Bucks blowout Hawks; late Oladipo three seals dramatic Pacers win; Towns powers T-Wolves to victory over Magic
Saturday 5 January 2019 08:16, UK
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a wire-to-wire home victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 114-93 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum added 18 points and Marcus Smart had 17, including five three-pointers, to pick up the scoring slack with leading scorer Kyrie Irving missing a second consecutive game with eye irritation.
Boston was challenged only once, when their 53-36 second-quarter lead got whittled down to 58-57 early in the third. But after Mavs rookie sensation Luka Doncic drained a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, the Celtics answered with a 21-6 run.
Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points, while Doncic had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. DeAndre Jordan tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki, who has averaged more points in his career against the Celtics than any other team, received a standing ovation from the Boston crowd when he checked in.
But the No 7 scorer in NBA history failed to score and missed all 10 of his shot attempts, eight from beyond the arc. In the final minutes, the Boston crowd cheered him on, trying to will him onto the scoresheet.
All five Milwaukee starters scored in double figures as the Bucks presented coach Mike Budenholzer with a resounding win over his former team, thumping the visiting Atlanta Hawks 144-112.
The Bucks got 19 points each from Khris Middleton and Atlanta native Malcolm Brogdon, 16 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, 14 from Eric Bledsoe and 10 from Brook Lopez. None of the starters played more than 22 minutes.
It was the first time Budenholzer faced the Hawks, the team he coached for five seasons before they agreed to part ways last spring.
The win, the fifth straight for Milwaukee, moved the Bucks into first place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of the idle Toronto Raptors. Milwaukee have won nine of their last 10 games.
Antetokounmpo played just 19 minutes, but picked up his 25th double-double of the season by adding 10 assists; he also had eight rebounds and was 6-for-8 from the floor.
The Hawks got 19 points from DeAndre Bembry, 14 points from Dewayne Dedmon, 12 points and eight rebounds from Alex Len, and 12 points and seven rebounds from John Collins. Trae Young had 13 points and 10 assists.
The Bucks swamped the Hawks from the opening tip, using an 11-0 run to take a 43-14 lead after the first quarter and going up 76-43 at the half. It was the fewest points scored by the Hawks in the first quarter all season.
Victor Oladipo scored a game-high 36 points, including a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime, as the visiting Indiana Pacers held on for a 119-116 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Oladipo banked in the go-ahead shot to give Indiana its sixth win in a row.
Domantas Sabonis contributed a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Thaddeus Young (16 points), Bojan Bogdanovic (13) and Tyreke Evans (10) also scored in double digits.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 31 points on 12-for-21 shooting. Lauri Markkanen added 27 points and nine rebounds and Kris Dunn finished with 16 points and 17 assists for Chicago.
LaVine drilled a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to even the score at 105 and force overtime. He also hit a three-pointer with 17.3 seconds left as the Bulls erased a six-point deficit in the final minute of regulation.
The Bulls' top scorer had another chance to even the score in the waning moments of overtime, but he did not release his three-pointer until after the buzzer sounded. The ball swished through the net but a video review confirmed that time had expired.
Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined for 68 points to lift the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 111-109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
George scored 37 points and Westbrook added 31 as the Thunder snapped a six-game losing streak in their series with the Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard finished with 23 points and eight assists, and Jusuf Nurkic collected 22 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
Oklahoma City took a 93-87 lead into the final period. They increased their advantage to 99-91 with nine minutes left. A Westbrook steal and solo layup gave them a 103-95 lead with 6:07 remaining.
A fall-back jumper by Westbrook made it 107-97 with 4:13 to play. Lillard sank four straight free throws, the latter two cutting the margin to 107-101 with 2:43 left.
CJ McCollum's 13-footer made it 109-105 with 1:02 left, and Lillard was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He hit two of three free throws to cut it to 109-107 with 42.8 seconds to go.
Neither team scored again until George knocked down two foul shots with 4.3 ticks left to wrap it up. Aminu's follow shot at the buzzer ended the scoring.
Marcin Gortat had season highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers extended their head-to-head winning streak over the Phoenix Suns to 11 games with a 121-111 victory.
Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams scored 21 points each, Tobias Harris and Patrick Beverley each had 16, and Montrezl Harrell scored 15 for the Clippers.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and TJ Warren had 20 for the Suns, who dropped their fifth game in a row. Richaun Holmes scored 16 points off the bench.
