Donovan Mitchell scored 27 of his 35 points in the second half to highlight the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 133-107 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

Cleveland’s Darius Garland chipped in with 20 points and seven assists before leaving with a foot injury late in the third quarter. Evan Mobley added 17 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks for the Cavaliers, who will play at Philadelphia again on Friday. Mitchell dished a game-high nine assists.

Joel Embiid paced the Sixers with 20 points, while Paul George notched 17. Philadelphia’s starting guards, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, combined for just 23 points on 8-of-26 shooting.

Cleveland led by 13 points at halftime and went ahead by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. Philadelphia halved that deficit before the visitors rebuilt a comfortable edge with Mitchell doing the bulk of the damage.

Mitchell made a pair of 3-pointers and four free throws in the final four minutes of the third quarter, allowing the Cavaliers to take a 93-75 lead into the fourth.

The Sixers briefly whittled their deficit to 15 early in the final period before Cleveland’s 20-5 run sealed the deal. Jaylon Tyson knocked down three 3-pointers during that game-clinching surge.

The Cavaliers dominated the first quarter, outscoring the Sixers 33-18 behind eight points apiece from Garland and De’Andre Hunter.

Philadelphia led 10-9 early before Cleveland scored 18 of the next 20 points, capped by Hunter’s floater. Shortly thereafter, Hunter’s shot from beyond the arc gave the Cavaliers their largest lead of the first period at 30-14.

Embiid helped bring Philadelphia within six points on two occasions near the end of the first half, but Mobley scored twice and Hunter nailed a 3-pointer to restore a double-digit advantage (60-47) at the break.

Garland led all scorers with 14 points in the first half.

–Field Level Media

Through much of Wednesday night’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Indiana Pacers’ chances of extending their season-high three-game win streak appeared dead in the water.

The Pacers pared down what had been a 27-point deficit in the second quarter to just four, but Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes closed the door late for Toronto in a 115-101 triumph in Indianapolis.

Ingram had a game-high 30 points to go with seven rebounds, while Barnes added 26 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds as the Raptors won for the seventh time in their last 10 games.

Pascal Siakam, Indiana’s leading scorer, was held without a basket until early in the second quarter. He recovered quickly, scoring 10 points in the second and another 12 in the third, and finished the night with a team-high 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Toronto’s advantage dipped into single digits when Andrew Nembhard hit a jumper with 8:09 to play to get the Pacers within nine. A Nembhard layup with 5:35 to play got Indiana within four before Ingram and Barnes responded with authority.

Those two players scored Toronto’s last 12 points. Ingram made back-to-back 3-pointers and added another basket, while Barnes made a pair of jumpers to keep the Pacers at bay.

Barnes, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, had 10 first-quarter points while Ingram tallied eight in the first frame as the Raptors jumped out to a 15-4 lead before four minutes had elapsed and raced to a 39-18 advantage through 12 minutes.

Toronto shot 73% (16 of 22) from the field in the opening frame, including 80% (4 of 5) from beyond the arc.

Gradey Dick, who posted his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds, had three baskets at the end of the first quarter to spur a breakthrough night. Dick had scored just 15 total points in his last four games.

Collin Murray-Boyles was the third Raptors player to post a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Nembhard and Quenton Jackson each contributed 14 points for Indiana. Jarace Walker shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and scored 11 points, and Johnny Furphy had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Bucks will set out to turn their frustrations from a blowout home loss into motivation to get back on the winning track Thursday when they visit the stumbling San Antonio Spurs.

The Bucks head to the Alamo City after getting all but run out of Milwaukee on Tuesday when they took a 139-106 defeat at the hands of a short-handed Minnesota team. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 25 points and a team-best eight rebounds while Bobby Portis, starting in place of an ill Myles Turner, added 14 points and Kevin Porter Jr. hit for 13 points.

The Bucks were booed by their home fans as they left the court for halftime trailing by 31 points. Antetokounmpo booed back at the crowd after being fouled early in the third quarter but the exchange did little to turn the tide for Milwaukee, which went on to lose its second straight contest and its third in the past four games.

“Whenever I get booed, I boo back,” said Antetokounmpo, who said Tuesday’s game was the first time he can remember being booed at home. “It doesn’t matter — I play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for myself and my family.

“I think we didn’t play hard. We didn’t do the right things. We didn’t play as a team. It’s not much you can take away from this game. You just got to kind of forget about it, take all the things that you did do well, try to improve on it and go to the next one.”

The Spurs return home carrying their own two-game losing streak, with the latest setback being a 119-98 decision in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. San Antonio had defeated the Thunder, who hold the NBA’s best record, the first three times the teams played this season but were undone in Tuesday’s third quarter when Oklahoma City turned a three-point halftime lead into a 19-point advantage.

It was the first time this season the Spurs were held under 100 points. San Antonio, which shot just 40% from the floor in the loss, has dropped six of its past 10 games since beating Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.

“The plan, the execution (was not good) and in the third quarter, obviously, is when (Thunder) hopped on it and got some separation,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. “But I don’t think we were very sharp from the beginning.

“These games will help us and these games will be learning experiences that we need to go through, clearly. They will serve us well, and it’s our job to make sure we maximize the learning moments from these games.”

Stephon Castle paced the Spurs with 20 points in Tuesday’s loss while Victor Wembanyama added 17, De’Aaron Fox tallied 14, Julian Champagnie had 13 and Dylan Harper scored 12.

