SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Collin Sexton scored 23 points, Lauri Markkanen added 20 and the Utah Jazz held off the San Antonio Spurs 111-110 on Saturday, overcoming 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks from Victor Wembanyama.
Markkanen stayed in the game after landing directly on his left hip with 2:44 remaining. He was down on the court for a few minutes before being helped to his feet. The 7-footer was hobbling noticeably in the final minutes.
Jordan Clarkson had 16 points and John Collins scored 15 for Utah (2-7).
San Antonio rookie Stephon Castle had a career-high 23 points in his third NBA start. Wembanyama shot 6 for 9 on 3-pointers and Castle, also 20 years old, was 3 for 7.
Spurs guard Devin Vassell had 18 points in his season debut after missing seven months with a fractured right foot.
BULLS 125, HAWKS 113
ATLANTA (AP) — After trailing for the majority of the game, Chicago stormed back in the second half to defeat Atlanta, snapping a four-game losing streak on Saturday night.
Atlanta outscored Chicago 37-24 in the first quarter and led by as many as 18, but the Bulls started the fourth quarter with a 14-3 run and never looked back.
Ayo Dosunmu led the Bulls with 19 points, Nikola Vucevic added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Zack LaVine and Coby White also scored 18. Josh Giddey scored 13 points and Patrick Williams tallied 10.
Chicago shot 50% (46 of 92) while Atlanta shot 46.1% (41 of 89).
Trae Young had his third double-double in as many games with 14 points and 16 assists, but the effort was wasted for a second game in a row. Clint Capela and Jalen Johnson led all scorers with 20 points apiece.
CAVALIERS 105, NETS 100
CLEVELAND (AP) — Evan Mobley had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Donovan Mitchell scored 22 as Cleveland rallied for a win over Brooklyn, becoming the 12th team in NBA history to start a season 11-0.
Darius Garland scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland, which trailed 82-68 with 35 seconds left in the third. Garland put the Cavaliers ahead for good at 97-96 with two free throws.
The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors hold the league record after winning their first 24 games. They lost to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Cam Johnson scored 23 points and Dennis Schroder and Cam Thomas had 22 apiece for the Nets. Brooklyn trailed by 15 in the second quarter, but held Cleveland to a season-low 13 points in the third with Johnson and Thomas combining for 19.
The Cavaliers failed to score 110 points for the first time, ending their NBA-record streak of doing so in 10 consecutive wins to open a season. Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain and the 1960-61 Philadelphia Warriors had held the mark with nine.
CLIPPERS 105, RAPTORS 103
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — James Harden had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Norman Powell added 24 points and Los Angeles barely hung on to beat Toronto for their fourth straight victory.
Ivica Zubac had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won three straight at Intuit Dome after starting 0-4 in their lavish new home.
Ochai Agbaji and Immanuel Quickley scored 21 points apiece for the Raptors, who have lost three straight and seven of eight.
After Quickley hit a tying 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, Powell and Harden combined to miss three of six free throws to leave the door open for Toronto. But Quickley and RJ Barrett both missed tough short shots under defensive pressure before Jakob Poeltl missed a putback attempt with 4.1 seconds left.
Utah Jazz's Kyle Filipowski (22) tangles with San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama (1) Devin Vassell, left, and Keldon Johnson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in San Antonio. Utah won 111-110. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge recused himself Tuesday from presiding over Arizona’s fake electors case after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency.
In the Aug. 29 email, Maricopa County Judge Bruce Cohen lamented that he didn’t speak out when Harris was called a “DEI hire,” believes that white men must speak out against unfair treatment of women, and raised a historical lesson from the Holocaust about the need to speak up when people are attacked. Cohen didn’t specify who made the comment regarding Harris.
“We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those (who) may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism,” the judge told his colleagues in the email.
Cohen later wrote another email telling his fellow judges that he let his passion cloud his views and apologized to anyone affected by his lapse in judgment in using an email forum for judges that was not appropriate for unsolicited comments.
Lawyers for Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who faces nine felony charges in the case, sought the judge’s removal, arguing Cohen “bears a deep-seated personal political bias that overcame his professional judgment” and that their client has lost confidence in the judge’s impartiality.
Hoffman is one of 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that then-President Donald Trump won Arizona in the 2020 election. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. Two former Trump aides and five lawyers connected to Trump, including Rudy Giuliani, also were charged in the case. All 18 people were charged with charged with forgery, fraud and conspiracy.
“Given the statements the judge made, I think it’s appropriate that he recuse himself,” Arizona attorney Mark L. Williams, who is representing Giuliani, said after Cohen’s decision. “The way I see it, the case against Mr. Giuliani and the other defendants is falling apart and I think the attorney general should just wind down the case and dismiss it.”
A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to comment on the judge’s recusal.
In a court record, Cohen said the original email was a stand for decency and didn’t reflect a personal bias, but he recognized that others may view it differently than he intended.
Cohen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2005, was scheduled to retire in January.
Most of the defendants had asked Cohen to throw out the charges under an Arizona law that bars using baseless legal actions in a bid to silence critics. The law had long offered protections in civil cases but was amended in 2022 by the Republican-led Legislature to cover people facing most criminal charges.
Cohen recused himself before deciding whether to dismiss the case, which will be assigned to another judge.
The defendants argued that Mayes tried to use the charges to silence them for their constitutionally protected speech about the 2020 election and actions taken in response to the race’s outcome. They say Mayes campaigned on investigating the fake elector case and had shown a bias against Trump and his supporters.
Prosecutors said the defendants didn’t have evidence to back up their retaliation claim and that they had crossed the line from protected speech to fraud. Mayes’ office also has said the grand jury that brought the indictment wanted to consider charging Trump, but prosecutors urged them not to.
Two defendants have already resolved their cases.
Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino also became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation.
The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
Associated Press writer Anita Snow contributed to this report.
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 28, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.(Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 27, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic, Pool via AP)
FILE - Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, left, and his attorney Timothy La Sota appear virtually for Hoffman's arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, June 6, 2024. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
