LeBron James scores 33 points to lead Lakers to eighth straight win
Giannis fires for 50 as Bucks hold off Jazz; Embiid scoreless in 76ers' loss to Raptors; Smart stars late as Celtics edge Kings
Wednesday 27 November 2019 08:03, UK
LeBron James poured in 33 points and dished out 14 assists to push the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-104 victory over the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Monday to win their eighth straight game.
Los Angeles Lakers 114-104 San Antonio Spurs
LeBron James poured in 33 points and dished out 14 assists to push the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-104 victory over the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Monday in the Alamo City to win their eighth straight game.
The Lakers led by just four points heading to the final quarter but opened the period with a 12-3 run that featured a pair of three-pointers from James and was capped by his assist to JaVale McGee for a dunk. San Antonio never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Anthony Davis added 19 points, 13 of them in the second half, and 12 rebounds while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 14 and Rajon Rondo hit for 13 points (3-for-3 from beyond the arc).
Los Angeles, whose only defeats this year have come to the crosstown-rival Clippers and Toronto, are off to their best start since the 2008-09 season. That was a championship season for the Lakers.
LaMarcus Aldridge paced the Spurs with 30 points, with DeMar DeRozan adding 24, Bryn Forbes scoring 13 and Derrick White hitting for 11 for San Antonio, who have lost nine of 10 games and four straight at home.
The Spurs led 77-76 with 2:42 to play in the third quarter before Los Angeles rattled off eight of the ensuing nine points and took an 86-82 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.
Utah Jazz 118-122 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, collected 14 rebounds and dished out six assists to help the Milwaukee Bucks hold on for a 122-118 win over the visiting Utah Jazz.
Wesley Matthews added 19 points and Eric Bledsoe chipped in 13 for the Bucks, who won for the 13th time in 14 games and avenged their only loss during that stretch.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points and Donovan Mitchell added 20 for the Jazz. Utah rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and cut Milwaukee's lead to 120-118 on Mitchell's lay-up with 43.8 seconds remaining.
The Jazz had a chance to tie, but Brook Lopez blocked another lay-up attempt from Mitchell with 4.4 seconds left. Pat Connaughton hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
The Bucks rallied in the third quarter behind hot shooting from Antetokounmpo. He scored four baskets and assisted on another to fuel a 15-2 run. The reigning NBA MVP punctuated the rally with a pair of free throws to put ahead Milwaukee 78-77.
Anteokounmpo made his presence felt all over the floor during the period, when he totaled 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. His effort helped the Bucks score 42 points that quarter.
Philadelphia 76ers 96-101 Toronto Raptors
Fred VanVleet scored 24 points, including two important free throws with 11 seconds remaining, as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 101-96.
Pascal Siakam had 25 points for the Raptors, including a dunk as time expired in the fourth quarter. The Raptors are 7-0 at home and have won 14 straight regular-season games at home against the 76ers.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, OG Anunoby had 12, Terence Davis 11 and Norman Powell 10 for Toronto.
Josh Richardson scored 25 points for the 76ers, Tobias Harris added 18, Al Horford had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Simmons 10 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists and Mike Scott added 12. Joel Embiid had no points on 0-for-11 shooting and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.
After a 76ers miss, Siakam made a lay-up and a free throw with 1:01 remaining to give Toronto a one-point lead. VanVleet made two free throws with 11 seconds left to increase the margin to three.
Sacramento Kings 102-103 Boston Celtics
Marcus Smart connected on a driving lay-up with 31.1 seconds remaining and followed with a key steal to lead the host Boston Celtics past the Sacramento Kings 103-102.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 24 points, Jayson Tatum added 20, and Smart and Enes Kanter were also in double figures with 17 and 13, respectively, as the Celtics won for the second time in their past five games. Boston played without point guard Kemba Walker, who was ruled out a couple of hours before tipoff due to a neck sprain.
Buddy Hield enjoyed a big night for the Kings with a career-high 41 points and a franchise-record 11 three-pointers. Harrison Barnes added 20 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento, who lost for the third time in their past eight.
