The Phoenix Suns overcame an injury to Devin Booker to snap the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with a commanding 125-108 road victory on Monday.
Booker left the game in the first quarter, but his absence did little to slow the Suns’ scoring pace, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Dillon Brooks led Phoenix with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie contributed 28 points, including eight three-pointers, as the Suns dominated the contest.
The Lakers struggled with 22 turnovers, which resulted in 32 points for Phoenix, in a forgettable night for JJ Redick’s team. The loss dropped Los Angeles to 15-5, keeping them in second place in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers scoring with a game-high 38 points, with Austin Reaves adding 16 and Deandre Ayton 12. LeBron James also struggled, finishing with just 10 points from 3-of-10 shooting.
Donovan Mitchell’s 43-point haul helped the Cleveland Cavaliers improve to 13-9 in the Eastern Conference with a 135-119 blowout of the Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland took control after outscoring the Pacers 37-25 in the opening quarter, building a hefty lead that they held for the remainder of a one-sided game.
In Denver, Anthony Davis rattled in 32 points and hauled in 13 rebounds to help the Dallas Mavericks score an upset 131-121 win over Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
Serbian star Jokic bagged 29 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists, but Denver were unable to build on a dominant first quarter which saw them open up a 14-point lead.
Instead Dallas cut loose to outscore Denver 42-27 in the second quarter to take a one-point lead into half-time.
A see-saw second half swung decisively in favour of Dallas when the Mavs outscored Denver 29-17 in the fourth quarter to seal a win that improves them to 7-15. Denver slipped to 14-6 for the season.
The Houston Rockets (13-5) also finished on the wrong end of an upset in Salt Lake City, losing 133-125 to the Utah Jazz (7-13).
The Detroit Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after a battling 99-98 home win over the Atlanta Hawks.
In a game that saw the lead change hands 27 times, Detroit held on for victory thanks to a flurry of late scoring by Cade Cunningham, who bagged eight of his 18-point tally in the fourth quarter.