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Cavs disfigure Hawks under new coach
CLEVELAND — Rodney Hood scored a season-high 26 points, Cedi Osman added 20 and Cleveland ended its six-game losing streak to start the season, beating the Atlanta Hawks 136-114 on Tuesday night in the Cavaliers’ first game since coach Tyronn Lue was fired.
The Cavs came in as the NBA’s only winless team, and Lue paid the price for the club’s slow start.
But with Larry Drew serving as Cleveland’s “acting” coach while he tries to get the team to restructure his contract, the Cavs played a complete game – Cleveland had seven players in double figures – and avoided their first 0-7 start since 1995-96.
George Hill and rookie Collin Sexton scored 17 apiece, and Tristan Thompson had 13 rebounds for Cleveland.
In Toronto, Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam had 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Toronto bounced back from its first loss of the season by routing Philadelphia 129-112, handing the 76ers their 12th consecutive defeat north of the border.
Kyle Lowry had 20 points and 13 assists, extending his streak of double-digit assist games to a career-best six. Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 23 points and Serge Ibaka had 16 as the Raptors improved to 6-0 at home.
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 32 points and had another run-in with Patrick Beverley in Oklahoma City’s 128-110 victory over Los Angeles.
The Thunder outscored the Clippers 39-10 in the third quarter, and the only drama in the fourth was the dustup between Westbrook and Beverley. Beverley dove at Westbrook’s left knee, and both were issued technical after jawing in front of the benches. Police officers stepped onto the court to help keep the teams separated. Upon review, Beverley’s foul was ruled a flagrant 1.
Westbrook tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee during the playoffs in 2013 when Beverley lunged for the ball as Westbrook prepared to call timeout.
Paul George also had 32 points, Steven Adams had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Dennis Schroder added 15 points for the Thunder, who won their second straight after four losses to start the season.
In Houston, Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic scored 22 points each, and Portland never trailed in a 104-85 trouncing of struggling Houston.
The Rockets dropped their fourth straight in their second game without James Harden, who is out with a hamstring injury, to fall to 1-5. After entering the season with eyes on a championship, the Rockets have rarely even been competitive, dropping their four home games by an average of more than 17 points.
Now they face a season-long five-game road trip where they’ll likely be without Harden and fellow starter James Ennis (right hamstring) for at least the first game and possibly more.
In Boston, Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 31 points, Marcus Morris had 15 points and nine rebounds and Boston beat Detroit, 108-105, handing the Pistons back-to-back losses after a 4-0 start.
Jayson Tatum scored 16, Jaylen Brown had 14 points and Al Horford scored 11 for Boston.
Blake Griffin had 24 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit. Boston, which beat Detroit on the road 109-89 on Saturday, is still the only team to beat the Pistons this season.
In other NBA Games, the Hornets beat Miami, 125-113, while Memphis sent Washington to its fourth straight loss, 107-95.
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