Curry hits six threes as Warriors beat Blazers; Mitchell's 36 helps Jazz claim fifth straight win; Kuzma's three with 0.6 secs left seals overtime thriller for Wizards; Garland, Mobley help Cavs beat Bulls; Doncic drops 26 in Mavs win; Embiid drops 32 as 76ers win against Hornets
Thursday 9 December 2021 08:42, UK
Nikola Jokic scored 11 of his season-high 39 points in overtime to go with his 11 assists and 11 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets outlasted a mistake-prone New Orleans Pelicans.
Jokic, who shot an astonishing 17-of-23 from the field, had five points in the final 1:29 of regulation to help the Nuggets erase a five-point deficit and force overtime.
Jonas Valanciunas had 27 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, but the Pelicans committed 25 turnovers that led to 31 Nuggets points.
Valanciunas' tip-in tied it at 105 with 5.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Will Barton scored 20 points for Denver, which bounced back from a loss at Chicago two nights earlier.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points and moved within nine 3-pointers of Ray Allen's career record as Golden State held off depleted Portland.
The reigning NBA scoring champion shot 6 of 17 from beyond the arc, missing his initial four 3-point tries before connecting at the 5:55 mark of the first quarter.
Norman Powell scored 26 points but went 1 of 7 from deep, and the Blazers were just 8 for 30 from long range. Star guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum sat out because of injuries.
Curry is closing in on Allen's mark of 2,973 regular-season 3s made from 1996-2014.
Donovan Mitchell scored 36 points as the sharp-shooting Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves for its fifth straight win.
Mitchell made 14 of 23 shots and Utah connected for 25 3-pointers, two shy of their season high set last Friday against Boston.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 points and five rebounds, and Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points - all from deep - off the bench for Utah.
Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 22 points, while Anthony Edwards scored 18. The Timberwolves have lost four straight.
Kyle Kuzma hit a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left in overtime as the Washington Wizards handed the Detroit Pistons their 10th straight loss, 119-116 on Wednesday night.
Kuzma scored 26 points and Bradley Beal added 25 for the Wizards, who blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Jeremi Grant scored 28 points for the Pistons, who haven't won since beating Indiana on November 17. The 10-game skid matches Detroit's longest since a 13-game slide from November 15 to December 9, 2014. The Pistons also lost 10 straight from February 24 to March 14, 2015.
Washington led by 13 with 7:14 left, but Frank Jackson's 3-pointer pulled the Pistons within 104-102 with 1:46 to play. Grant later hit two free throws to tie it.
Caleb Martin scored a career-high 28 points as Miami beat Milwaukee.
Starting for the injured Jimmy Butler, Martin shot 9 of 12 from the field, including 6 for 8 on 3-pointers, as the Heat tied a franchise record with 22 3s against the defending NBA champions.
Kyle Lowry had 22 points and 13 assists and Max Strus scored all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter for Miami, which snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Jrue Holiday scored 27 points and Khris Middleton finished with 20 for the Bucks. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points as Miami limited him to 4-of-13 shooting from the field.
The Heat took the lead for good with nine straight points in the final 55 seconds of the third.
Darius Garland scored 24 points and rookie power forward Evan Mobley had 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks to send the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Chicago Bulls.
Garland also had six assists as the Cavaliers won for the fifth time in seven games, earning their most lopsided home victory of the season. Mobley, the third overall draft pick, shot 8 of 11 from the field and had a season-high five blocked shots and two steals.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points with nine assists for Chicago, which had its four-game win streak snapped. Lonzo Ball added 19 points and Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 12 rebounds, but shot 8 for 23 from the field.
The Bulls played their second game since leading scorer DeMar DeRozan was placed in the NBA's health and safety protocol for Covid-19. Chicago guards Coby White, Matt Thomas and Javonte Green are sidelined for the same reason.
Brandon Boston Jr had career highs of 27 points and five 3-pointers, sparking the Los Angeles Clippers to a 114-111 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night in a matchup of teams barely above .500.
