SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Isaiah Thomas scored 26 points and the Sacramento Kings won their third straight game with this season’s biggest rout, a 124-80 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
The Kings scored 16 straight points in the third quarter and led by 28 points heading into the fourth. The three-game winning streak is Sacramento’s first since December 2012. The 44-point victory margin was the largest in the NBA this season, according to STATS.
C.J. Miles had 14 points and Luol Deng added 12 for the Cavaliers, who had won two straight.
Cleveland went just over five minutes without a basket in the third quarter, when it shot 4 of 20 and was outscored 30-11. The Cavaliers were outscored 65-30 in the second half.
Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer, missed 11 of 14 shots, 3 of 4 free throws, and finished with seven points.
Spurs 104, Timberwolves 86
SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and San Antonio held off Minnesota for its fourth straight win.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and Tony Parker added 14 points and 10 assists for Western Conference-leading San Antonio. Matt Bonner also scored 14 points — including 4-for-5 shooting on 3-pointers — and Marco Belinelli had 13 points and Patty Mills added 10.
Nikola Pekovic scored 22 points to lead Minnesota. Kevin Love had 14 points and Alexey Shved added 11.
Already without Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter, the Spurs lost Danny Green early in the second quarter to a sprained finger. Minus two of their top wings, Leonard took over in the second half.
Grizzlies 108, Hawks 101
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Conley had 21 points and 13 assists and Zach Randolph added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Memphis over Atlanta.
Paul Millsap scored 21 points to lead the Hawks, who had won two straight. It was only the Hawks’ third loss to the Grizzlies in the past 15 games.
Memphis pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Conley, who tied a career best with 31 points in a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Conley had eight points in the final quarter, including two free throws that gave the Grizzlies a 102-92 lead with 2:46 left.
Mike Miller also had eight points in the fourth quarter for the Grizzlies, including two 3-pointers. He finished with 15 points.
COLLEGE
No. 1 Arizona 73, Southern California 53
LOS ANGELES — Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell each scored a season-high 19 points and Arizona improved to 17-0 for the best start in school history.
Nick Johnson chipped in 15 points and Aaron Gordon had 12 for the Wildcats, the second straight game they’ve had four players reach double figures in scoring.
The 1931-32 Wildcats held the previous school record for best start at 16-0.
Byron Wesley scored 18 points and reserve Strahinja Gavrilovic added a career-high 10 points to lead the Trojans, who have lost three straight and four of their last six.
Arizona led just 48-43 with 8:30 to play, but outscored USC 25-10 the rest of the way to turn the close game into a rout.
No. 20 Iowa 84, No. 3 Ohio State 74
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Roy Devin Marble scored 22 points, Aaron White added 19 and Iowa ended the game on a 22-9 run to hand Ohio State its second loss of the week.
Melsahn Besabe had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Gesell added 11 points and Jarrod Uthoff had 10 for the Hawkeyes (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who ended a string of eight straight losses to the Buckeyes.
LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points, Amir Williams had 11 and Lenzelle Smith Jr. 10 for Ohio State (15-2, 2-2), which had opened with 15 consecutive wins. The Buckeyes fell 72-68 in overtime at No. 5 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
It was Iowa’s first win over a top 5 team since an 83-65 victory at No. 2 Missouri on Dec. 15, 2001.
No. 12 Louisville 71, SMU 63
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Luke Hancock had a career-high 23 points, including two free throws with 46 seconds remaining, for Louisville in a meeting of Hall of Fame coaches.
Hancock’s second straight 20-point game helped Rick Pitino’s Cardinals (14-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) get the final word in his first collegiate matchup against Larry Brown and his Mustangs (11-4, 1-2).
Making his first start despite dealing with a left Achilles issue, the senior guard made 8 of 15 from the field — 4 of 9 from 3-point range — to help keep Louisville ahead in a tense game that Montrezl Harrell finally settled with a dunk and a block after Hancock’s free throws.
No. 13 San Diego State 79, Air Force 72
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — JJ O’Brien had 18 points and 11 rebounds as San Diego State extended its winning streak to 13 games.
It is the second-longest winning streak in school history for the Aztecs (14-1, 3-0 Mountain West) and it continues their second-best start ever behind 20-0 in 2010-11.
Tre’ Coggins had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Falcons (8-7, 2-2), who led for much of the first half before trailing 31-27 at the break.
Washington 71, No. 15 Colorado 54
SEATTLE — C.J. Wilcox set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 31 points, including 21 in the second half, for Washington.
Washington (11-6, 3-1 Pac-12) had lost 12 straight against ranked teams.
Colorado (14-3, 3-1) never recovered after leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie crumbled to the court late in the first half after his left knee buckled while dribbling on a fast break. Dinwiddie had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and did not return.
The Huskies outscored the Buffaloes 49-29 after Dinwiddie’s injury.
Stanford 82, No. 17 Oregon 80
EUGENE, Ore. — Anthony Brown scored a career-high 24 points and Stanford held on to send Oregon to its third straight loss.
Chasson Randle had 23 points for the Cardinal (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12), who beat their second ranked team this season, something they hadn’t accomplished since 2009.
Mike Moser scored 24 points to lead the Ducks (13-3, 1-3), who had two chances to tie the game in the final 8 seconds but Johnathan Loyd missed an open jumper and Dominic Artis had a last-ditch layup roll off the rim as time expired.
Oregon opened the season 13-0 but hasn’t won since beating Utah in overtime on Jan. 2.
Northwesterrn 49, No. 23 Illinois 43
EVANSTON, Ill. — Tre Demps scored 11 points and made three late 3-pointers to lead Northwestern to the upset of in-state rival Illinois.
Drew Crawford added 14 points and JerShon Cobb had 11 for Northwestern (8-9, 1-3 Big Ten), which gave coach Chris Collins his first conference victory.
Tracy Abrams had 13 and Rayvonte Rice had eight for the Fighting Illini (13-4, 2-2), who have lost two straight after four consecutive wins.