D'Angelo Russell leads Brooklyn Nets past Charlotte Hornets in thriller
Wins for the Nets, Pistons and Pacers, while the Bulls beat the Celtics in 12 games around the NBA on Saturday night
Sunday 24 February 2019 10:48, UK
D'Angelo Russell scored 40 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets in the standout game of Saturday night.
Brooklyn Nets 117-115 Charlotte Hornets
D'Angelo Russell scored 40 points, including 12 straight down the stretch as the Brooklyn Nets pulled out a 117-115 victory in a bizarre game on Saturday night.
The Nets (31-30) blew a 19-point second half lead and eventually had to come back from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes to expand their lead over the Hornets to two games in the chase for the Eastern Conference's No 6 playoff spot.
Russell's three-pointer with 39.8 seconds remaining gave the Nets the lead for good, and then no foul was called in a controversial ending when Charlotte's Kemba Walker appeared to draw contact from Caris LeVert on a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Nets, who hit 17 triples for the game, also got 19 points from Joe Harris, 11 points and 11 rebounds from Jarrett Allen, and 10 points each from DeMarre Carroll and Shabazz Napier.
Live NBA: Orlando @ Toronto
Walker led the Hornets with 32 points, including 13 straight Charlotte points in the third quarter when the Hornets got back into the game.
The Nets led 34-20 after one period and 69-50 just after half-time only for the Hornets to roar back behind the shooting of Walker to cut the lead to 90-84 after three quarters.
Charlotte then used a 26-4 run to take the lead at 98-94, and Walker's three-pointer pushed their lead all the way to 111-103 with 3:12 remaining.
But Russell took over at that point. His 16-footer with 59.3 seconds put Brooklyn up 114-113, and after a Walker drive put the Hornets back up by one, Russell delivered again with the game-winning three-pointer.
Phoenix Suns 112-120 Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta guards Kent Bazemore and Trae Young both scored 23 points in a 120-112 win over Phoenix to hand the Suns their 17th straight loss.
Taurean Prince added 21 points and John Collins scored 19 for Atlanta, who used a 21-6 run in the fourth quarter to overtake their visitors, who had led 103-95 with 5:46 remaining.
Atlanta took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Young with 2:56 left and Prince extended the lead to five when he converted a three-point play with 2:09 remaining. Phoenix never got closer than three points from there.
It was the 11th time Bazemore has surpassed 20 points in a game this season, while Collins added 14 rebounds to earn his 23rd double-double of the year. Dewayne Dedmon had 18 points and six blocked shots.
Phoenix guard Tyler Johnson set a season-high with 29 points, three shy of his career best, while Devin Booker, who scored 30 on Thursday against Cleveland, added 26 points and Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Suns complete their five-game road trip on Monday in Miami, then return home for a four-game homestand. Atlanta play again at Houston on Monday.
Memphis Grizzlies 107-112 Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland's Cedi Osman scored five points in a span of 17 seconds late in the fourth quarter before rookie Collin Sexton followed with a deep three-pointer to lift the host Cavaliers to a 112-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
Kevin Love scored a season-high 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers, sparking a fourth-quarter run after the Grizzlies had taken the lead.
Sexton was steady, scoring 20 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out five assists and making two steals.
Jonas Valanciunas, whose availability for the game was in doubt due to personal reasons, scored 25 points and recorded 11 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies.
Mike Conley finished with 18 points, and Joakim Noah had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Memphis.
After the Grizzlies took a 103-101 lead on a three-pointer by Valanciunas, Osman hit a three to put the Cavs ahead and he followed that up with a dunk before Sexton's step-back three-pointer sealed Cleveland's second win in a row and sent the Grizzlies to their fourth straight loss.
Detroit Pistons 119-96 Miami Heat
Ish Smith led a strong bench effort with a season-high 22 points and nine assists as the Detroit Pistons pulled away to a 119-96 victory over the Miami Heat.
Fellow reserves Langston Galloway and Luke Kennard added 17 points apiece as the Pistons' bench scored 66 points.
Blake Griffin had 20 points and six assists, Reggie Jackson added 13 points and Andre Drummond chipped in 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks to lead the starting unit.
Detroit have now won six of their last seven, including back-to-back victories after the All-Star break to move into the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.
Josh Richardson led the Heat with 22 points. Dion Waiters contributed 17 points, Dwyane Wade supplied 15 points and Hassan Whiteside had 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Kennard scored 10 second-quarter points, with Detroit outscoring Miami 34-17 during those 12 minutes to gain a 54-46 half-time lead.
A 14-2 spurt in the fourth then pushed the lead to 20 and Galloway added a four-point play with just under seven minutes left for a 105-84 lead. Miami couldn't muster another run.
