Leonard pours in season-high 43 points; Giannis erupts for 37 points in 21 minutes; Ja Morant leads Grizzlies to victory over Rockets
Wednesday 15 January 2020 08:36, UK
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 43 points as the Los Angeles Clippers pounded the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 128-103 on Tuesday night.
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 43 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers pounded the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 128-103 on Tuesday night.
Clippers forward Paul George missed his third consecutive game with a strained left hamstring, but Leonard more than made up for his absence.
He connected on 14 of 22 shots from the floor and six-of-10 three-pointers in 29 minutes, scoring at least 30 points for the third straight contest and topping his previous high of 42 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 13.
He fell two points shy of his career-high, which he recorded last season with the Toronto Raptors against the Utah Jazz.
Lou Williams had 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and Ivica Zubac added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Los Angeles.
Patrick Beverley contributed 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Landry Shamet and Montrezl Harrell chipped in 12 points apiece.
Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers with 25 points, and Cedi Osman scored 21. They combined for nine of Cleveland's 14 three-pointers. Darius Garland had 14 points and 10 assists.
The Clippers used a 13-0 run to close the first half for a 66-50 edge at the break after Leonard had scored 26 in the half.
Los Angeles carried their dominance into the second period and went on a 19-5 surge to take the game away from Cleveland.
Ja Morant paired 26 points with eight assists and took over down the stretch as the host Memphis Grizzlies extended their winning streak to six games with a 121-110 victory over the Houston Rockets.
After James Harden pulled the Rockets to within 98-96 on a technical free throw with 6:42 remaining, Morant drilled two three-pointers, and completed a three-point play as Memphis reclaimed a 114-105 lead with just over two minutes to play.
It was yet another dynamic performance for the rookie point guard, who finished 10 for 11 from the floor.
Dillon Brooks added 24 points on six-for-10 shooting from three-point range, while Jonas Valanciunas and Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 19 and 15 points, respectively.
The Grizzlies surged to the lead in the second quarter and mustered hasty responses when the Rockets took brief leads in the third and fourth.
Harden scored a game-high 41 points but shot just 13 of 37 overall and missed 14 of 19 three-pointers.
Eric Gordon added 23 points off the bench for the Rockets, who shot just 31.1 percent (14 of 45) from behind the arc. Clint Capela finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets.
Harden poured in 17 points in the opening period on six-of-eight shooting, yet the Rockets couldn't shake Memphis, who reeled off a blistering 27-8 run in the first half having faced an 11-point deficit at one point.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points in just 21 minutes for the host Milwaukee Bucks, who concluded their season-long dominance of the New York Knicks by cruising to a 128-102 victory.
The Bucks swept the three-game season series from the Knicks and never trailed in outscoring New York by a total of 91 points (383-292).
The Bucks have won four in a row overall and nine of 10 to improve to an NBA-best 36-6. The Knicks, whose 11-30 record at the season's midway point is the third-worst mark in the league, have lost six of seven.
Antetokounmpo, who also had nine rebounds and four assists, is just the second player this season to score at least 30 points while playing fewer than 22 minutes. Paul George had 37 points in 20 minutes for the Clippers against the Atlanta Hawks on November 16.
Khris Middleton scored 17 points while Ersan Ilyasova had 14 points off the bench for the Bucks. Eric Bledsoe added 11 points.
Julius Randle (25 points, 15 rebounds) had a double-double for the Knicks. RJ Barrett scored 22 points, and Bobby Portis (20 points) and Kevin Knox II (10 points) each reached double digits off the bench.
The Knicks closed within 10 points a handful of times in the first half before Milwaukee opened its first 20-point lead by going on a 16-5 run that was capped by five straight points from Donte DiVincenzo. Antetokounmpo scored the final four points of the half as the hosts entered the locker room with a 65-40 lead.
Antetokounmpo scored five points in the first 1:47 of the second half as the Bucks opened up a 72-42 lead, which stretched to a 35-point deficit in the third as the Knicks never got closer than 23 in the final period.
Stanford product Dwight Powell celebrated his Bay Area homecoming with a game-high 21 points, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a third straight blowout of the Golden State Warriors, 124-97 in San Francisco.
Luka Doncic totaled 20 points in just 27 minutes for the Mavericks, who visit Sacramento on Wednesday looking to make it three wins in a row.
The Mavericks, who had posted 142 and 141 points in crushing the Warriors by 48 and 20 points in two earlier meetings this season, left little doubt in the third head-to-head as well, sprinting out to a 12-point lead within the first six-and-a-half minutes.
Maxi Kleber bombed in three three-pointers and Tim Hardaway Jr. added a pair in the game-opening 25-13 flurry.
Dallas went on to lead by as many as 13 points in the first quarter and 19 in the second before settling into a 65-47 advantage at the break.
In losing for the ninth straight time, the Warriors got no closer than 15 in the second half after being led by rookies Jordan Poole (17 points) and Eric Paschall (16 points).
Powell made all nine of his field-goal attempts while playing 24 minutes. He also found time for six rebounds.
Boban Marjanovic led the Mavericks with 11 rebounds to go with 13 points while Hardaway finished with 12 points. Kleber and J.J. Barea had 11 points apiece.
Trae Young scored 36 points and Kevin Huerter flirted with a triple-double as the Atlanta Hawks ended their four-game losing streak with a 123-110 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns.
Young showed no ill effects from the sore left hamstring that kept him out of Sunday's game against Brooklyn, scoring 23 in the second half and posting his 20th game with at least 30 points this season.
Huerter was eight-for-14 from the floor and scored 23 points, setting career highs with 15 rebounds and eight assists and registering his first double-double and third 20-point game of the season.
John Collins added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
Phoenix were led by Devin Booker, who scored 39 points - the eighth time in the last 10 game he's scored 30-plus - and grabbed seven rebounds. But Booker was ejected with 1:35 remaining after a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Deandre Ayton added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Mikal Bridges came off the bench to score 15.
Atlanta had a 56-51 halftime lead and extended the advantage to 15 points when Young made two-of-three free throws to give the Hawks a 72-57 edge with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter.
But the Suns went on a 21-6 run and tied the score on Booker's three-pointer with 2:43 left in the period. Atlanta took an 84-83 lead into the final quarter when Collins slammed home an alley-oop pass from Huerter in the closing second.
Atlanta took control in the fourth quarter and held a 110-100 lead after Young hit a three-pointer with 4:34 remaining.
Joe Ingles tied a career-high with 27 points as the Utah Jazz pushed their winning streak to a season-high 10 games in a 118-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in New York.
Ingles hit 10 of 14 shots and made six-of-eight three-pointers. He tied a career-high for field goals and nearly matched a career-best for three-pointers.
Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter after sitting out Sunday's game in Washington due to an illness. He shot eight-for-19 and scored 14 of Utah's final 16 points.
Rudy Gobert posted a double-double with 22 points and 18 rebounds as the Jazz scored 60 points in the paint and shot 50 percent.
Former Net Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 while Jordan Clarkson contributed 13 as Utah also won for the 15th time in 16 games by hitting 36.1 percent (13-for-36) of its 3-point attempts.
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting while handing out 11 assists, but the Nets were unable to win a third straight game despite shooting 50 percent.
Despite leading for the final three quarters, the Jazz experienced some anxious moments down the stretch.
Their lead was down to 112-103 when Caris LeVert hit a baseline layup with two minutes remaining, but Mitchell finished it off with two more hoops and Bogdanovic sealed it with a dunk that made it 116-105 with 45 seconds left.
