The Philadelphia 76ers improved to 9-1 at home with their 122-110 win over the Boston Celtics; Clint Capela's performance for the Atlanta Hawks was added to by Trae Young, who posted a season-high of 43 points.
Saturday 23 January 2021 07:10, UK
Joel Embiid notched 38 points for the Philadelphia 76ers, while Clint Capela's first career triple-double boosted Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
Embiid's industry enabled the 76ers to record another home victory, they move to 9-1 at home, as they beat the Celtics for the second game on the spin.
Meanwhile, Clint Capela's performance for the Hawks was added to by Trae Young, who posted a season-high of 43 points during their 116-98 result against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Elsewhere, there were victories for Houston Rockets, who held off the Detriot Pistons, and the Indiana Pacers had the edge over Orlando Magic.
Embiid's work helped the Philadelphia 76ers to beat the Boston Celtics for the second game in a row, as they prevailed 122-110 on Friday night.
Alongisde Embiid scoring 38 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, Tobias Harris scored 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting and Seth Curry added 15, after missing the previous seven games due to health and safety protocols.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with a career-high-tying 42 points to go along with nine rebounds while Marcus Smart added 20 points and seven assists. Kemba Walker chipped in with 19 points.
Matisse Thybulle opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the wing to give Philadelphia a 14-point advantage.
The Celtics responded by scoring the next five points to get within 94-85. After the Celtics closed within 99-89, Embiid posted up and dropped in a turnaround jumper to push the lead back to 12 with 7:45 to go.
Brown then keyed an 8-0 spurt, and the Boston deficit was 101-97 with 5:36 to go.
After a basket by Simmons, Brown hit his fifth 3-pointer to close the gap to 103-100 with 4:44 remaining.
Simmons followed with a three-point play, then a steal and dunk, and Harris added to produce a 111-100 advantage. Simmons contributed another clutch basket and the lead ballooned to 13 with 3:15 left.
Clint Capela recorded his first career triple-double and Trae Young scored a season-high 43 points to pace the visiting Atlanta Hawks to a 116-98 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocked shots, becoming the first NBA player to have a triple-double with blocks since 2018.
He swatted six shots on the first half, also became the third Hawks player ever to post 10 or more blocks in a single game, joining Dikembe Mutombo and Josh Smith.
Young was 14-for-22 from the floor, scored 25 points in the first half - making 6-for-6 field goals in the second quarter - and produced his sixth 30-plus point game of the season. The win was Atlanta's second over Minnesota in four days.
Minnesota were still without leading scorer Karl-Anthony Towns and Juancho Hernangomez, who are both in COVID-19 protocol, but did get Ricky Rubio back after a two-game absence.
The Timberwolves were led by Malik Beasley with 17 points and Jarrett Culver, who came off the bench to score 15.
Zach LaVine scored 25 points as the Chicago Bulls posted their first three-game winning streak of the season by defeating the host Charlotte Hornets 123-110.
Lauri Markkanen poured in 23 points for the Bulls, who shot 51.6 per cent from the field. Markkanen was 10-for-17 and LaVine 8-for-12. LaVine, who entered the game averaging 27.4 points, made all six of his foul shots.
Bulls guard Coby White, who was held scoreless Sunday at Dallas and then shot 4-for-12 in a 10-point outing the next day at Houston, made a 3-pointer on his first attempt Friday on his way to 18 points in a return to his home state.
Gordon Hayward posted 34 points and Devonte' Graham scored a season-high 24 points for the Hornets, who hadn't played since Saturday.
The defeat is the Charlotte Hornets' fourth in a row. P.J. Washington added 16 points and Terry Rozier had 10 points for them, however they couldn't overcome 20 turnovers - all of which came the first three quarters.
Eric Gordon led seven Houston players in double figures with 20 points as the Rockets held off the host Detroit Pistons 103-102.
P.J. Tucker had 15 points and seven rebounds and Jae'Sean Tate, David Nwaba and Victor Oladipo supplied 13 points apiece for Houston, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 21 points and eight rebounds. Grant has scored 20 or more points in 14 consecutive games. Delon Wright and Wayne Ellington contributed 18 points apiece and Josh Jackson added 12.
Houston center Christian Wood, who played for Detroit last season, did not make the trip due to a sprained ankle.
Sterling Brown hit a pair of long balls midway through the fourth to extend the Rockets' lead to eight, 95-87. Detroit scored the next six points before Gordon made a pair of free throws.
Grant's 3-pointer with 1:49 left pulled Detroit within two points. Mason Plumlee had a chance to tie it but missed two free throws. Gordon then made a driving layup for a 102-98 Rockets lead with 1:08 remaining.
Blake Griffin's 3-pointer cut Houston's advantage to one, 103-102. Oladipo missed a 3-point attempt and Griffin rebounded, setting up Detroit's final possession after a timeout with 3.4 seconds left.
Grant took the inbounds pass and drove to the basket. A foul was called against Tucker but after video review, it was determined that the infraction came after the clock had expired.
Malcolm Brogdon made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Indiana Pacers a 120-118 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday in Indianapolis.
Brogdon finished with 23 points, Jeremy Lamb had 22 off the bench and Myles Turner added a season-high-tying 22 in his return from a two-game absence.
Turner didn't look the worse for wear while playing with an avulsion fracture in his shooting hand. He made 9 of 14 attempts from the floor to go along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
The teams each made a layup and a foul shot before Domantas Sabonis (18 points, 11 rebounds) made a short jumper to trim Indiana's deficit to one at 118-117 with 35.7 seconds left. Brogdon calmly sank a 3-pointer to give the Pacers the lead, and Fournier's bid from 3-point range caromed off the rim.
Nikola Vucevic collected 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon finished with 17 for the Magic, who have lost seven of their last eight games.
