On a busy NBA night, Chris Paul also delivered the 20,000th point of his career and Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 16 rebounds for the Denver Nuggets during their victory over the San Antonio Spurs
Saturday 23 October 2021 08:56, UK
Spencer Dinwiddie fired for a team-high 34 points to lead the Washington Wizards to an overtime win over the Indiana Pacers while Kevin Durant delivered 29 points as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Philadelphia 76ers.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored eight of his team-high 34 points in the final 2:17 of regulation to force overtime, and the Washington Wizards went on an 11-2 run in the extra frame to power past the Indiana Pacers 135-134.
Washington gave up the first six points in overtime, but whittled away at the deficit to set up what ultimately gave the Wizards the lead for good. Davis Bertans hit a three-pointer off one of Dinwiddie's nine assists with 35.2 seconds remaining, breaking a 131-131 tie.
Bertans was one of three Wizards to score in double-figures coming off the bench with 17 points. Raul Neto scored 18 points, and Montrezl Harrell added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Two of Harrell's points came on a two-handed dunk after a powerful post move. It jump-started Washington, who went almost three minutes into the overtime without a field goal before the basket.
Miles Bridges scored 30 points and the Charlotte Hornets used a dominating stretch at the beginning of the fourth quarter to run away with a 123-112 victory against the host Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kelly Oubre Jr scored 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter off the bench for the Hornets, who have opened the season with consecutive wins.
Charlotte's Gordon Hayward provided 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 points and Cody Martin added 10 points. Guard Terry Rozier, who missed the opener due to an ankle injury, was in the starting line-up for the Hornets and contributed six points and two assists. Mason Plumlee grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Hornets began the fourth quarter on a 10-2 surge, with Bridges and Hayward draining three-pointers to cap the spree that took less than two minutes and resulted in a Cleveland timeout. The Cavaliers committed two turnovers during that stretch.
The momentum continued with Charlotte posting the next nine points. The Cavaliers' only points in the first 4:25 of the fourth quarter came on an Evan Mobley dunk, allowing the Hornets to build a 109-91 lead.
Collin Sexton's 33 points led the Cavaliers, who were playing their home opener. Ricky Rubio had 15 points and 10 assists, and Mobley and Lauri Markkanen each had 13 points.
Evan Fournier scored 18 points against his former team and sank four of New York's 24 three-pointers as the Knicks spoiled the Orlando Magic's home opener.
Orlando lost their home opener for the first time since the 2016-17 season, and the Magic have yet to reach the win column through two games under new head coach Jamahl Mosley. They have dropped their first two games by a combined 51 points.
The Knicks took control in the first half, building a 30-point half-time lead. New York shot 11-for-24 from three-point range in the first half as Walker hit three triples in the game's opening five minutes.
Orlando regrouped in the third quarter and rallied within 73-57 on Cole Anthony's three-pointer from the left wing, but Fournier answered with a triple and the Knicks eventually carried an 86-64 lead into the fourth quarter.
Scottie Barnes scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his second NBA game, Gary Trent Jr added 20 points and the Toronto Raptors spoiled the home opener of the Boston Celtics with a 115-83 win.
Barnes shot 11-for-17 from the field in 35 minutes. Precious Achiuwa added 15 points and 15 boards, OG Anunoby scored 14, Chris Boucher had 11 and VanVleet finished with 11 points and nine assists for the Raptors, who have begun the season without star Pascal Siakam as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery.
Al Horford had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in his season debut after being reacquired by the Celtics in an off-season trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder
Toronto led 51-47 at half-time and used a big third quarter to pull away, outscoring the hosts 32-17. Horford's jumper at 10:08 of the fourth brought Boston within 15 points, but the Celtics got no closer.
Zach LaVine scored 32 points and Lonzo Ball had a triple-double against his former team, as the Chicago Bulls routed the New Orleans Pelicans.
Ball had 17 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan added 26 points and Nikola Vucevic and Javonte Green scored 10 points each. Chicago never trailed and led the rest of the way after breaking from an 8-8 tie.
Brandon Ingram scored 26, Devonte' Graham had 21, Jonas Valancuinas added 18 and Nickeil Alexander-Walker 15 for the Pelicans. Ingram added eight rebounds and eight assists.
Christian Wood poured in 31 points and Eric Gordon scored 22 points off the bench as the Houston Rockets delivered a 124-91 wire-to-wire victory in their home opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wood shot 13-for-19 while grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking three shots. He was instrumental in what was a dominant performance on the interior by the Rockets, who outscored the Thunder 58-34 on points in the paint.
Wood also drilled four of six three-point attempts as Houston thrived on three-pointers as well, finishing 17 of 38.
