By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Max Strus had 17 points to lead a balanced scoring attack as the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 112-100, on Sunday night, March 9, for their 14th consecutive victory.
The Cavs became just the second team to win 14 straight while scoring at least 110 points in each of those games. The only other time that happened was in 1986, when the Boston Celtics did it on their way to winning a title.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and moved into 50th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. He increased his career total to 20,077 to pass Tom Chambers, who scored 20,049 from 1981-98.
Damian Lillard added 22 points for the Bucks, who were playing for a second straight night after losing 111-109 at home to the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Donovan Mitchell had 15 points for Cleveland. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley added 13 each, while Jarret Allen had 11.
The Cavs took the lead for good with 4:15 left in the first quarter and pulled away by going on a 13-0 run that started with about 8½ minutes remaining.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets, 127-103, in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Gilgeous-Alexander had eight assists and made all eight of his free throws for the West-leading Thunder, who won their seventh straight game and improved to 53-11. Jalen Williams added 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who along with Gilgeous-Alexander is a top contender in the NBA MVP race, had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. He was coming off the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double in his team’s 149-141 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Denver went up 10-0 early as it took the Thunder nearly three minutes to score, but Oklahoma City cut its deficit to 29-28 by the end of the quarter.
In Philadelphia, Lonnie Walker IV and Quentin Grimes scored 25 points apiece and the 76ers earned a 126-122 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Walker added 11 rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes off the bench for the 76ers (22-41). Grimes made going 6 of 13 from the floor, including 4 for 9 from 3-point range, and 9 for 9 from the free-throw line while adding six assists.
Kyle Filipowski led the way for the Jazz (15-49) with 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Keyonte George added 25 points, six rebounds and three steals for Utah.
In Minneapolis, Anthony Edwards scored 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the San Antonio Spurs, 141-124, for their fifth consecutive victory and highest score this season.
Naz Reid had 20 points and seven rebounds and Julius Randle added 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who never trailed on their way to a season-best eight games above the .500 mark (37-29).
In New Orleans, Ja Morant scored 32 points and Desmond Bane added 30 to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Pelicans, 107-104.
Morant also had six assists and three steals for the Grizzlies, who trailed 64-57 at halftime.
