James Harden and Andre Drummond leave games injured; Luka Doncic drops 36 on Celtics in Mavericks win; Jrue Holiday leads Bucks past Lakers; coverage of the NBA continues as the Charlotte Hornets visit the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, live from 12:30am on Sky Sports Arena
Thursday 1 April 2021 08:08, UK
Devin Booker scored a season-high 45 points on 17-of-24 shooting, and the Phoenix Suns held on for a 121-116 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Chris Paul contributed 19 points and 14 assists for Phoenix, which has won four games in a row and seven of its past eight. Dario Saric scored 16 points off the bench.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who dropped their fifth consecutive game. Thaddeus Young (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Lauri Markkanen (16 points, 10 rebounds) also notched double-doubles.
The Bulls pulled within 115-112 with 52.8 seconds remaining but could not get any closer. Phoenix firmly held its lead in the final minute with a driving layup by Booker and four free throws by Paul.
Bulls guard Zach LaVine (sprained right ankle) did not play. He leads the team in scoring at 27.5 points per game.
Kyrie Irving collected 31 points and a season-high 12 assists as the Brooklyn Nets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Houston Rockets 120-108 in New York.
Joe Harris added 14 of his 28 points in the fourth period and hit seven three-pointers as the Nets moved into first place in the Eastern Conference and improved to 19-3 since February 10.
The news was not all good for Brooklyn, though, as James Harden left the game due to right hamstring tightness. Harden scored 17 points before exiting with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter as the Nets were starting to rally.
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 20 points for the Rockets, who blew a double-digit lead for the third time in four games. Danuel House Jr. added 18 for Houston, which made 15 of its first 19 shots and sank 50 per cent overall from the floor.
Luka Doncic scored 36 points, Jalen Brunson added 21 and the Dallas Mavericks held off the host Boston Celtics for a 113-108 victory.
Doncic sunk seven three-point attempts and shot 11-of-15 on the night as the Mavericks won for the fourth time in their past six games. Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith scored 11 with nine rebounds.
Jayson Tatum had 25 points, Jaylen Brown 24 and Kemba Walker 22 for the Celtics, who lost their second straight and have dropped seven of 10. Marcus Smart added 17 points.
Doncic and Brown traded threes, and Dallas led by eight with 36.8 seconds remaining. After a Walker three got Boston within 109-105, a Tatum steal and Smart tip-in on the other end made it a two-point game.
Down three with 5.4 seconds left, the Celtics could not get possession on a missed free-throw attempt by Smart and came up short.
The Milwaukee Bucks ended a three-game losing streak, getting a game-high 28 points from Los Angeles-area native Jrue Holiday while defeating the host Los Angeles Lakers 112-97.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Khris Middleton added 17 points and eight assists, and Holiday also chipped in eight rebounds and six assists for the Bucks.
The Lakers lost in Andre Drummond's abbreviated team debut. The newly acquired big man scored four points, one rebound and two assists in 14 minutes before exiting due to a right big toe contusion.
Montrezl Harrell led Los Angeles with 19 points. He was followed by Dennis Schroder (17 points, with eight assists), Kyle Kuzma (16 points, seven rebounds) and Markieff Morris (15 points).
Giannis Antetokounmpo and brother and team-mate Thanasis Antetokounmpo were joined on the floor at the end of the game by the Lakers' Kostas Antetokounmpo, becoming just the second trio of brothers to appear in the same game in NBA history.
Mike Conley scored 26 points and had seven assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 111-107 victory over the host Memphis Grizzlies.
The Jazz extended their winning streak to seven and beat Memphis for the third time in the past six days. Utah swept the season series against the Grizzlies and beat them for the sixth consecutive time despite missing star guard Donovan Mitchell, who did not make the trip.
Utah's initial charter flight to Memphis on Tuesday was forced to return to Salt Lake City shortly after take-off when a flock of birds struck the plane, reportedly shutting down one of the plane's engines. Mitchell, who has previously stated that he fears flying, stayed behind in Utah when the team took a subsequent flight to Memphis.
Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic (23 points) helped the Jazz close things out by combining to score 15 of the team's final 17 points. Royce O'Neale scored the final two points on a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach with 3.9 seconds left.
Ja Morant led the Grizzlies with a game-high 36 points while Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Anderson each recorded double-doubles.
Duncan Robinson scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 91-87 in Indianapolis.
Miami also got 18 points from Jimmy Butler and 17 points from Tyler Herro. Bam Adebayo added 16 points, eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Indiana, which has lost two straight games, was led by Myles Turner, who had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks despite playing much of the second half with five fouls.
Pacers star Domantas Sabonis had a game-high 14 rebounds but was held to nine points. Indiana also got 14 points each from Caris Levert and Doug McDermott. LeVert added a game-high four steals.
Malik Beasley's three-pointer with 37.8 seconds left Wednesday night capped a comeback from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit for the host Minnesota Timberwolves, who beat the New York Knicks 102-101.
Beasley's three-pointer gave the Timberwolves their first lead since they led 10-9 in the first quarter and completed an evening filled with uphill climbs for the Timberwolves.
The Knicks called timeout with 5.1 seconds left but RJ Barrett, pressured by Towns, missed a fallaway jumper just before the buzzer sounded.
Edwards finished with 24 points and Towns finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who snapped a two-game losing streak and improved their record to 12-36, still the worst in the NBA. Beasley scored 20 points and Jaden McDaniels added 18 points.
Randle had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost two straight following a three-game winning streak. Barrett scored 23 points, followed by Elfrid Payton (17), Alec Burks (13) and Bullock (10).
Svi Mykhailiuk scored a season-high 22 points to lift the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a 113-103 win over the Toronto Raptors. Mykhailiuk scored 10 consecutive Thunder points in the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma City snap a three-game losing streak.
Toronto's loss spoiled a big night from Gary Trent Jr., who led the Raptors with a career-high 31 points. Trent, playing his fourth game with Toronto after being traded from Portland, hit six three-pointers. His previous career high of 30 came against the Thunder last season.
Moses Brown added 20 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma City, while Isaiah Roby had 17 points and 10 boards. OG Anunoby had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto.
DeMar DeRozan poured in 26 points, one of seven San Antonio players to score in double figures, as the host Spurs got back on track with a 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday in the second of two consecutive games between the teams.
The Spurs' Derrick White put up 18 points while Rudy Gay scored 16. Jakob Poeltl, Dejounte Murray and Patty Mills hit for 12 apiece, and Keldon Johnson added 11 points for San Antonio. The Spurs have won two of their past three games but are just 2-4 on their current nine-game homestand.
De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 20 points, with Tyrese Haliburton scoring 18, Delon Wright adding 16 points and Buddy Hield hitting for 14, all in the second half.
Richaun Holmes also scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Harrison Barnes grabbed 14 rebounds for Sacramento, which had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Damian Lillard scored 33 points and handed out 10 assists and Portland completed a sweep of a four-game road trip by downing Detroit.
CJ McCollum supplied 24 points and six assists for the Blazers, who finished with an 11-4 record in March. Portland shot 51.2 per cent from the field and went 16-for-30 on 3-point attempts.
Jerami Grant's 30 points led the Pistons, who have lost five of their past six games. Hamidou Diallo contributed 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Mason Plumlee had 18 points.