Gordon hit four of six behind the arc, while Kevin Porter Jr chipped in 18 points, four treys and 10 assists.
Gordon, Porter and Jae'Sean Tate (16 points, 14 rebounds) all hit three-pointers during a 28-12 surge down the stretch of the first half that enabled the Rockets to secure a 27-point lead with less than a minute left.
Kevin Durant had 29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to lift the Brooklyn Nets past the host Philadelphia 76ers 114-109 on Friday. It was Durant's 13th career triple-double in the regular season.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points, James Harden added 20 and Joe Harris had 14 for the Nets. Patty Mills contributed 11. The Nets were missing Kyrie Irving, who remains sidelined while he refuses to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Tobias Harris and Seth Curry scored 23 points apiece and Joel Embiid added 19 for the Sixers. Tyrese Maxey scored 15, Furkan Korkmaz had 10 and Andre Drummond swept 10 rebounds.
The Sixers played without Shake Milton (ankle) and Ben Simmons, who will be out indefinitely after telling the team he's not mentally ready to play.
Brooklyn crept within 108-106 with 2:02 left when Mills hit a driving layup. Aldridge then propelled the Nets to a 109-108 advantage, their first lead, with a three-point play with 48.2 seconds left.
Tobias Harris missed a floater in the lane and Aldridge then hit two free throws for a 13-0 run and a 111-108 lead.
Durant made a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to seal the win. The Sixers scored just one point in the final 5:33.
Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 16 rebounds while Monte Morris scored 13 points as the host Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-96.
Will Barton scored 12 points and JaMychal Green had 10 points off the bench for Denver, who won their home opener.
Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 27 points. Derrick White added 16 and Jakob Poeltl and Dejounte Murray scored 15 points each for the Spurs.
The Nuggets led by 11 after Green's dunk opened the fourth quarter, but San Antonio chipped away. Johnson hit two jumpers and Poeltl had a dunk and a layup to pull the Spurs within 83-78.
After a timeout, Denver had two empty possessions while White hit two free throws and Poeltl made another layup to make it a one-point game. San Antonio missed a three-pointer that would have given them the lead and Facu Campazzo broke the Nuggets' drought with a layup. That started an 11-3 run capped by Michael Porter Jr's three-pointer with 4:05 left.
Jokic's 13-foot turnaround jumper with 1:32 left made it 100-93, but White answered with a three-pointer to get the Spurs within four. Morris hit a jumper that sealed it.
A historic night for Chris Paul was marred by two incidents, one an altercation between Lakers team-mates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard, during the visiting Phoenix Suns' 115-105 triumph over Los Angeles.
Paul led the Phoenix bounce-back effort with 23 points and a game-high 14 assists.
His most significant tally came on a free throw in the second quarter, that not only produced the 20,000th point of his career, but also made him the first in NBA history to achieve both that milestone and 10,000 assists.
Paul became the 47th player to reach 20,000 points. He ranks fifth all-time in assists.
As the Suns were en route to a 57-44 half-time advantage, Davis confronted Howard at the Lakers' bench during a Phoenix timeout, a few minutes after the veteran had committed a hard foul on Paul and mishandled an alley-oop pass.
Howard didn't back down and was nearly pushed through the bench as fans in the pricey first row scattered.
After getting nine minutes of playing time in the first two periods, Howard only left the bench in the second half to serve as a cheerleader.
In a game that also featured five technical fouls, Rajon Rondo had a run-in with a fan in the third quarter, when the Lakers guard was pointing at the man following a soft drink having been thrown or spilled on the sidelines. The man slapped Rondo's hand away, then was quickly escorted away by security guards.
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and Rudy Gobert recorded 17 points and 20 rebounds as the Utah Jazz produced a 110-101 victory over the host Sacramento Kings.
Mike Conley also scored 17 points as the Jazz defeated the Kings for the 14th time in the past 16 meetings. Jordan Clarkson tallied 15 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 13 as Utah won their second straight to start the season.
Gobert has collected at least 20 rebounds in both games. He had 21 on Wednesday in Utah's season-opening win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Harrison Barnes registered 25 points and 14 rebounds and Buddy Hield scored 24 points off the bench for the Kings. Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and De'Aaron Fox contributed 12 points and five steals.
Hield made six three-pointers to become the franchise's all-time leader with 1,076. He surpassed Peja Stojakovic, who made 1,070 in eight seasons from 1998-2006.
Bogdanovic made the tie-breaking basket and Gobert added four points during a 6-0 run that saw Utah take a 101-95 lead with 3:12 left. Fox scored to bring Sacramento within four with 1:32 left before Gobert's three-point play made it a seven-point margin with one minute left.
Bogdanovic buried a three-pointer to put Utah up 107-97 with 40.7 seconds left, and the Jazz closed it out.
