Kevin Durant scores 30 points to lead the Rockets to a dominant win over the Cavaliers

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 30 points in three quarters to lead the Houston Rockets to an easy 117-100 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

The Rockets won their second straight after they lost four of their previous five games.

Durant, who also had seven assists and four rebounds, didn’t play in the fourth quarter with Houston up by 27 points after three.

The Cavaliers cut the lead to 12 on a basket by Darius Garland with about seven minutes left in the third quarter before Houston used a 15-0 run to make it 85-58 about two minutes later. After a dunk by Durant in that stretch, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson received a technical for yelling at the officials and Durant made the free throw.

Jabari Smith Jr. capped the run with a 3-pointer before Dean Wade made a 3 to give the Cavaliers their first points in more than four minutes.

Reserve Jaylon Tyson had 23 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell added 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting for the Cavaliers, who dropped a second straight game and their fifth in the last seven games.

The Rockets scored seven straight points, with 3s from Tari Eason and Smith, to take a 16-12 lead and never trailed again.

Tyson hit a shot for the Cavaliers after that but Houston then used a 12-2 spurt, with nine points from Durant, to push the lead to 28-16 late in the first.

Reed Sheppard added 18 points and eight assists off the bench for the Rockets. Smith had 15 points to tie a career high with his fifth straight game with at least 15 points.

Houston’s Steven Adams had nine points and eight assists starting in place of All-Star Alperen Sengun, who missed the game with calf tightness.

Cavaliers: Visit San Antonio on Monday night.

Rockets: Host the Pacers on Monday night.

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

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (17) blocks the shot of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Rockets center Steven Adams, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen compete for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) dribbles as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Voters in Kosovo cast ballots on Sunday in an early parliamentary election in hopes of breaking a political deadlock that has gripped the small Balkan nation for much of this year.

The snap vote was scheduled after Prime Minister Albin Kurti's governing Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party failed to form a government despite winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election.

The deadlock marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.

The prime minister's party is again the favorite in the race, but it is unclear whether it will manage to muster a majority this time in the 120-member parliament, after other mainstream parties refused an alliance.

According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.

Another inconclusive vote would further deepen the crisis. Kosovo has already not approved a budget for next year, sparking fears of possible negative effects on the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people.

Lawmakers are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April. If this fails too, another snap election must be held.

The main opposition parties are the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo. They have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s U.S. and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021.

A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.

Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.

No reliable pre-election polls have been published. Kurti's party at the previous election won around 42% of the votes while the two main rival parties had together around 40%.

Analysts say that even the slightest changes in numbers on Sunday could prove decisive for the future distribution of power but that nothing is certain.

Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.

Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.

Kosovo is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.

People walk past a giant banner of the leader of VV (Selfdetermination) political party Albin Kurti, in the capital Pristina on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People waiting in the iluminated bus station with banners of LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo) leader Lumir Abdixhiku in capital Pristina on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)