Donovan powers Cavs to victory in Paris, Bucks crush Celtics

LOS ANGELES: Donovan Mitchell lit up Paris, scoring 45 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets as the NBA returned to France on Thursday (Jan 11).

The Cavs' victory was just one dominant performance on a day that saw the Milwaukee Bucks rout the league-leading Boston Celtics 135-102 and the Oklahoma City Thunder crush the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77.

Mitchell, a four-time NBA All-Star, added six assists and four steals and said he loved his Paris experience - and would like to repeat it at the Olympic Games later this year.

"Definitely I'd love to come back and play in the Olympics," Mitchell said. "This is a very electric basketball city. Just being able to see this experience, to be a part of it and do it with the NBA, do it with my teammates - incredible.

"I've had a lot of fun and I'm glad we got the win as well."

Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said Mitchell's aggressive approach "set the tone for everybody" on the team.

"I thought Donovan was phenomenal at giving the audience and us what they came to see and what we needed to win the game," Bickerstaff said.

Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas scored 26 points apiece for Brooklyn, but the Nets offered little resistance in a game Cleveland led from start to finish.

Back home the Bucks were even more dominant, demolishing the Celtics in Milwaukee.

Reserve Bobby Portis and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo both had double-doubles for the Bucks, Portis scoring 28 and Antetokounmpo 24 and both grabbing 12 rebounds.

Portis and Antetokounmpo combined to score 20 straight points as the Bucks put together a 25-0 scoring run bridging the first and second quarters that pushed their lead to 56-23.

Damian Lillard added 21 points to