Joel Embiid and Jamal Murray both have career-high 50-point nights, the Los Angeles Clippers finally stop the Utah Jazz, and a monster Nikola Vucevic triple-double sees the Orlando Magic beat Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors
Saturday 20 February 2021 08:26, UK
Joel Embiid scored a career-high 50 points to go along with 17 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots on Friday night to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Chicago Bulls 112-105.
Embiid was 17 of 26 from the field and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line as he surpassed the 49 points he scored against the Atlanta Hawks on February 24, 2020.
Tobias Harris added 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Sixers. Danny Green contributed 13 points and Dwight Howard came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds.
It was Philadelphia's second win in succession without Ben Simmons, who sat with a stomach illness.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 30 points, Wendell Carter Jr. added 15 and Thad Young scored 12. Tomas Satoransky, Ryan Arcidiacono and Garrett Temple had 10 apiece for Chicago, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 116-112 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz.
Lou Williams scored 19 points and Marcus Morris chipped in 17 off the bench for the Clippers. Patrick Beverley also scored 17. Paul George added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Los Angeles (22-9) beat the Jazz for the first time in three meetings this season.
Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points to lead Utah, who had a nine-game winning streak snapped. Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 points and Jordan Clarkson chipped in 19 off the bench. Mike Conley scored 16 points.
The Jazz (24-6) lost for just the second time in their last 22 games.
With Leonard and George back in action, the Clippers set an aggressive tone on both ends of the floor in the first half. They shot 51 percent from the floor and held Utah in check on the perimeter.
Los Angeles carved out a double-digit lead in the second quarter, going up 47-33 after Williams and Reggie Jackson hit back-to-back threes to spark a 15-7 run. Jackson also assisted back-to-back baskets from Beverley and Serge Ibaka that capped the run.
Utah closed to within 94-92 on a dunk from Mitchell before the Clippers pulled away for good. Beverley scored 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cap a 13-2 run that gave Los Angeles a 107-94 lead with 2:28 remaining.
The Jazz cut the deficit to a basket, 112-110, with 13.0 seconds left on back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitchell. Beverley sealed the win on a pair of free throws with 10.1 seconds remaining.
Jamal Murray scored a career-high 50 points to lift the visiting Denver Nuggets to a 120-103 victory over the reeling Cleveland Cavaliers.
Murray sank 21 of 25 shots - including 8 of 10 from 3-point range - for the Nuggets, who shot a sizzling 66.7 percent from the floor to claim a 69-50 lead at intermission. Denver didn't cool off much, finishing with 57.5-percent shooting to defeat Cleveland for the second time in 10 days.
Murray's point total eclipsed his previous regular-season career high of 48 points, set in the Nuggets' 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics on Nov. 5, 2018. He did score 50 in two playoff games against the Utah Jazz last season.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 of his 22 points in the first half and Nikola Jokic celebrated his 26th birthday by collecting 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets.
For the Cavs, Collin Sexton scored 23 points to avenge a season-low four-point performance in Cleveland's 133-95 setback in Denver on Feb. 10.
Jarrett Allen recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who saw their losing skid extended to nine games.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton each had a double-double as the visiting Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 132-114.
The Suns trailed by 11 points at the end of the third quarter but outscore the Pelicans 41-12 in the fourth quarter to win for the seventh time in eight games.
Paul had 15 points and 19 assists, Ayton had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Jae Crowder scored 20, Frank Kaminsky had 17 and Cameron Johnson scored 13.
Brandon Ingram scored 25, Zion Williamson had 23, Lonzo Ball added 21 and Eric Bledsoe 12 to lead the Pelicans.
Kemba Walker returned from a one-game sabbatical to score a season-high 28 points and lead the Boston Celtics to a 121-109 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Walker sat out the first of the two-game series against Atlanta for load management of his left knee, a game the Celtics lost. He scored 20 of his points in the first half on Friday as Boston built a 25-point halftime lead.
Walker was a season-high 10-for-16 from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and added five rebounds, six assists and three steals. He even blocked a shot.
The Celtics led by as many as 27 points (96-69) in the second half but had to withstand an Atlanta comeback that trimmed the lead to nine points with just under five minutes left.