The Suns trailed by 30 points with 4:21 left in the third quarter, but a 17-3 run got them within striking distance. They cut the deficit to 13 entering the fourth.
Mikal Bridges scored on a dunk on the first possession of the final period to get the Suns within 11, but that was as close as they would get until the final seconds.
Kevin Knox gave New York the lead for good by sinking two free throws with 3:45 remaining as the Knicks held the host Los Angeles Lakers without a field for the next two-and-a-half minutes en route to a 119-112 victory.
The Knicks snapped an eight-game losing streak by prevailing on a night when both teams were was missing their top player.
The Knicks finally recorded a 10th win in a season that has been played entirely without star big man Kristaps Porzingis. The Lakers who lost for the fourth time in five games since LeBron James sustained a groin injury on Christmas Day.
New York's Tim Hardaway Jr led all scorers with 22 points. He made a trio of three-pointers in a 22-5 opening game flurry.
Brandon Ingram went for a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles.
The Lakers announced before the game that James also will not travel with the team for games at Minnesota on Sunday and at Dallas and Monday.
Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points and Jae Crowder tallied 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Utah Jazz notched a 117-91 road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ricky Rubio scored 15 points while Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles added 12 apiece as Utah snapped a six-game losing streak in Cleveland.
Alec Burks scored 17 points for the Cavaliers, who dropped their eighth consecutive game. Collin Sexton tallied 13 points, Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson each scored 12 points and Larry Nance Jr had 10.
Utah outscored Cleveland 69-42 in the second half to break open a close game. Mitchell knocked down a three-pointer with five minutes left in the third quarter to tie the score at 64 while igniting a 17-4 run. He buried another trey with 15.9 seconds left as the Jazz took an 81-71 lead into the final stanza.
Crowder connected two free throws to increase the margin to 20 with 8:56 remaining and followed with a three-pointer 19 seconds later to make it 96-73. The lead topped out at 32 points as Utah closed out their first road win against the Cavaliers since March 5, 2012.
Jeff Teague's return from an ankle injury boosted the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 120-103 win over the Orlando Magic in Minneapolis.
Teague was back in the starting lineup after a nine-game absence, and he had 23 points and 10 assists in 28 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota. Towns is averaging 28.3 points and 16.8 rebounds over his past six games.
The Timberwolves are 5-9 in their past 14 games but have now won four of their past seven.
Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Evan Fournier added 21 points.
Minnesota turned a 19-point deficit into an 88-75 lead, outscoring the Magic 44-12 in a 12-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters. The Timberwolves extended their lead to 21 in the fourth quarter, and the Magic were never able to make it close again.
D'Angelo Russell totalled 23 points and 10 assists as the visiting Brooklyn Nets made enough plays down the stretch to record a 109-100 victory over the slumping Memphis Grizzlies.
Russell shot 7-of-16 from the floor, amassing at least 20 points and 10 assists in consecutive games for the first time in his career. His 17th game with at least 20 points helped the Nets win for the 11th time in 14 meetings and avenge a double-overtime home loss to Memphis on November 30.
Reserve DeMarre Carroll hit a season-high five three-pointers and added 20 points for the Nets.
Mike Conley led all scorers with 31 points after going scoreless for the first time in more than three years on Wednesday in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. Conley shot 10 of 20, but his performance was not enough as Memphis lost their fourth straight and fell for the 11th time in 14 games.
Rookie Jaren Jackson Jr added 19 points but Marc Gasol was held to 13 as the Grizzlies shot 45.2 per cent and missed 19 of their 24 three-point tries.
Hassan Whiteside posted 21 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks to lead the host Miami Heat to a 115-109 win over the Washington Wizards.
Largely because of Whiteside, Miami enjoyed a 62-46 edge in points in the paint.
Washington's Bradley Beal, who scored a game-high 33 points, closed the Wizards' deficit to 110-109 on a three-pointer with 67 seconds left. Beal added nine rebounds and seven assists in a stellar all-around effort.
Miami's Justise Winslow, converted from forward to point guard a couple of weeks ago when 2018 All-Star Goran Dragic had knee surgery, had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 assists.
It was a drive by Winslow with 43 seconds left that answered Beal's score, allowing Miami to pull away. Miami's Dwyane Wade was also big in the clutch, scoring nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The Heat, which now 8-2 in their past 10 games, also got 18 points from shooting guard Josh Richardson and 17 points from forward James Johnson.
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