CLEVELAND (AP) — Keyonte George scored 32 points, Lauri Markkanen added 28 and the Utah Jazz bounced back after a 55-point loss and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 123-112 Monday night.
George had 16 points during the third quarter, when Utah rallied from a 10-point deficit and regained control and began its five-game road trip with a victory. George also was 12 of 12 at the free throw line and had nine assists.
The win was the Jazz’s second in their past eight games and came two nights after a 150-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the second-largest by scoring margin in franchise history and the biggest since they moved from New Orleans in 1979.
Markkanen, 10th in the league in scoring at 27.8 points per game, also had 12 rebounds. Jusuf Nurkik, who missed the last two games due to a toe injury, had 11 points and 17 rebounds.
Darius Garland led Cleveland with 23 points and Donovan Mitchell scored 21. The Cavaliers have dropped two of three.
PACERS 98, CELTICS 96
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 21 points, including the decisive 7-foot bank shot with 6.1 seconds remaining, and Indiana won three straight games for the first time this season, beating Boston.
Boston’s Derrick White missed a go-ahead 3-point attempt in the final seconds. He had tied the game at 96-all on a driving layup with 28.6 seconds remaining.
Siakam pump-faked and stepped inside the foul line for the high-arcing leaner that banked through in the final seconds. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.
The Pacers began the night with the NBA’s worst record but improved to 9-31, one-half game better than the New Orleans Pelicans. They were without forward Bennedict Mathurin (17.8 points per game), sidelined by a thumb injury for a fifth consecutive game.
Jay Huff had 20 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Pacers.
Payton Pritchard led the Celtics with 23 points and eight assists. White had 18 points and Anfernee Simons 16.
76ERS 115, RAPTORS 102
TORONTO (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points, Joel Embiid had 27 and Philadelphia used an 80-point first half to beat Toronto.
VJ Edgecombe and Paul George each scored 15 points as the 76ers bounced back from Sunday’s overtime loss to Toronto to win for the sixth time in eight games.
Embiid (left knee and left groin) and George (left knee) were back in the lineup after sitting out Sunday.
Fans chanted “We want Lowry!” in the fourth quarter, then rose for a standing ovation when former Raptors player Kyle Lowry checked in for Maxey with 1:57 left to play.
Lowry starred for the Toronto team that won the 2019 NBA championship. He airballed a 3-pointer on his first attempt and missed all three shots he took.
Immanuel Quickley scored 18 points and Brandon Ingram had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Scottie Barnes scored 15 points for Toronto.
MAVERICKS 113, NETS 105
DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 27 points and matched a season high with three steals, and Naji Marshall had three straight baskets down the stretch and finished with 22 points as Dallas beat Brooklyn.
The Mavericks (15-25) snapped a two-game skid. Klay Thompson scored 18 off the bench and matched a season high with six 3-pointers.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 28 points and Day’Ron Sharpe had 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Nets (11-26), who have lost four consecutive games. They were swept in a road back-to-back, losing 103-98 at Memphis on Sunday.
KINGS 124, LAKERS 112
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) —Malik Monk made seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help Sacramento Kings to a win over Los Angeles.
DeMar DeRozan had 32 points and six assists for the Kings (10-30), who won their second straight after a seven-game skid. Russell Westbrook, who played 78 games for the Lakers in 2023, added 22 points and seven assists.
It was the Kings’ first home win against the Lakers since March 13, 2024.
Luka Doncic paced the Lakers with 42 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. It was the seventh 40-point game of the season for the NBA’s leading scorer.
LeBron James had 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting that included missing all five attempts from 3-point distance.
DeAndre Ayton scored 13 points to reach 7,000 for his career. Jaxson Hayes added 12 points for the Lakers (23-11), who have lost two straight since winning three in a row.
CLIPPERS 117, HORNETS 109
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points and James Harden had 32 to move into ninth place on the NBA’s career scoring list, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Charlotte for their fourth win in five games.
Jordan Miller added 14 points and Ivica Zubac had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers.
LaMelo Ball had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hornets in their third loss in four games. Kon Knueppel scored 18 points, Moussa Diabaté had 13 points and 15 rebounds, Brandon Miller also scored 13 and Miles Bridges 11.
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) blocks a shot by Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
PARIS (AP) — France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen denied any wrongdoing as she appeared in court on Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome of the case.
Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.
“I'd like to tell the court that ... we did not feel we had committed any offence,” Le Pen told the three-judge panel. She said European Parliament officials did not at the time tell her party that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.
"We have never concealed anything," she added. The room was packed with dozens of reporters and members of the general public.
The European Parliament's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said he disagrees with Le Pen's presentation of the institution's role as "an arbitrator."
“There’s a contradiction in saying at the same time: ‘I deny you the right to examine the content of my work as a member of parliament’ and then saying: ‘but the European Parliament didn’t conduct a thorough review,’” Maisonneuve told reporters.
Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year's ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. She denounced it as “a democratic scandal.”
Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out “the nuclear bomb” to prevent her from becoming France’s president.
Anti-corruption campaigners argue that Le Pen’s conviction was proof that French democracy works, and that no one is above the law. Advocacy group Transparency France noted that her conviction came after years of investigation and a lengthy trial in which Le Pen and other party members were able to freely defend their positions.
The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last for five weeks. The panel is expected to announce its verdict later, possibly before summer.
Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar her from running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew — up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million).
In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said Le Pen was at the heart of a “system” set up to siphon off EU parliament funds — including to pay for her bodyguard and her chief of staff.
All defendants denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.
The legal proceedings initially stemmed from a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament, to French authorities.
The case and its fallout weigh heavily on Le Pen’s political future after more than a decade spent trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream. Since taking over the party from her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011, she has sought to shed its reputation for racism and antisemitism, changing its name, expelling her father in 2015 and softening the party’s platform and her own public image.
The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country. It is most well-known for its anti-immigration, nationalist stance and its rhetoric often targeting Muslims.
Le Pen and other party members also have long criticized the EU and its rules and campaigned for more national sovereignty, even while serving in the EU Parliament. She stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Jordan Bardella.
If Le Pen is ultimately prevented from running in 2027, Bardella, 30, is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership.
Le Pen's potential conviction would be “deeply worrying for (France's) democracy,” Bardella said Monday in a New Year address.
AP journalists Angela Charlton, John Leicester, Nicolas Vaux-Montagny and Catherine Gaschka contributed to this report.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen returns after a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this courtroom sketch, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center left, appears in court with other members of the far-right National Rally party, to appeal an embezzlement conviction that risks affecting her 2027 presidential ambitions Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1970 in Paris. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
European Parliament lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve arrives to an appeal court for far-right leader Marine Le Pen's appeal trial for an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right party National Rally president Jordan Bardella speaks during his New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, is framed by Louis Aliot, left, and conservative lawmaker Eric Ciotti during National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
