NBA round-up: Phoenix Suns spoil Dirk Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks return
Thursday night wins for Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets
Friday 14 December 2018 07:52, UK
TJ Warren scored 30 points as the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks, spoiling the season debut of veteran Dirk Nowitzki.
Dallas Mavericks 89-99 Phoenix Suns
TJ Warren scored a game-high 30 points as the Phoenix Suns snapped a 10-game losing skid with a 99-89 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
Phoenix picked up just their fifth win of the season and first since knocking off the Milwaukee Bucks on November 23.
Dallas, who welcomed back Dirk Nowitzki from injury, saw their three-game winning streak as they suffered their first home loss in 12.
Phoenix controlled the game throughout, save for a Dallas run in the third quarter that cut the Suns' lead to 56-53.
Trevor Ariza's three-pointer ended Dallas' surge, and then a second trey from Ariza powered a 16-4 run for a 72-57 lead with 3:13 left in the quarter.
Ariza finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points in 27 minutes for Phoenix.
Dallas played lethargically throughout. Even welcoming back Dirk Nowitzki for his debut in his 21st season with the franchise could not snap them out of their malaise.
Nowitzki missed the first 26 games after undergoing offseason ankle surgery. He was limited to six minutes off the bench, scoring two points. He banked in his first mid-range jumper and missed a three-point attempt.
Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 15 points but cooled off from his recent hot streak from three-point range, hitting just 2-of-9.
Chicago Bulls 91-97 Orlando Magic
Nikola Vucevic hit a tie-breaking jumper with 28.8 seconds left as the Orlando Magic emerged with a 97-91 win over the Chicago Bulls in Mexico City.
Vucevic led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds, bouncing back from his lowest point total of the season (eight) in Orlando's blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
DJ Augustin added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Orlando, who were designated as the home team, snapped a three-game losing streak.
Zach LaVine had 23 points and Justin Holiday added 18 for Chicago, who have lost 14 of their past 16 games. The Bulls are 1-4 since Jim Boylen took over as coach for the fired Fred Hoiberg.
Los Angeles Clippers 87-125 San Antonio Spurs
LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting in just three quarters of play as the San Antonio Spurs romped to a 125-87 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Seven players scored in double figures for the Spurs, who won their fourth consecutive game.
San Antonio (15-14) climbed above the .500 mark for the first time since mid-November by outshooting the Clippers 57.8 per cent to 35.7 per cent.
The Spurs led by just nine points entering the second half but sealed the outcome by outscoring Los Angeles 32-20 in the third quarter while building a 98-77 advantage.
Aldridge had 12 points in the third period and sat out the fourth quarter along with most of the starters from both teams.
Rudy Gay added 21 points for San Antonio on 8-of-10 shooting. DeMar DeRozan and Marco Belinelli added 14 each.
Tobias Harris led the Clippers with 17 points, 15 of which came in the first half.
Los Angeles Lakers 111-126 Houston Rockets
James Harden recorded a 50-point triple-double and came through during a decisive stretch in the fourth quarter to lift the host Houston Rockets to a 126-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
In what was a signature win for the Rockets, Harden posted 50 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to thwart the Lakers, who were 6-1 in their previous games.
With Houston clinging to a 109-106 lead following an explosive dunk by the Lakers' Kyle Kuzma with 4:16 to go, Harden sank three free throws before drilling consecutive three-pointers. The last one rolled in after a tantalizing dance on the rim, extending the advantage to 12 points.
Harden accomplished the scoring flurry just 54 seconds.
Kuzma scored 24 points and handed out five assists to complement another strong performance from LeBron James, who tallied 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Lance Stephenson scored 17 points off the bench while Josh Hart chipped in 15 points for the Lakers, who were partially undone by their 15-of-27 effort from the free-throw line.
The Rockets got a double-double from Clint Capela (16 points, 14 rebounds) while Danuel House delivered 15 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Chris Paul added 14 points, nine assists and three steals.
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