CLEVELAND — Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 34 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 32 and the New York Knicks handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their fourth loss in five games, 114-95 on Sunday night.
Cleveland, which was blown out by Orlando and lost to Brooklyn during this stretch, fell below .500 despite cutting a 19-point deficit to six in the fourth quarter.
LeBron James downplayed the Cavaliers’ problems following Saturday night’s 123-101 loss in New Orleans, but the issues continued for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
New York, after winning its first game Friday over the Nets, led 89-71 late in the third quarter. Cleveland cut it to 94-88 on James’ drive, forcing New York to call a timeout with 8:21 left.
Courtney Lee scored on a drive and hit a 3-pointer, helping the Knicks make it 103-88. New York took its largest lead, 114-93, in the final minute.
PISTONS 115, WARRIORS 107
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry and the defending champion Golden State Warriors are certainly showing their flaws and got handed a second home defeat at this early stage of the season, falling 115-107 to the Pistons on Sunday night as Avery Bradley scored 23 points for Detroit.
Tobias Harris hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining that all but sealed it after Kevin Durant fueled a late Warriors rally.
Klay Thompson scored 29 and became the 11th player in franchise history to eclipse 9,000 career points. Durant wound up with 28 points and Curry 27.
Reggie Jackson scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and Bradley made five 3-pointers for the Pistons, who impressed on the second night of a SoCal-NorCal back-to-back.
The Pistons snapped a seven-game losing streak on Golden State’s home floor.
BUCKS 117, HAWKS 106
ATLANTA — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Khris Middleton had 27 and the Bucks cruised to the victory.
Antetokounmpo also had 11 rebounds and five assists. He went 14 for 21 from the field, scoring from all over the floor while helping Milwaukee to its third win in its last four games.
Dennis Schroder finished with 21 points and Taurean Prince had 17 for Atlanta, which has lost six straight. The Hawks have no inside experience or size this season after letting Paul Millsap and Al Horford leave as free agents and trading Dwight Howard to Charlotte. They were outrebounded by 12 and never led.
PACERS 97, SPURS 94
INDIANAPOLIS — Victor Oladipo made a 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left, lifting Indiana to a rare win against San Antonio.
Oladipo finished with 23 points and five assists, and Domantas Sabonis set career highs with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
It was the third win for the Pacers in their last 20 games against the Spurs.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio, which played without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker again. The Spurs have dropped two in a row.
HORNETS 120, MAGIC 113
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kemba Walker had 34 points and 10 assists, and Charlotte snapped Orlando’s three-game win streak.
Walker was 15 of 25 from the field.
Dwight Howard had a season-high 22 points against his former team, eight of those coming off alley-oop dunks — two on assists from Walker and two from Jeremy Lamb. Lamb had 20 points, marking his sixth straight game with at least 15 points while filling in for the injured Nic Batum.
Jonathan Simmons led the Magic with 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Evan Fournier added 23 points, and Terrence Ross and Aaron Gordon each had 17.
WIZARDS 110, KINGS 83
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — John Wall scored 11 of his 19 points in the first quarter and finished with nine assists, helping the Wizards to the road win.
Bradley Beal added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting for Washington after being fined $50,000 by the NBA earlier in the day for his role in a fight with Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
The lopsided victory kept the Wizards out of the record books. Washington’s first five games were decided by five points or fewer; no team had ever opened the season with six.
The Kings shot 27.9 percent in the first half and trailed by double digits for the final 43 minutes.
Brian Bogdanovic scored 15 points for Sacramento.
NUGGETS 124, KNICKS 111
NEW YORK — Jamal Murray scored 26 points, Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Denver earned its second straight victory.
Wilson Chandler added 18 points for the Nuggets, and Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 15.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 22 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 18 points and Joe Harris tied his season high with 16 points for the Nets, who have lost two straight.
Denver went on a 22-4 run to begin the third quarter.