Coverage of the NBA continues on Saturday night with Philadelphia 76ers @ Milwaukee Bucks from 8.30pm on Sky Sports Arena, while on Sunday the Brooklyn Nets take on the Phoenix Suns at the same time on Arena
Saturday 24 April 2021 08:11, UK
Brooklyn Nets survived a late charge by the Boston Celtics for the win, while Steph Curry led an unusually balanced Golden State attack over the Denver Nuggets and Russell Westbrook slammed in 37 points and yet another triple-double for the Washington Wizards.
Joe Harris scored 20 points as the Nets survived a rough shooting night by Kyrie Irving and withstood a late charge by the visiting Celtics in a 109-104 victory on Friday night in New York.
Jeff Green added 19 for the Nets, who shot 43 per cent and withstood Irving missing 15 of 19 shots. Irving nearly posted a triple-double (15 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds).
Bruce Brown chipped in 15 points, Blake Griffin contributed 13 and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 11 rebounds for Brooklyn.
Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 38 points after going 3 of 17 from the field in each of his previous two games.
Rookie Payton Pritchard hit six 3-pointers en route to adding 22 points, while Marcus Smart finished with 19 as Boston shot 40.4 per cent and hit 17 of 42 from long range.
Steph Curry led an unusually balanced Golden State attack with a game-high 32 points as the Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 118-97.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 23 points, Andrew Wiggins 19, Jordan Poole 15 and Mychal Mulder 14 as Golden State (30-30) won despite relying mostly on just eight players, the result of having lost two in the past two days for COVID-related reasons.
Harassed much of the night by Draymond Green, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was held to 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The 30-point game was the 12th in Curry's past 13 outings. He shot 11-for-18 overall and 4-for-9 on 3-point attempts.
Michael Porter Jr had a team-high 26 points for the Nuggets, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Russell Westbrook slammed in 37 points and yet another triple-double as the Wizards extended their winning streak to seven games as the Thunder's losing streak stretched to 13.
It was Westbrook's 174th career triple-double, moving him within seven of tying Oscar Robertson's NBA record.
Westbrook and Bradley Beal, as they have all season, led the way for the Wizards. Beal scored 11 of his 33 points in the third period while Westbrook had eight points, three rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in the third.
Darius Bazley and Theo Maledon scored 20 points apiece for the Thunder (20-40). Luguentz Dort, returning after missing the last two games with a hip injury, and Isaiah Roby had 18 points each.
Paul George finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Clippers to their fourth consecutive win and 11th in the last 12 games.
George went 3-of-10 from long range, while all three of Reggie Jackson's successful 3-point attempts came in the final period. Jackson finished 3-of-6 from distance and scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth.
The shorthanded Clippers, playing without Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley, Serge Ibaka and Rajon Rondo, had six scorers in double-figures. DeMarcus Cousins and Amir Coffey came off the bench for 11 and 10 points, and Ivica Zubac recorded 12 points and eight rebounds.
John Wall paced Houston (15-45) with 27 points. Christian Wood finished with 24 points and grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds.
Ja Morant scored 33 points and added a season-best 13 assists to help the Grizzlies to victory over Portland.
Dillon Brooks added 25 points as Memphis prevailed in the first of back-to-back games between the teams. Jaren Jackson Jr. poured in 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting in 25 minutes off the bench in his second game of the season after recovering from August knee surgery.
Kyle Anderson contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, Xavier Tillman had 12 points and De'Anthony Melton scored 10 as Memphis improved to 3-2 on a seven-game road trip.
Damian Lillard scored 27 points and Jusuf Nurkic recorded season bests of 26 points and 17 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost their fourth straight game and fell for the eighth time in their past 10.
Bogdan Bogdanovic landed 21 points and a game-high eight assists, leading the Hawks, who played without two of their biggest stars Trae Young (ankle) and Clint Capela (bruised tailbone), to the win.
The Hawks also got 20 points and eight rebounds from John Collins and 17 points each from Danilo Gallinari and Brandon Goodwin.
Miami (31-29), which had its three-game win streak snapped, was led by Kendrick Nunn, who had 21 points. Jimmy Butler added 19 points and a team-high seven assists.
Heat center Bam Adebayo had 16 points, and Miami also got 13 points from Duncan Robinson.
Miles Bridges scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made key plays on offense down the stretch as the Hornets topped the visiting Cavaliers for a much-needed victory.
P.J. Washington and Terry Rozier also each supplied 25 points for the Hornets (29-30), who won for just the second time in their last seven games.
The Cavaliers received big games from Collin Sexton, who racked up 28 points, and Darius Garland, who finished with 27 points and six assists. Jarrett Allen added 15 points and Kevin Love had 12 points.
