ONTARIO, CA, Sporting Alert — Round-up and scores from the NBA preseason games that were played on Wednesday night, Oct. 4.
Los Angeles Lakers suffered their third successive preseason defeat after losing 122-104 to the Denver Nuggets, who improved to 3-0.
Kenneth Faried led the Nuggets with 25 points and seven rebounds, Jamal Murray added 20 points, Juan Hernangomez scored 18 and Mason Plumlee added 13 points and 14 rebounds in the win for Denver.
Kyle Kuzma had 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting and Jordan Clarkson finished with 13 points in the defeat for the LA Lakers, who were without rookie starting point guard Lonzo Ball because of an ankle injury.
At Quicken Loans Arena, 18, 221 fans got their first look at the Cleveland Cavaliers with Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder all in the starting lineup.
However, playing without team leader LeBron James (ankle) and starting point guard Isaiah Thomas (hip), the Cavaliers went down 109-93 to the Atlanta Hawks.
Dennis Schroder had 18 points, Taurean Prince finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists and Dewayne Dedmon ended with 13 points for the Hawks.
Kay Felder tallied 13 points, while Kevin Love, who finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes, led the way for Cleveland.
Meanwhile, at the Shenzhen Universiade Center in China, Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and eight rebounds, Jimmy Butler added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves used a strong fourth quarter to help down the Golden State Warriors 111-95.
Andrew Wiggins finished with 14 points, Taj Gibson ended with 13 points and seven rebounds, while three other players scored in double figures for Minnesota, which improved to 2-0 in the NBA preseason.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant had 20 points, Stephen Curry ended with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists and Klay Thompson scored 13 points in the defeat for the Warriors.
In other NBA preseason scores on Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks improved to 2-0 in warmups with a 118-71 battering of the Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies had a 110-89 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Charlotte Hornets earned a 108-106 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Elsewhere, Indiana Pacers topped the Milwaukee Bucks 104-86, and the Utah Jazz defeated Haifa Maccabi 117-78 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
NBA Preseason Scores
Wednesday, October 4
Memphis 110, Philadelphia 89
Atlanta 109, Cleveland 93
Charlotte 108, Detroit 106
Indiana 104, Milwaukee 86
Dallas 118, Chicago 71
Utah 117, Haifa Maccabi 78
Denver 122, LA Lakers 104
Minnesota 111, Golden State 97