On a night when Paul George was sidelined with a bruised right elbow, Boston electrified his teammates and most of the crowd with a 3-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer. It capped 18 points in 14 minutes for the rookie out of Kentucky.
Marcus Morris added 20 points for the Clippers. Ivica Zubac and Terance Mann had 10 points and 10 rebounds each.
The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Dennis Schröder added 19 points and eight assists, and Josh Richardson had 17 points off the bench.
Luka Doncic scored 26 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 19 as the Dallas Mavericks used a fourth-quarter rally to end a three-game skid against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Reggie Bullock added 15 for the Mavericks, who surpassed 100 points for only the second time in the past six games.
Jaren Jackson Jr led Memphis with 26 points, while Dillon Brooks added 15 points before being ejected late in the fourth quarter. Desmond Bane finished with 14 points.
Eric Gordon scored 21 points before being ejected in the fourth quarter and Garrison Mathews added 19 as the Houston Rockets extended its winning streak to seven games with a victory over shorthanded a Brooklyn Nets.
The Rockets' streak comes after they dropped their previous 15 games, and it's the first time Houston has won seven straight since winning eight in a row in November 2019.
James Harden had 25 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Nets on a night when NBA leading scorer Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge both sat out for rest. It was Harden's second visit to Houston since he was traded in January during his ninth season with the Rockets.
The Rockets led by 17 to start the fourth quarter and the Nets cut the deficit to four before Houston pulled away.
Joel Embiid had 32 points, Seth Curry added 23 points and eight assists as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets for the second time in three nights.
Tobias Harris added 18 points in a rematch of a game the 76ers won 127-124 in overtime Monday night on the same court.
Gordon Hayward had a season-high 31 points and seven assists for the Hornets, who played without five rotational players, including last year's NBA Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball due to NBA health and safety protocols.
Kelly Oubre Jr, who had 35 points in Charlotte's loss Monday night, finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds but finished just 3 of 12 from beyond the arc and missed a free throw that would have made it a one-possession game with 7 seconds left.
Chris Duarte scored 23 points, Myles Turner had 22 as the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks.
Duarte, a rookie shooting guard, eclipsed his 13.1-point scoring average with 14 in the first quarter, when the Pacers seized control with a 15-2 run. Indiana outscored New York in each of the first three quarters to lead 96-76 and maintained a double-digit lead from midway through the second quarter until the final buzzer.
Each of the Pacers starters scored in double figures, with Malcolm Brogdon getting 16 points and Caris LeVert 15. Duarte and LeVert each had six assists. Domantas Sabonis had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
RJ Barrett led the Knicks with 19 points. Julius Randle had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Mike Muscala made a go-ahead 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 16 of his 26 points in the third quarter as Oklahoma City held on late to win its second straight game, rallying from a 13-point deficit to beat injury-depleted Toronto.
Toronto's Justin Champagnie thought he had tipped in Fred VanVleet's missed shot at the buzzer to give the Raptors the win but, after a wild celebration at center court, the referees ruled Champagnie's shot had come too late.
The Thunder, who won Monday at Detroit to snap an eight-game losing streak, overcame a double-digit deficit for the second game in a row. Oklahoma City fought back from 18 down to beat the Pistons.
Luguentz Dort scored 22 points for Oklahoma City.
Gary Trent Jr scored 24 points, Pascal Siakam had 23 and VanVleet scored 14 of his 19 in the fourth quarter as the Raptors lost for the first time in three games. Toronto is 4-9 at home.
De'Aaron Fox scored 33 points, Tyrese Haliburton had a big fourth quarter as Sacramento won its season-best third straight game by beating Orlando.
Fox shot 12 of 18 and made a pair of 3-pointers to help the Kings set a season high for scoring.
Haliburton added 18 points and matched his career high with 11 assists for his third NBA double-double and second this season. The Kings are 5-3 since interim coach Alvin Gentry replaced Luke Walton.
Cole Anthony had 33 points and eight assists for the Magic (5-21), who have lost three straight and 10 of 11.
