Zion scores 28 points in Pelicans win in Golden State; Siakam shines as Raptors rout Pacers; McCollum and Melo leads Blazers past Pistons
Monday 24 February 2020 10:01, UK
LeBron James recorded 29 points and Anthony Davis added 32 as the Los Angeles Lakers weathered Jayson Tatum's 41-point effort to beat the Boston Celtics at Staples Center.
LeBron James recorded 29 points, nine assists and eight boards and Anthony Davis tallied 32 points and 13 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers weathered a career-high-tying 41-point effort by Jayson Tatum to beat the Boston Celtics, 114-112, on Sunday at Staples Center.
The historic rivals went back-and-forth throughout the game, which went right down to the wire. The Celtics took a 110-108 lead with 1:17 left when Jaylen Brown, who scored 20 points, knocked down a three-pointer.
Missed shots on both ends set a final 37 seconds that took several minutes due to a handful of officiating reviews and a technical foul assessed to Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
James' fadeaway jumper with 30.4 seconds remaining gave Los Angeles the lead for good, with Davis making three free throws over the final 12 seconds to seal it.
Boston, playing without All-Star guard Kemba Walker for the second time since the break, fell behind 28-19 through the first quarter. The Celtics battled back behind Tatum, who matched a career-high set on January 11 against New Orleans.
Eighteen of Tatum's 41 came in the third quarter, which ended with the teams deadlocked at 87.
Dwight Howard, who scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench, keyed the Lakers in the early fourth quarter with six of the team's first eight points in the period.
Kyle Kuzma also scored in double figures off the bench for Los Angeles with 16 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also came on in reserve duties to force a critical turnover moments before Stevens was assessed his technical.
All five Boston starters scored in double figures, with Daniel Theis adding 16 points and nine rebounds and Marcus Smart registering 14 points and seven rebounds. Gordon Hayward scored 10 points, almost eight fewer than his season average, and shot 0-of-5 from behind the three-point line. Hayward flirted with a triple-double, however, dishing a team-high nine assists and pulling down eight rebounds.
Zion Williamson scored 28 points, his most in a road game this season, and Nicolo Melli saved three of his six three-pointers for the fourth quarter as the New Orleans Pelicans rallied for a 115-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Williamson shot 13-for-20 and added seven rebounds, six on the offensive end, helping the playoff-hopeful Pelicans win for the fifth time in their last six games.
Damion Lee had 22 points and Jordan Poole 19 for the Warriors, who lost their sixth straight game.
Seeking a third win over New Orleans this season, Golden State led by as many as 11 points in the first half en route to a 56-46 advantage at the break. But the Pelicans dominated the second half, beginning with a 22-6 burst early in the third period that turned a 12-point deficit into a 68-64 lead. Jrue Holiday had eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, and Williamson three hoops in the run.
The Warriors managed to draw even at 77-77, but New Orleans used another flurry early in the fourth quarter to take command for good. Melli (two) and Holiday (one) combined for three three-pointers in an 11-2 spurt that quickly gave the visitors a nine-point lead. The Warriors got within six on one subsequent occasion, but Melli added another three-pointer to help the Pelicans pull away.
Williamson's 28 points, which came in just 33 minutes, established a new rookie opponent's scoring record at the new Chase Center in San Francisco. Memphis' Ja Morant set the old mark of 26 in December.
Pascal Siakam scored 21 points as the Toronto Raptors led all the way to defeat the visiting Indiana Pacers 127-81.
Kyle Lowry had 16 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and five steals for the Raptors, who have defeated the Pacers three times this month. Serge Ibaka added 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Raptors, who have won 17 of their past 18 games.
Matt Thomas had 17 points off the bench for Toronto, Terrence Davis II added 13 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 12. Chris Boucher had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Toronto's lead reached 47 points when Thomas made a three-pointer with 43.7 seconds remaining.
The Pacers were without guard Victor Oladipo, who had a sore back, and lost guard Jeremy Lamb, who left the game with a sore left knee in the second quarter after taking a hard fall at the baseline. He stayed in to take his free throws before going to the locker room. He did not return.