Hield took over in the second half, scoring 21 of his team's 29 points in the third quarter alone. His 10th three-pointer - the most ever in a game against the Celtics - got the Kings within 95-93 with 3:17 left in the fourth. After a pair of Smart free throws, Hield drilled his 11th from deep to cut the Boston lead to one.
Following a Smart hoop, Bogdanovic hit a three-pointer to give the Kings a 102-101 lead with 39.8 seconds remaining. Smart responded with his game-winning lay-up before coming up with a steal on Bogdanovic with 27.8 ticks left. Though Tatum missed a 3-point try with 8.2 seconds left, the Kings were unable to score on a late shot by Bogdanovic, sealing the result.
Brooklyn Nets 108-106 Cleveland Cavaliers
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points and hit the game-winning jumper with 1.8 seconds as the visiting Brooklyn Nets withstood blowing a nine-point lead in the final two-plus minutes and pulled out a dramatic 108-106 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dinwiddie continued to fill in effectively for Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement), who missed his sixth straight game and is out for at least one more game. He posted at least 20 points for a career-high six straight games and the Nets improved to 5-1 in those games.
Dinwiddie won the game when he took the inbounds pass from Joe Harris and made about seven dribbles to maneuver from the sideline to slightly above the left end of the foul line. As Cleveland's Cedi Osman was caught off-balance and stumbled to rotate over, Dinwiddie released the fadeaway and it cleanly went in.
Before his clutch shot, Dinwiddie also came with a huge defensive play. After Jarrett Allen blocked Jordan Clarkson's lay-up attempt with 8.9 seconds remaining, the Cavaliers retained possession with three seconds left on the shot clock. Dinwiddie blocked Collin Sexton's three-point try with 7.6 seconds left.
Allen added 22 points and 21 rebounds for his second career 20-20 game as Brooklyn (9-8) also moved above the .500 mark for the first time this season. Clarkson scored 23 points to lead Cleveland. Larry Nance Jr added 20 points and 13 rebounds while filling in for Kevin Love (back soreness).
Portland Trail Blazers 117-94 Chicago Bulls
Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers cruised to a 117-94 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Anthony connected on 4-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc in his fourth game with the Trail Blazers. CJ McCollum scored 21 points and Damian Lillard notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists for Portland, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting. Wendell Carter Jr fell just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Tomas Satoransky contributed 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Chicago endured their fifth loss in seven games, trailed by as many as 28 points and were outrebounded 55-37.
Portland led 105-79 when Nassir Little entered the game for Anthony with 7:49 to go in the fourth quarter. Anthony watched from the bench the rest of the way after his best performance since November 2, 2018, when he scored 28 points for the Houston Rockets in a win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Oklahoma City Thunder 100-97 Golden State Warriors
Chris Paul buried a 19-footer with 36.8 seconds remaining as part of a 13-0 game-ending run as the Oklahoma City Thunder stunned the Golden State Warriors 100-97 in San Francisco.
It appeared Golden State was in line for just their second home win of the season when Glenn Robinson III capped a career-best 25-point night with a three-pointer with 3:18 to play, putting the Warriors up 97-87.
But Oklahoma City, in beating the Warriors for the third straight time this season, did the rest of the game's scoring, starting with three-pointers by Paul and Dennis Schroder. One free throw by Steven Adams and a short shot by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made it a nine-point run and a 97-96 game with 1:18 to play, and Paul then buried his go-ahead jumper 42 seconds later.
After Alec Burks misfired on a driving attempt for Golden State, Gilgeous-Alexander capped the flurry with two free throws with 22.4 seconds left for the eventual three-point margin of victory. The Warriors had a shot at a tie, but Jordan Poole's desperation three-point attempt in the final two seconds was blocked by Gilgeous-Alexander.
Schroder finished with 22 points to pace the Thunder, who outscored the Warriors 26-14 in the fourth quarter en route to snapping a three-game losing streak. Paul chipped in with 20 points, Danilo Gallinari 15 and Gilgeous-Alexander 12.
