NBA: 76ers defeat NBA-best Cavaliers to end 7-game slide

Paul George scored 30 points, Tyrese Maxey had 29 and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers beat the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 132-129 on Friday night to end a seven-game losing streak.

Cleveland lost its second straight to drop into a tie for the NBA lead with Oklahoma City at 36-8. Philadelphia is 16-27.

Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points for Cleveland, and Ty Jerome had a career-high 33, making all eight of his 3-point tries.

Philadelphia star center Joel Embiid missed his 10th straight game because of a left knee injury. He also was ruled out by coach Nick Nurse at Chicago on Saturday night.

Jerome’s second straight 3-pointer put Cleveland up 116-110 with 6:17 remaining, but the 76ers ran off 13 consecutive points to go up seven. The Cavaliers had the ball with a chance to tie it, but Jerome turned it over on an inbounds play.

Eric Gordon hit a go-ahead 3 for Philadelphia that made it 117-116 and capped a 13-0 run over 2:58 with another 3 with 3:19 to play to extend the lead to 123-116.

30 PTS | 5 REB | 6-11 3 PTPG had himself a night. @PALottery pic.twitter.com/3tNeWKGOsP
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 25, 2025

Jackson’s big 3rd quarter lifts Grizzlies

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 15 of his 29 points in the third quarter, Desmond Bane had 20 points and 14 assists and the streaking Memphis Grizzlies topped the New Orleans Pelicans 139-126.

Luke Kennard added a season-high 27 points, making 7 of 9 3-pointers and 10 of 14 overall shots from the field, to help Memphis win its fifth straight.

Dejounte Murry led the Pelicans with 26 points. Trey Murphy III and CJ McCollum each had 22, and Jordan Hawkins added 20.

The Pelicans relied heavily on their backcourt for a 71-62 halftime lead, with Murray scoring 17 points and McCollum adding 15.

The game had the potential of highlighting the top two picks in the 2019 NBA Draft - Zion Williamson, the No. 1 pick for the Pelicans, and Ja Morant, picked second by the Grizzlies. However, neither was available with Williamson still ramping up conditioning, and Morant recovering from an illness.

New Orleans pulled within six points early in the fourth, but Memphis went on a 15-5 run to grab its largest lead of the game with 5:25 left.

Caught from @LukeKennard5 - 𝟕 3PM@jarenjacksonjr - 𝟓 3PM pic.twitter.com/dbMxBTOFa6
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 25, 2025

Simons leads Blazers past Hornets

Anfernee Simons scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half, Jerami Grant added 22 points and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 102-97 for their fourth straight win.

Deni Avdija had 18 points and Donovan Clingan added 13 rebounds as the Blazers outscored the Hornets 29-22 in the fourth quarter.

Nick Smith Jr. had 17 points and Josh Okogie added 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets, who lacked scoring power without LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller.

The Hornets led 75-73 entering the fourth quarter, but the Blazers quickly took control. After Portland corralled two offensive rebounds on the same possession, Simons buried a 3 to give the Blazers the lead for good with 7 1/2 minutes to play, sparking a 7-0 run. Portland never trailed again.

Charlotte shot 7 of 22 in the fourth quarter and 32 of 85 (37.6 percent) overall.

After the Hornets cut the lead to five, Grant knocked down a baseline jumper with just under one minute left to put the game away.

RED HOT AND ROLLIN’ pic.twitter.com/TO8yzP4juk
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 25, 2025