Celtics win sixth straight game, Nets skid extends to nine; Booker drops 35 as Suns beat 76ers; Young leads Hawks in win over Pacers; Towns stars as Timberwolves win fifth straight; Luka's 33-pt double-double sees Mavs past Pistons;
Wednesday 9 February 2022 09:45, UK
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points on 17-for-20 shooting, and Bobby Portis had 23 points with five 3-pointers in Milwaukee's victory over Los Angeles.
Khris Middleton scored all of his 21 points in the first half, and Antetokounmpo added 14 rebounds and eight assists while making his first 11 shots as the defending NBA champions won their fourth straight overall and swept back-to-back games against LA's two teams.
Milwaukee jumped to a 24-point lead in the first half with 70 per cent shooting and led by 30 midway through the third quarter before surviving the Lakers' strong late rally. The Bucks hung on for their third win on a four-game West Coast road trip that ends with an NBA Finals rematch in Phoenix on Thursday.
LeBron James scored 27 points and Anthony Davis had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who couldn't catch up to the champs even on a rare night with both superstars in their injury-riddled lineup. LA has lost five of seven to fall back to three games below .500.
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics rolled to their sixth straight win, beating the star-less Brooklyn Nets 126-91 on Tuesday night.
Without Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, the Nets weren't competitive in their ninth straight loss. Boston jumped to a 28-2 lead in a game that was never in doubt.
Harden missed his third straight game with left hamstring tightness. Durant remains out with a sprained knee ligament and Irving is still ineligible to play home games because he isn't vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Jayson Tatum scored 19 points as the Celtics continued their strong stretch and moved past the Nets into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Devin Booker scored 35 points and Chris Paul had 16 points and 12 assists to lead Phoenix past Philadelphia for its NBA-high 44th win.
The Suns rallied from a 14-point deficit to win for the 14th time in 15 games, raising their record to 44-10.
Joel Embiid had 34 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, though he mishandled the ball twice in the final minutes to doom their comeback try. Embiid had his fifth straight 25-point, 10-rebound game, the longest streak in the NBA over the last two seasons and the longest for a Sixers player since Embiid himself hit six straight in 2018-19.
Trae Young scored 34 points and Atlanta regained its 3-point touch, overwhelming trade-depleted Indiana.
After making only 5 of 25 threes in Sunday's 103-94 loss at Dallas, the Hawks sank 17 of 33 long-range shots.
John Collins added 20 points as the Hawks regrouped after losing two straight games and three of four. Young, Collins and most starters sat out the fourth quarter.
Chris Duarte led the Pacers with 25 points. Lance Stephenson had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in his first start of the season.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points, Minnesota made 22 3-pointers and the Timberwolves won their fifth straight, beating Sacramento.
Malik Beasley matched his career-high with seven 3-pointers and scored 21 points, helping the Timberwolves to their ninth win in 12 games. D'Angelo Russell added 14 points and seven assists.
De'Aaron Fox had 29 points, six assists and seven rebounds after missing eight games for Sacramento. Earlier in the day the Kings, who have lost nine of 11, acquired Domantas Sabonis from the Indiana Pacers as part of a six-player trade.
Cole Anthony scored 23 points and Orlando downed the Trail Blazers hours after a trade ended ended guard CJ McCollum's nearly nine-year tenure in Portland.
Wendell Carter Jr. added 18 for Orlando, which snapped a two-game losing streak. The Magic led by as many as 18 points before the Blazers closed the gap in the third quarter.
Anfernee Simons made a free throw that got Portland within 95-90 with 6:07 to go but Chuma Okeke responded with a dunk and the Magic pulled away to close out the win.
Simons finished with 19 points for the Blazers, who have lost six straight.
Luka Doncic had 33 points with 11 assists while coming up three rebounds shy of his third consecutive triple-double, Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and Dallas overwhelmed Detroit.
The Mavericks never trailed after three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter and won their third game in a row.
Hamidou Diallo had 18 points to lead the Pistons, who have lost five in a row and nine of 10. Jerami Grant had 15 points, and Isaiah Stewart had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Pistons played their fourth game in a row without standout rookie Cade Cunningham, their leading scorer who missed the chance to play before family and friends because of a hip injury.
Ja Morant had 30 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to lead Memphis past Los Angeles.
The offensive production from Morant came on 12 of 19 shooting from the field and marked the ninth time in the past 10 games the All-Star guard reached the 30-point mark. Brandon Clarke finished with 16 points for Memphis.
Reserve center Isaiah Hartenstein led the Clippers with 19 points, while Norman Powell added 16 points. Terance Mann and Robert Covington finished with 14 points each.
Rookie Bones Hyland scored 22 points, Nikola Jokic had 21 and Denver sent New York to a fourth consecutive loss and the tenth in its last 12 games.
JaMychal Green and Will Barton added 20 points apiece and Aaron Gordon had 19 for Denver, which has won successive games after losing three in a row. It was their ninth win in a row against the Knicks and 14th straight against New York in Denver.
Julius Randle had 28 points for the Knicks. Evan Fournier scored 21 and RJ Barrett added 18.
Brandon Ingram scored 26 points and New Orleans beat Houston to extend its winning streak to four games.
Rookie Herb Jones had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double for the Pelicans, who led for most of the game and by as many as 19 points when Ingram's 15-foot pull-up jumper made it 106-87 in the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans were playing their first game since agreeing to a trade earlier Tuesday that will bring guard CJ McCollum to New Orleans. While McCollum was not yet available to play, the deal meant New Orleans had to play without prominent regulars Josh Hart and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who've been dealt to Portland.
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 27 and Christian Wood added 19 points for the Rockets, who lost their third straight and seventh in eight games.