Boston Celtics 116-126 Chicago Bulls
Zach LaVine scored 42 points, and Lauri Markkanen added 35, both career highs, as the Chicago Bulls secured their third straight win with victory over the Celtics.
The Bulls, who had lost 11 of their previous 12 games at the United Center, improved to 7-23 at home this season.
LaVine made two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to eclipse his previous best of 41 points, set earlier this season.
Markkanen grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, giving him 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in six of his past eight games.
Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 37 points and 10 assists and also grabbed five rebounds. Irving was 14 of 24 from the field and 3 for 6 from beyond the arc. Al Horford added 19 points for Boston, and Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris each scored 12.
Forward Gordon Hayward came off the bench for the Celtics after missing Thursday's loss at Milwaukee because of an ankle injury sustained while practicing with teammate Semi Ojeleye over the break. Gordon played 24 minutes, scoring five points on 2-for-6 shooting.
Indiana Pacers 119-112 Washington Wizards
Thaddeus Young scored 22 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 and the visiting Indiana Pacers held off the Washington Wizards 119-112 on Saturday night.
Domantas Sabonis had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, who began the post All-Star break schedule by winning on back-to-back nights. Indiana, third in the Eastern Conference, have won eight of their last nine.
Bradley Beal scored 35 points in 41 minutes for the Wizards, who have lost four straight and nine of 12. Thomas Bryant had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Washington.
Bryant's three-pointer pulled Washington within 115-112 with 28.9 seconds left and his steal then set up another long-range attempt with 14.2 seconds left, but he could not land it and Indiana grabbed the rebound, allowing Darren Collison to make two free throws to seal it.
Minnesota Timberwolves 128-140 Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton scored 28 points, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 27, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Milwaukee Bucks won for the 16th time in 18 games with victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Bucks got off to a fast start en route to reaching 140 points for the fourth time this season. Antetokounmpo drove the lane for a dunk 14 seconds into the game and had 11 points in the opening 3:09 to set Milwaukee on their way to their fourth straight win.
Derrick Rose scored 23 points, and Taj Gibson added 20 for the Timberwolves, who were without All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns for the second consecutive game after the All-Star was in a car accident on Thursday that left him with a concussion.
The defeat also brought their three-game winning streak come to an end.
It wasn't until early in the fourth quarter that the Bucks took control. They grabbed the lead for good at with a 9-0 run early in the final period, eventually extending the run to 18-2 for a 129-115 advantage.
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points and Anthony Tolliver had 17 for Minnesota, going 5 of 7 from three-point range. Tolliver also had a monstrous block of an Antetokounmpo dunk attempt.
The Bucks play eight of the next 10 games on the road. They are 20-9 away from home this season.
Sacramento Kings 119-116 Oklahoma City Thunder
Buddy Hield scored 34 points to help the Sacramento Kings hold off the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road on Saturday night.
The Kings led for much of the way but had to hold on late, thanks to a couple of big shots by Russell Westbrook down the stretch.
But a night after making a game-winner at the buzzer in double overtime against Utah, the Thunder's Paul George couldn't come up with the big shot for the second straight game.
George's potential game-tying shot at the buzzer over Willie Cauley-Stein hit off the front of the rim to give the Kings the victory and the season series, 3-1.
It was the second consecutive big defensive play for Cauley-Stein, who took a charge on Westbrook with 11 seconds remaining that wiped out what appeared to be Westbrook's game-tying shot.
Westbrook finished with 41 points on 15-of-30 shooting with 10 rebounds. It was Westbrook's third consecutive game scoring 40 or more points.
Early on, Oklahoma City showed signs of fatigue following the double-overtime win the night before.
Sacramento took advantage by shooting the lights out early, building a 16-point first-half lead thanks to 50 per cent shooting before the break.
De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III finished with 19 each for the Kings.
Dallas Mavericks 109-125 Utah Jazz
Joe Ingles capped an 18-point performance with four three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Utah Jazz pull away from the Dallas Mavericks in Salt Lake City.
Coming off a double-overtime loss at Oklahoma City on Friday - while the Mavericks fell at home to Denver - Utah used a 29-14 edge in free throw points to win their third straight at home.
After leading by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, the Jazz found themselves clinging to just an 86-83 lead early in the fourth quarter before Ingles got things headed in a positive direction with a three-pointer.
His second three of the period reopened a double-digit lead at 96-86 with 8:43 to go, before his last two long-range daggers helped the Jazz keep the Mavericks at arm's length.
Dallas were playing a second consecutive game without rookie standout Luka Doncic, who missed out with a sore right ankle.
Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell had 25 points apiece to lead the Jazz, who won for the 13th time in their last 18 games.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points and Trey Burke 20 for the Mavericks, who lost their fourth straight.
