Donovan Mitchell scores 32 points as Cavaliers beat Hornets 118-113 for 7th straight victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Charlotte Hornets 118-113 on Friday night for their seventh straight victory and 12th win in 13 games.

Cavaliers Hornets Basketball

Jared Allen had 25 points and 14 rebounds and James Harden added 18 points and eight assists for the Cavaliers.

Charlotte's Kon Knueppel finished with 33 points on seven 3-pointers, giving him 193 made 3s for the season — the second most in NBA history by a rookie. Keegan Murray holds the record with 206 set in the 2022-23 season.

LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller each had 18 points and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte.

Miller's and-one layup off a no-look feed from Ball cut Cleveland's lead to four with a minute remaining, but Mitchell made a short jumper and four free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.

The Cavaliers built a 14-point lead in the second quarter and looked like they were preparing to break the game open, but Knueppel began to heat up, finishing with four 3s and 16 points in the first half to cut Cleveland's lead in to six. Charlotte took the lead late in the third quarter behind three more Knueppel 3s.

But Mitchell began to take over with his physical play. He got to the line 13 times and made 12 free throws.

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Charlotte played without suspended forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams, who sat out with knee injury management forcing them to play younger, less experienced players in the frontcourt.

The Cavaliers outscored the Hornets 50-28 in the paint.

The Hornets have now lost three of their last four games after winning nine straight games just before the All-Star break.

Up next

Cavaliers: At Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Hornets: At Washington on Sunday night.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

byLiam Oneel

in

February 20, 2026

Donovan Mitchell scores 32 points as Cavaliers beat Hornets 118-113 for 7th straight victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and the streaking Cleveland Cav...

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Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss women's basketball coach in bizarre online beef

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin andOle Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuinare in a wild online spat.

"Have y'all ever heard of a football coach, tagging a WBB coach, after a game?"McPhee-McCuin posted toXon Friday. "This guy doesn't even like women's sports! Cope harder! #GoldingEra"

Without naming anyone, McPhee-McCuin's tweet seemed to take issue with the Rebels former football coach while also supporting the current one, Pete Golding.

In the quotes of McPhee-McCuin's tweet, was Kiffin, the previous head coach ofOle Missfootball.Kiffin leftMississippi earlier for LSU. In response to the Rebels women's basketball coach, Kiffin posted a photo of himself holding hands withLSU's women's basketball coach, Kim Mulkeyand throwing a pitch at a softball game.

"Not true,"Kiffin said. "Love women's sports."

However, the exchange between the pair wasn't the only one over the past week.

Here's how Kiffin and McPhee-McCuin arrived at this strange online beef.

Why is Lane Kiffin tweeting Ole Miss women's basketball coach?

Afterbeating Tennessee at homeon Tuesday, Feb. 17, McPhee-McCuin told the media she was disappointed with the fan turnout for the game.

"We had a good amount of fans tonight. I was expecting a little bit more. I'm gonna be completely honest. We need more support," McPhee-McCuin said.

"We're gonna need you on Thursday (Feb. 19), when we go up against No. 7 LSU, who had a chance to go to Mardi Gras tonight, while we fought for 40 minutes. So, the only thing that's gone help us get through that game is the crown support because it matters."

On the day of the LSU-Ole Miss matchup, Kiffin responded to McPhee-McCuin.

"Don't worry it will be #justdifferent tonight @YolettMcCuin,"the LSU football coach said. "They will show up for @LSUwbkb game."

Then, the trolling began.

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Ole Miss lost 87-70 to LSU at home after a putrid fourth quarter. The Rebels didn't score a single field goal in the period (0-for-17) and the seven points they did have came from free throw attempts. After the game, LSU's Bella Hines, Amiya Joyner and Kate Kovalseemingly trolled Ole Misswith cutouts of Kiffin.

"BTA ⁦@LSUwbkb," Kiffin tweeted along with a photo of the trio. ("BTA" is an acronym that stands for "belt to ass.")