Boston got 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Jayson Tatum and 17 points each from Tristan Thompson and Jaylen Brown. Daniel Thies returned after missing two games with a right index finger sprain and had 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Trae Young led Atlanta with 31 points and 11 assists. Young scored 40 against Boston on Wednesday. Clint Capela had 24 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, and reserve Solomon Hill added 12 points.
Boston has won two of its last three. Atlanta has lost five of its last six games.
Rookie Chuma Okeke buried two key 3-pointers in a late rally that propelled the host Orlando Magic to a 124-120 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Orlando's Nikola Vucevic recorded his third career triple-double with 30 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Evan Fournier had 28 points and Terrence Ross 24 for the Magic, who blew a 17-point lead before rallying from 13 down in the fourth quarter.
Stephen Curry had 29 points and 11 assists for the Warriors, who beat the Magic 111-105 on Feb. 11 in San Francisco. Curry had 40 points in that game.
Down 106-93 with 8:50 to play, the Magic caught fire offensively after Fournier and Michael Carter-Williams, neither of whom had played in last week's loss, hit 3-pointers.
Golden State retained a 112-106 lead after a Damion Lee 3-pointer with 5:24 to go, but Okeke countered with a trey, and with the Magic having closed within one, buried another for a 116-114 advantage the hosts never relinquished.
Curry nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to give Golden State a chance, but he misfired on a potential game-tying 27-footer with 3.5 seconds left, allowing the Magic to hold on.
Norman Powell scored 22 of his 31 points in the first half and the visiting Toronto Raptors gave up an early lead before coming back to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 86-81.
Terence Davis, who did not play until the fourth quarter, made a 3-pointer to break a tie with 30.8 seconds to play. He completed the scoring by sinking two free throws with 18.8 seconds left to finish with 11 points. He played all but 24 seconds of the fourth quarter.
The Raptors have won three in a row after losing 116-112 to the Timberwolves on Sunday.
Fred VanVleet had 12 points and Pascal Siakam added 10 for Toronto. Karl-Anthony Towns amassed 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three straight and seven of their past eight. Malik Beasley added 13 points and Jordan McLaughlin had 11.
The Raptors led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but Minnesota used a 29-13 third quarter to take a six-point lead into the fourth.
The Timberwolves got the lead to eight on a 3-pointer by Jaden McDaniels with 9:28 remaining. The Raptors trimmed the deficit to two on a trey by Davis with 7:27 to go.
Minnesota led by six on a layup by Towns with 3:40 left, but VanVleet responded with two free throws 11 seconds later. Powell hit a layup, and Siakam dunked to tie the game with 1:22 left. Toronto ended the game on an 11-0 run.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 98-85 to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Bucks haven't lost six consecutive games since March 2015, Antetokounmpo's second year in the league.
Milwaukee's 98 points were its second-lowest of the season, the second night in a row they were held under 100, but the Bucks made up for it on defense. It was the first time Milwaukee had held an opponent under 90 points all season.
Antetokounmpo's rebounding total was a season high, and the Bucks dominated the boards 61-46. Antetokounmpo added eight assists and shot 10 of 20 from the floor.
Khris Middleton scored 20 points for Milwaukee, and D.J. Augustin added 11. The loss was the third consecutive and the sixth in seven games for Oklahoma City.
Luguentz Dort led the Thunder with 17 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14. Roby, Al Horford and Diallo each had 10 points.
Ja Morant had 29 points and the Memphis Grizzlies opened up a 21-point lead in the first half and went on to a 109-95 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Jonas Valanciunas powered for 17 points and 15 rebounds and Kyle Anderson had 16 points. Brandon Clarke added 12 points with seven rebounds, and Desmond Bane chipped in 10 points off the bench for Memphis.
Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks missed the game due a thigh injury.
Detroit's Jerami Grant, who scored a career-high 43 against Chicago on Thursday, was limited to 16 points on 5-for-20 shooting. Delon Wright also had 16 points and Josh Jackson tossed in 15 with seven rebounds.
Saddiq Bey added 14 points and Mason Plumlee posted 10 points, 15 rebounds and six assists but also was responsible for six of the Pistons' 21 turnovers.
