four
MAVERICKS 116, NUGGETS 115
Luka Doncic had 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a season-high 29 points and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 116-115 on Tuesday night.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, Christian Wood added 14 and Spencer Dinwiddie 13 for the Mavericks.
Aaron Gordon had 27 points and eight rebounds to pace the Nuggets. Reserve Bones Hyland scored 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 19 to along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
Luka Doncic (R) hugged his fellow Balkan superstar, Nikola Jokic (L) following the Mavs win
While Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 12 points and Jamal Murray added 11.
Doncic missed two fadeaway jumpers and Brown drained a corner 3-pointer with 37.9 seconds left to cap an 11-0 run. Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer with 17.3 seconds left put Dallas back in front, 114-112.
Jokic split a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left, Dinwiddie made two foul shots and Murray sank two with 6.3 seconds left.
Hardaway missed two free throws with 4.2 seconds left, but Murray’s desperation heave from virtually half-court was off at the final horn.
Tim Hardaway Jr. came through in the clutch for the Dallas squad & scored 29 points Tuesday
