Milwaukee Bucks 121-114 Denver Nuggets: Brook Lopez sees Bucks past slumping Nuggets
Lakers continue good form while Portland beat Boston in round-up of Sunday's NBA action
Monday 12 November 2018 16:14, UK
Brook Lopez helped the Milwaukee Bucks resist a late rally by Denver, while LeBron James helped the Lakers above .500 for the first time this season.
Milwaukee Bucks 121-114 Denver Nuggets
Brook Lopez scored a season-high 28 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the slumping Denver Nuggets 121-114.
Lopez hit a career-high eight three-pointers, six in the third quarter as the Bucks worked to build a double-digit lead.
The Nuggets came storming back after trailing by 11 with 12 minutes to go but couldn't close it out having earned the lead at 112-110 on a Jamal Murray score.
Antetokounmpo tied it with a layup and Malcolm Brogdon hit the Bucks' first three-pointer of the period to make it 115-112 and after two empty possessions for Denver, Middleton hit an 18-foot fadeaway to beat the shot clock and give Milwaukee a 117-112 lead with 42 seconds remaining.
Paul Millsap had 25 points and eight rebounds, Nikola Jokic scored 20 and Trey Lyles had 16 off the bench for the Nuggets, who have lost three straight and fall to 9-4 in the West.
Milwaukee jump to 10-3.
Boston Celtics 94-100 Portland Trail Blazers
Al-Farouq Aminu sank a pair of clutch three-pointers down the stretch to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Boston Celtics 100-94.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points and dished out 12 assists, while Jusuf Nurkic scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for Portland, who moved to 10-3 after winning their fourth straight and seven of the last eight.
Jayson Tatum scored a season-high 27 points and Kyrie Irving 21 for the Celtics, who have lost four of their last five and are now 7-6 in the East.
The Celtics, using a 13-2 spurt, drew to within 85-83 early in the fourth period and moments later, Marcus Morris buried a three to tie it at 86-86.
Irving's three then made it 92-91 to Portland with 2:52 to go but Aminu answered with a three of his own to make it 95-91 and after an Al Horford free throw got the Celtics to within 97-94, Aminu bombed in one from beyond the arc for a 100-94 Portland lead with one minute to play.
Neither team scored the rest of the way.
Orlando Magic 115-89 New York Knicks
The Orlando Magic hit just four of their first 10 shots but still scored the first 10 points of the game as they cruised past the New York Knicks to win by more points than their first five wins this season combined.
The Magic have now won two straight and four of their last five as the Knicks lost by at least 20 points for the third time this season.
Terrence Ross scored a game-high 22 points for the Magic while Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 14 rebounds in just 26 minutes. New York native Mo Bamba had 15 points and eight rebounds in his homecoming.
Kevin Knox led the Knicks with 17 points while Enes Kanter recorded a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Mitchell Robinson set a New York rookie record by blocking nine shots, but it was an otherwise miserable night for the Knicks, who trailed by as many as 34 midway through the fourth.
Indiana Pacers 103-115 Houston Rockets
James Harden scored a game-high 40 points as the Houston Rockets won at home for the first time this season in a 115-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Victor Oladipo led Indiana with 22 points and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 20, but the Pacers had their five-game winning streak on the road snapped after losing to Houston for the second time in six days.
Bogdanovic assisted on a Cory Joseph basket with 1:18 remaining that enabled the Pacers to claw to within eight points, but Chris Paul responded with a driving layup with only 62 seconds left to play.
Harden made 8 of 18 three-pointers while adding seven rebounds and nine assists. Clint Capela scored 18 points for the Rockets, who were without Carmelo Anthony for a second straight game through illness amid reports his time with the team is over.
The Rockets converted a season-high 20 three-pointers in their win.
Atlanta Hawks 106-107 LA Lakers
LeBron James scored 26 points, including a put-back layup with 15 seconds remaining as the LA Lakers continued their good form with a 107-106 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
James had a chance to give the Lakers the lead from the free-throw line with 15 seconds remaining but missed both shots. Kyle Kuzma got the rebound, but missed his effort and James then grabbed that miss to score inside.
Tyson Chandler then blocked a shot by rookie Trae Young at the buzzer to seal the victory as the Lakers improved to 7-6 to move over .500 for the first time this season.
Kuzma added 18 points for the Lakers, who were outscored 31-23 in the final period.
Taurean Prince scored 23 points and Kent Bazemore added 21 for the Hawks, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games and the seventh time in their last nine.
Live NBA: New Orleans @ Minnesota
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