Charlotte Hornets 100-117 Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo scored 21 points each, helping the Miami Heat improve to 7-0 at home with a 117-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Butler added seven assists, and Adebayo had 13 rebounds and five assists. Heat reserve forward Kelly Olynyk posted 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Heat backup point guard Goran Dragic chipped in with a game-high nine assists.
Miami, who led for the game's final 41 minutes, were also powered by rookie guards Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn. Herro had 18 points off the bench. Nunn had 19 points and made 5-of-6 three-pointers.
Charlotte, who have lost five straight games, were led by Terry Rozier's 19 points. He made 7-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-6 on three-pointers.
But Miami, led by Butler's 10 points, took a 36-31 lead into the second quarter where their 11-3 run earned them a 69-58 half-time lead. The Heat led by as many as 23 points in the second half, and the Hornets never managed to make a run.
Minnesota Timberwolves 125-113 Atlanta Hawks
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 28 points and 13 rebounds and Andrew Wiggins added 25 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves topped the host Atlanta Hawks 125-113. The Timberwolves won for just the second time in six games while sending the Hawks to their seventh loss in a row.
Minnesota trailed by 10 points at half-time, but a 39-point eruption in the third quarter powered the Timberwolves into a lead they maintained for the duration of the fourth.
The Timberwolves controlled the glass, outrebounding Atlanta 47-42. Wiggins grabbed six boards, while Robert Covington, Jarrett Culver and Keita Bates-Diop each added five. Added depth helped the Timberwolves in general. Behind 13 points each from Gorgui Dieng and Bates-Diop, Minnesota's bench outscored Atlanta's 46-33.
Atlanta's starting line-up, meanwhile, got 37 points from Trae Young and 22 from Jabari Parker, but De'Andre Hunter, Damian Jones and Cam Reddish scored just seven points apiece.
Minnesota thrived with a more balanced scoring effort. Culver, a rookie, scored 14 points and dished three assists. Jeff Teague had eight points and eight assists off the bench, and Towns also finished with eight assists.
Memphis Grizzlies 114-126 Indiana Pacers
TJ Warren scored 26 points and Jeremy Lamb added 19 as the Indiana Pacers posted a 126-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Indianapolis.
Warren made 11-of-15 attempts from the floor and Domantas Sabonis collected 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 54.5 per cent from three-point range to record their 10th win in 13 outings. The point total also served as a season-high, eclipsing the 121 they scored in a win over Washington on November 6.
Malcolm Brogdon had 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his return from a three-game absence due to a sore back. His return marked just the third time that Indiana was able to use its starting five from opening night.
Rookie Ja Morant, who finished with 19 points and 10 assists, overcame a scare after appearing to injure his back while landing on the knee of a courtside photographer during the late stages of the second quarter. Morant, the second overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, needed assistance to leave the court before returning early in the third quarter.
Jaren Jackson Jr shot 10-of-15 from the floor to finish with 28 points and rookie Brandon Clarke added 17 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost four in a row.
Orlando Magic 88-103 Detroit Pistons
Luke Kennard led a balanced attack with 20 points and seven assists as the host Detroit Pistons downed the Orlando Magic 103-88.
Kennard was among six Pistons in double figures. Blake Griffin contributed 17 points and Bruce Brown had 13 points and eight rebounds. Langston Galloway, Svi Mykhailiuk and Christian Wood all had 12 points for the Pistons, who had lost six of their previous seven games. Andre Drummond led the rebounding effort with 18.
Orlando played without frontcourt starters Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, who are nursing ankle sprains. Terrence Ross scored 19 points off the bench for the Magic, who are 0-7 on the road this season. Evan Fournier had 17 points but shot just 5-for-16 from the field. Markelle Fultz supplied 16 points, Jonathan Isaac had 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks and Mo Bamba grabbed 12 rebounds.
Detroit outscored Orlando 50-33 in the second half. Fultz made a lay-up midway through the third to give the Magic a 68-67 lead. The Pistons then reeled off 11 unanswered points and carried a 78-70 lead into the final quarter.
Kennard and Mykhailiuk made treys early in the fourth to increase Detroit's lead to 12 at 88-76. Another Mykhailiuk long ball made it 94-80 with 6:15 remaining. The Magic couldn't mount a rally from that point.