However, Kiffin wasn't done. He tagged Ole Miss's coach in seperate tweet with a photo (see below) of LSU fans holding the cutouts.

"Thanks for helping out the attendance,"Kiffin said."@YollettMcCuin was begging for @LSUwbkb. Glad they showed up. Great competitive game early ladies!!! #justdifferent"

Kiffin has since deleted the tweet.

What did Ole Miss coach say to Lane Kiffin?

After being tagged by Kiffin, McPhee-McCuin responded with herown tweet calling out the LSU football coach. "Have y'all ever heard of a football coach, tagging a WBB coach, after a game?" she said. "This guy doesn't even like women's sports!"

The Ole Miss coach then followed with a post supporting the Rebels football coach, Golding, while seemingly taking a shot at the ongoing saga with Kiffin.

"Looking [forward] to supporting our coach that has won a CFP game in the fall!" McPhee-McCuin posted. "Let's say goodbye to the past Rebs, just like I did after this!"

Is there still beef between Kiffin and Ole Miss coach?

Following the video of Golding, McPhee-McCuin seemingly sent a warning to Kiffin.

"He woke up tweeting me and he knows I have the files so he should stop while ahead,"She said to a fan.

Kiffin later responded with a milder tone to McPhee-McCuin.

He quoted a tweet of hersreflecting on Thursday's loss to LSU, saying, "The change you have brought to @OleMissWBB is amazing!!! I remember the first year. You have built it into a premier program in the country!!!"

This story will be updated with any further developments.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss women's basketball coach in bizarre online beef

byLiam Oneel

in

February 20, 2026

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss women's basketball coach in bizarre online beef

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin andOle Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuinare in a wild online spat. "Have y...

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Kawhi Leonard casually questions Clippers' contender status after All-Star break: 'I think it's over now'

Kawhi Leonard stated the obvious on Thursday night. It's just not the kind of obvious we're used to hearing from NBA stars.

Followingthe Clippers' 115-114 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, Leonard was asked about the Clippers reaching contender status with a younger core following the NBA trade deadline. He responded by emphasizing the importance of developing young players, but three words early on stood out: "It's over now."

The full exchange:

Question:"You mentioned you guys having a younger team and obviously younger guys still trying to find their way and that being part of why you guys aren't quite in that contender tier. What do you think you guys need to do in order to break into that tier? Is it here, is it guys developing, or is there something missing?"

Leonard:"Just development over time. I think it's over now. It's, the second half, like a fourth of the season left. But every day is a day to grow. A day to learn and get better. So just got to keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we're getting better and see what happens from there."

Unless Leonard misspoke, that sure sounds like him saying the Clippers' title chances are likely dead this season. Which, again, isn't the wildest take, unless it's coming from the team's franchise star.

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Following Thursday's win, the Clippers' record sits at 27-28, ninth place in the Western Conference and a spot in the play-in game. Eighth place might not be hard to achieve given the injury woes of the Golden State Warriors, but anything above that would require a lot of things to go right.

James Harden is gone. Ivica Zubac is gone. The trades that sent away those two both returned interesting young players in Darius Garland (who still hasn't made his Clippers debut) and Bennedict Mathurin, respectively, but expectations are going to be low as the team reworks its core.

To Los Angeles' credit, the team has come a long way after looking dead in the water when it began the season with a 6-21 record. The Clippers actually have the best win percentage in the NBA since that 27th game on Dec. 18, with a 21-7 record. Leonard has played some of the best basketball of his career in that time, with 29.8 points, 6.87 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, plus his usual defensive impact.

However, there is still a long way to go before the Clippers are taken seriously.

byLiam Oneel

in

February 20, 2026

Kawhi Leonard casually questions Clippers' contender status after All-Star break: 'I think it's over now'

Kawhi Leonard stated the obvious on Thursday night. It's just not the kind of obvious we're used to hearing from...

Read More