A winning streak concludes, a basketball massacre north of the border, and an historic triple-double highlight today's edition of The Morning Dunk with the best NBA news, highlights, and betting odds for your viewing pleasure.
Cavaliers Stun Celtics To End 11-Game Winning Streak
Nothing lasts forever, and the Boston Celtics learned that the hard way on Tuesday night.
Having won an NBA-high 11-straight games, the Celtics blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter and had their streak ended at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers - who were without All-Star Donovan Mitchell due to injury - in a narrow 105-104 defeat at Quicken Loans Arena.
Reserve Dean Wade managed to outscore Boston by himself in the fourth quarter, 20-19, on the back of five made 3-pointers. He finished with a team-high 23 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Jarrett Allen contributed a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
With 9 minutes left in the 4Q, the Cavs trailed by 22 points, 93-71...
— NBA (@NBA) March 6, 2024
And then Dean Wade TOOK OVER, scoring 20 PTS and hitting 7 triples to lead Cleveland past the 1st-place Celtics 🤯 pic.twitter.com/B4rGXtlcws
The Celtics had a chance to take the game with 1.7 seconds remaining after Jayson Tatum was seemingly fouled on his jumper, but Cleveland challenged the whistle and managed to get the call overturned.
JAYSON TATUM FINAL SHOT FOUL CALL OVERTURNED 😱
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 6, 2024
CAVS WIN. pic.twitter.com/GCyP6lgF6Z
Boston failed to cover the spread as the 8.5-point favorites for the first time in six games, while Cleveland covered for just the second time in ten games.
Raptors Suffer Worse Home Loss In Franchise History
When it rains, it pours, and there's a monsoon surrounding the Toronto Raptors these days.
The New Orleans Pelicans came to Scotiabank Arena and laid down the worst beating the Raptors have ever suffered at home in a 139-98 blowout victory. New Orleans led by as many as 43 points against a Raptors squad missing both Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl due to injury.
Trey Murphy III came off the pine to connect on an incredible 10-of-14 from behind the arc, finishing with a season-high 34 points to lead New Orleans.
Raptors lose by 41 points, their 5th largest margin of defeat in franchise history.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) March 6, 2024
They allowed 24 threes, the most they've allowed in any game in franchise history.
Trey Murphy made 10 threes, the most any player has made in a game against the Raptors.
With both Barnes and Poeltl presumably out for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign, Toronto drops to 23-39 SU and 4.5 games back of the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Doncic Triple-Double Means Little In Loss To Pacers
As incredible as Luka Doncic's box score was on Tuesday, it ultimately wasn't enough to hold down home court for the Dallas Mavericks against the visiting Indiana Pacers.
Doncic registered 39 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in 43 minutes of action, becoming the third player to ever record four-straight 30-point triple-doubles in what was still a 137-120 defeat to Indiana.
The last player to accomplish this feat was Russell Westbrook in 2017.
Luka Doncic is frustrated as the Mavs get blown out despite him putting up a 39-point triple double 😬
— Guru (@DrGuru_) March 6, 2024
pic.twitter.com/feOPAUc9kT
Doncic currently finds himself with +800 odds in the race for Most Valuable Player, which is well behind Nikola Jokic (-180) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+230).