Domantas Sabonis scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost seven of their past nine games. Aaron Holiday added 14 points and brother Justin Holiday had 12 points.
Paul Millsap had a season-high 25 points and Nikola Jokic scored 24 as the host Denver Nuggets beat the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves, 128-116.
Jamal Murray had 19 points, Gary Harris and Monte Morris had 13 apiece and Jerami Grant 12 for Denver, who have won eight straight against the Timberwolves.
Kelan Martin scored a career-high 21 points - 19 in the first half - Malik Beasley had 17, Jordan McLaughlin added 15 points and 10 assists, Jarrett Culver had 14 and Naz Reid scored 13 for Minnesota.
The Timberwolves had just nine players available. Karl-Anthony Towns is out at least two weeks with a left wrist fracture, Allen Crabbe was unavailable due to personal reasons and guard D'Angelo Russell sat for maintenance.
Denver scored 73 points in the first half, a season-high, but still only led by three midway through the third quarter. Mason Plumlee's lay-up at the end of the period put the Nuggets ahead 97-87 heading into the fourth.
Denver scored nine quick points to take a 106-91 lead. Juancho Hernangomez's three-pointer with 8:56 left capped a 9-0 run for the Wolves but the Nuggets put it away by scoring 18 of the next 20 points.
CJ McCollum scored a season-best 41 points, recorded a career-high 12 assists and also collected nine rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 107-104 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Carmelo Anthony tallied a season-high 32 points for the Trail Blazers, who played without star guard Damian Lillard (groin) for the second straight game. Anthony was 11-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range to match a season high for makes from behind the arc.
Hassan Whiteside added 16 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots as Portland halted a three-game skid.
Christian Wood recorded 26 points and nine rebounds for Detroit, which has dropped six straight games. Brandon Knight and Derrick Rose scored 15 points apiece and Langston Galloway had 13 points.
Portland trailed by nine with under nine minutes remaining before scoring 17 of the next 21 points. Whiteside's dunk knotted the score at 97 and McCollum finished off the spurt with four straight points to give the Trail Blazers a 101-97 edge with 2:01 left.
A dunk by Wood pulled the Pistons within 103-101 with 1:16 left. Detroit later had a chance to tie but Rose's shot was rejected by Whiteside, leading to an 18-footer by Anthony to make it a four-point margin with 21.3 seconds left en route to the Trail Blazers closing it out.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 22 points and Chris Paul narrowly missed a triple-double to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 131-103 home victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Thunder got rolling in the second quarter, answering a Spurs run with 16 consecutive points to jump ahead. That stretch, like most of the game, came from a balanced scoring effort.
Luguentz Dort, a rookie on a two-way contract, came up big for Oklahoma City with two big baskets in the 16-0 run, including a three-pointer to finish off the stretch, and put the Thunder up 52-45.
Dort was big on both ends of the floor. On offense, he went 6-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, to finish with 15 points. For the first time in Thunder history, eight players scored in double figures.
On the other end, Dort had three steals and played a big part in Oklahoma City slowing San Antonio's offense. The Thunder outscored the Spurs by 36 points with Dort on the floor.
While the second quarter set up Oklahoma City's victory, the third quarter turned what had been a close game into a blowout. The Thunder outscored San Antonio 37-18 in the period to take control. By the time the fourth quarter started, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich sat his starters.
Coby White scored 33 points off the bench and Zach LaVine added 32 points as the Chicago Bulls pulled away for a 126-117 win over the visiting Washington Wizards.
Thaddeus Young finished with 25 points for the Bulls, who snapped an eight-game losing streak. Tomas Satoransky posted a double-double against his former team with 15 points and 13 assists.
Bradley Beal scored a career-high 53 points in a losing effort for the Wizards, who have lost back-to-back games. Beal shot 15-of-27 from the field, 5-of-11 from beyond the arc and 18-of-20 from the free throw line.
Washington opened the fourth quarter on a 20-11 run to close the gap to 112-105 with 6:08 remaining. But Satoransky made a three-pointer to provide some breathing room at 115-105 with 5:46 left.
The Bulls pushed the lead to 15 points on a three-pointer by LaVine with 2:45 remaining and held on the rest of the way.
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