Durant scores 42 points, Suns hand Cavaliers 4th straight loss 123-112

PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 42 points and the Phoenix Suns defeated the suddenly struggling Cleveland Cavaliers 123-112 on Friday night.

It was the Suns’ third straight win and kept them in a tie with Dallas for the final play-in spot in the West at 34-37.

Devin Booker scored 17 points and Tyus Jones scored 16. Royce O'Neale had 15 points on five 3-pointers for Phoenix.

Cleveland, which saw its 16-game winning streak snapped by Orlando on Sunday, has now lost a season-high four in a row to fall two games behind Oklahoma City for the NBA’s best record. Their 56-14 mark still leads the East comfortably.

Darius Garland scored 18 points for Cleveland. Evan Mobley had 16 points and 12 rebounds and former Sun Ty Jerome also scored 16 for the Cavs. All-Star Donovan Mitchell scored just seven points.

The Suns were without Bradley Beal (hamstring) and their top two centers, Nick Richards (calf) and Mason Plumlee (quad). Third-stringer Oso Ighodaro played a game-high 44 minutes and had a team-high 13 rebounds.

Cavaliers: Cleveland looked out of sync most of the night and continued to struggle on their five-game West Coast swing after losses at the Clippers and Kings.

Suns: A critical win in a mostly disappointing season for Phoenix as they try to qualify for the play-in round in the West. The Suns have 11 games remaining and all but one are against teams currently in playoff position.

O’Neale hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the second quarter to put the Suns ahead 47-38 and they maintained the lead from then on. They led 62-51 at the half.

Mitchell missed his first seven shots from the field and was 2 of 18 for the game, missing all eight tries from 3-point range.

Cavaliers at Utah on Sunday; Suns host Milwaukee on Monday.

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Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie (12) drives on Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) drives around Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker loses the ball in front of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) and guard Ty Jerome (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives on Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns forward Ryan Dunn (0) dunks over Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) drives by Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Monday after gains in technology stocks snapped Wall Street’s four-week losing streak.

U.S. stock futures advanced as investors awaited developments on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as reports suggested he may narrow his broad approach to focus on countries that run significant trade surpluses with the U.S. That includes many countries in Asia.

President Donald Trump has set an April 2 deadline to impose more tariffs on trading partners. It follows a series of other deadlines that have been set for tariffs only to be postponed, sometimes at the last minute.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang struck a conciliatory tone during a meeting with business leaders and U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, who is the first member of Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office in January.

Relations between the countries “have come to an important juncture,” Li said. “Our two sides need to choose dialogue over confrontation, win-win cooperation over zero-sum competition,” he said, adding that China hoped that the U.S. would work together to promote the steady and sustainable development of the China-U.S. relations.

The meeting also involved the leaders of several American businesses, including FedEx Corp. CEO Raj Subramaniam, Boeing Co.’s senior vice president Brendan Nelson, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon and Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla.

“In recent days, Trump administration officials have signaled that the list of affected countries may not be universal, and existing tariffs — such as those on steel — may not necessarily be cumulative,” Junrong Yeap of IG said in a commentary, adding that , “optimism has surfaced that Trump’s tariff plans may once again be more bark than bite.”

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4% to 23,787.71, and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 3,370.03.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 edged 0.2% lower to 37,608.49 after a preliminary report on manufacturing showed output falling at its fastest pace in a year, while new orders fell more quickly.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1%, closing at 7,936.90, while Korea's Kospi lost 0.4% to 2,632.07.

Taiwan's Taiex declined 0.4% while the Sensex in India was up 1.3%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% to 5,667.56, finishing with a 0.5% weekly gain. It’s still down 4.8% so far this month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain to 41,985.35, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% to 17,784.05.

Technology stocks bounced back to offset a big share of the declines elsewhere in the S&P 500. The sector has been at the center of much of the market's recent sell-off in a reversal from their market-driving gains throughout the previous year. The stocks are among the most valuable on Wall Street and have outsized impacts on whether the market gains or loses ground.

Apple rose about 2% and Microsoft added 1.1%. Another Big Tech stock, Nvidia, fell 0.7%, while Micron Technology slid 8% for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks.

Stocks have been losing ground for weeks over uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. economy. A trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners threatens to worsen inflation and hurt both consumers and businesses. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's goal of 2% and tariffs could hurt the central bank's efforts to ease the rate of inflation.

A recent batch of economic reports on home sales, industrial production and unemployment reinforced the view that the economy is holding strong. But other reports on consumer sentiment and retail sales have revealed rising caution from consumers.

Businesses have been warning investors about tariffs, inflation and growing uncertainty about the impact to costs.

Homebuilder Lennar fell 4% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected forecast for new orders and average sales prices for the current quarter. It said high interest rates, inflation, and waning consumer confidence are weighing on an already tough housing market.

In other dealings Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil edged 1 cent higher to $68.29 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 3 cents to $71.13 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 149.76 Japanese yen from 149.37 yen. The euro inched up to $1.0845 from $1.0816.

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A stock market trader watches his monitors on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

The display board with the Dax curve in the trading hall of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

A currency trader reacts near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)