Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 35 points to inspire the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 115-111 victory against the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers, whose 15-game winning run at the start of the season was ended by the Celtics, were 14 points behind at one stage in the third quarter before a strong rally.
Mitchell scored 20 points – including 11 consecutive points – in the fourth quarter and, with one minute seven seconds left, put the Cavaliers 103-101 in front and they held on for a significant victory.
The win ended a run of two defeats for the Eastern Conference leaders while the Celtics had their run of seven straight wins ended.
“For us we’ve got to go out there and make a statement,” said Mitchell.
“They beat us in the NBA Cup. No excuse. We’ve got to go out there and try to build. We had two losses that really hurt. We weren’t playing like ourselves. We needed this win.”
Elsewhere, LeBron James and Anthony Davis registered double-doubles to help the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 win against the Utah Jazz.
LeBron James scored 27 points with 14 assists while Davis finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds as the Lakers won for only the second time in six games.
Frenchman Victor Wembanyama had a triple double of 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as he starred for the San Antonio Spurs in their 127-125 win against the Sacramento Kings.
Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic also registered a triple-double – scoring 28 points along with 14 rebounds and 11 assists – but could not stop the Denver Nuggets losing 126-122 to the Los Angeles Clippers.
James Harden produced 30 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Clippers as they won for an eighth game in a row at home.