Thursday’s contest is the first of two between the Bucks and San Antonio, with the Spurs traveling to Milwaukee for the rematch on March 28.

–Field Level Media

Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. was in the throes of another poor shooting performance on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls, the latest in a slump that began when the calendar turned.

Smith, who entered Tuesday shooting 30.1% this month and 17.1% from behind the arc, missed his first five 3-pointers before coming alive down the stretch of a 119-113 victory that snapped the Rockets’ three-game skid and started a five-game homestand that continues Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Smith scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including eight in succession inside the final three minutes, a stretch that featured a pair of timely 3-pointers. Smith lingered a bit in his recent struggles, but his teammates were present and offered support during his difficult stretch.

“I was putting the blame on me for the losses. I feel like if I step up and do my job, we win the game,” Smith said. That was the biggest thing, and everybody telling me don’t look at it like that.

“Everybody (was) just staying on me and putting the confidence in me. Everybody’s seen me make shots, everybody’s seen me have a hot streak the same way I had a cold streak. Just remembering who I am and the work I put in this game (was key). My teammates were very, very supportive for sure.”

Before Smith seized control, the Rockets salvaged the game by committing only one turnover in the second half after the Bulls converted eight first-half Houston turnovers into 13 points before the break. Ball security continues to shape the success Houston enjoys on the offensive end.

“It feels like when we try to get too cute and don’t make the simple pass out of the double, we get a lot of those turnovers,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “But at the same time, it’s just some randomness as well. We’ve got a lot of guys that push in transition, and a lot of them happened there. … The guys that are going to handle the most, being strong with the ball (is vital).”

The Thunder earned their first victory in four games against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, rolling to a 119-98 win which showcased their might when every aspect of their game is in sync.

Having followed their second two-game skid of the season with four consecutive wins, the Thunder appear to be reasserting their early-season dominance. Those three losses to the Spurs, plus surprising setbacks against the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets earlier this month, framed the Thunder as vulnerable, a contrast to their historic 24-1 start to the season.

In short order, the Thunder seem to have reclaimed their form. After misplacing their identity as the preeminent team in the NBA, the Thunder righted their ship by revisiting their consistency.

“Every single game is an opportunity to be as consistent to your identity as you can,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Even in the worst games, you have great possessions; even in the best games, you have bad possessions. We’re just trying to be as consistent as possible, possession-by-possession, game after game.

“And so there’s not like a certain form that you take over a period of time. It vacillates in and out in the season and in games, and the trick is staying there as long as possible and getting back on track when you’re not there.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge, as he often does, with 34 points. He’s second in the league in scoring at 31.9 points per game, trailing only Luka Doncic (33.4).

–Field Level Media

Bam Adebayo may have rediscovered his All-Star form.

Adebayo, who will lead the Miami Heat on Thursday night against the visiting Boston Celtics, had been slumping for a couple of weeks.

During that eight-game stretch, he averaged just 10.9 points on 36.8% shooting from the floor. But on Tuesday in a 127-121 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns, Adebayo poured in a game-high 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting (73.3%).

Adebayo was particularly dominant late in the fourth quarter as he scored 13 consecutive Heat points.

“He’s our engine,” Heat reserve Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “He’s the heart of this team.

“I’m so happy for him to have a game like this. He was due.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Adebayo “earned” his great game because of the way he played defense even before his fourth-quarter offensive explosion.

“The ball found the right karma,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s success. “He’s a great competitor in this league.”

Adebayo moved into second place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list with 9,461 points, passing Alonzo Mourning (9,459). Dwyane Wade (21,556) holds the club record.

The only bad Heat news coming out of Tuesday’s game was a shoulder injury sustained by starting point guard Davion Mitchell, who took a hard pick from Suns center Mark Williams. Mitchell is listed as doubtful for Thursday’s game.

Spoelstra also commented on the developing chemistry between his two most dynamic scorers: Norman Powell, who is new to the team this season, and Tyler Herro, who has been hurt most of the season.

“Give us a little bit of time. … It will get better,” Spoelstra said. “We love (the pairing) because the other team has to make decisions. Who are you putting on who? The synergy will be there if we play the way we need to play.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics are suddenly slumping. After winning five of six games, Boston was held to 95 and 96 points in consecutive losses.

On Monday, the Celtics lost 98-96 to one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla blamed the loss on what he felt was a final-seconds uncalled “illegal screen” — a phrase he used six times in his postgame remarks, which included no other words.

It didn’t help that Boston’s Jaylen Brown — who is tied for fifth in the NBA with 29.5 points per game — missed Monday’s game due to back spasms.

The Celtics, though, beat the Heat 129-116 last month in Boston in the teams’ only meeting so far this season. Boston was led in that game by Derrick White (33 points) and Brown (30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists).

White is one of the more underrated players in the league, averaging 18.6 points, 5.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals.

His play has helped keep the Celtics in playoff position despite being without superstar Jayson Tatum (Achilles) for the season.

Besides Brown and White, another Celtics player who has stepped up is Payton Pritchard, who is averaging career highs in points (17.0) and assists (5.3).

Pritchard, who started a combined 17 games in his first five years in the league, has started all 39 Celtics contests this season.

“Starting has been a little bit of an adjustment,” Pritchard said in an interview with NBC Sports. “I hadn’t (started on a full-time basis) since college. I’ve had to figure out the feel, how to get my teammates involved and how to get to my spots.”

–Field Level Media