Murray scores 27 as Nuggets handle Thunder; T-Wolves hand Warriors controversial OT loss; LeBron stars as Lakers dent Hornets playoff hopes
Saturday 30 March 2019 08:33, UK
Kyrie Irving made the go-ahead lay-up with 0.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as the host Boston Celtics moved into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 114-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Kyrie Irving made the go-ahead lay-up with 0.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as the host Boston Celtics moved into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 114-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Indiana's Thaddeus Young completed an alley-oop to forge a tie at 112 before missing a driving lay-up on the next possession. Young redeemed himself with a steal, but Boston made a defensive stop.
Irving gained a step on Wesley Matthews and made a ball fake on Young before converting the lay-up.
Irving scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half and Al Horford added 19 for the Celtics (45-31), who pulled even in the standings with Indiana after winning back-to-back contests on the heels of a season high-tying four-game losing streak.
Jaylen Brown scored 16 points off the bench and Aron Baynes recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 of his 27 points in the first half for Indiana, who have lost six of their last seven games.
Irving, who sat out Tuesday's 116-106 victory at Cleveland for rest purposes, also scored 10 points in a two-minute stretch to begin the second half and stake Boston to a 73-64 lead.
Jamal Murray scored 27 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 115-105 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, helping the Nuggets stay in close contention for the top seed in the Western Conference with seven games remaining. The loss drops the Thunder to eighth place.
Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Nuggets, who shot 56.5 per cent from the floor. It was Denver's third-best shooting performance of the season.
Paul Millsap (14 points), Will Barton (12) and Mason Plumlee (11) also scored in double figures for the Nuggets.
The Thunder tied the score about five minutes into the third quarter on Jerami Grant's three-pointer. It was the first time since the first four minutes of the game that the Thunder didn't trail.
But Oklahoma City's momentum was short-lived. The Nuggets reeled off a 16-4 run, starting with Murray's step-back three-pointer.
Oklahoma City missed five consecutive shots as Denver extended the lead. By early in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets' lead had grown to 14.
Denver ripped off a quick 10-4 run to extend the lead and put the game away in the final minutes.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Paul George, who was a game-time decision with left shoulder soreness, scored 25 points.
The win was Denver's eighth in the last 10 games, while Oklahoma City lost for the sixth time in eight games. The Thunder haven't won back-to-back games since March 11-13.
Karl-Anthony Towns made a tie-breaking free throw with half a second remaining in overtime, giving the Minnesota Timberwolves a 131-130 victory that dropped the visiting Golden State Warriors into a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Kevin Durant fouled Towns as he was breaking for the basket on an inbounds play. Durant was called for a pushing foul near the hoop even though the pass appeared to be clearly over both players' heads.
Towns made the first of two free throws before missing the second intentionally, which allowed time to run out.
The Golden State loss allowed Denver, who won earlier in the night at Oklahoma City, to draw even with the Warriors for the top spot in the West at 51-24 with seven games remaining.
The controversial finish followed another potential game-determining call with 5.8 seconds remaining in the extra session and Golden State trailing by three.
The ball was inbounded to Durant, who upon catching the pass immediately cast a three-pointer that went in while a foul was being called.
But instead of rewarding Durant with a game-tying hoop and a chance to put Golden State on top at the free-throw line, officials ruled that the foul had occurred in the instant before the shot, erasing the hoop and giving the ball back to the Warriors out of bounds.
Golden State then inbounded to Stephen Curry, who hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 0.5 seconds left on the clock to draw even. The three-pointer was the 11th of the game for Curry, who finished with a game-high 37 points.
Durant had 23 points to go with 12 rebounds and seven assists while Klay Thompson posted 20 points, DeMarcus Cousins 16 and Andre Iguodala 14 for the Warriors.
Andrew Wiggins led eight Timberwolves in double figures with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double for Minnesota, while Josh Okogie chipped in with 21 points.
Damian Lillard scored 23 of his 36 points in the first half to help the visiting Portland Trail Blazers win their sixth straight, a 118-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Lillard, who didn't play against the Hawks in their first meeting in January, shot 13-for-25 from the field, sank four three-pointers and handed out seven assists.
Portland (48-27) also got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Al-Farouq Aminu and 14 points and eight rebounds from Enes Canter. Seth Curry scored 12.
Atlanta (27-49) were led by Trae Young, who scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half but was just 1-for-8 from three-point range. John Collins added 20 points but had just two rebounds. Kevin Huerter scored 11.
Lillard and Young each scored 18 in the period but the Blazers eventually built a 60-51 half-time lead.
Atlanta cut the deficit to four points in the third quarter when Anderson dropped in a three-pointer with 7:41 left to make it 68-64. But Portland surge again and took a 90-76 lead into the final quarter where they completed a sweep of the season series.
Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 128-124 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Joe Ingles added 18 points and 10 assists. Rudy Gobert finished with 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz. Jae Crowder added 18 points and Ricky Rubio chipped in 17.
Bradley Beal scored 34 points while Bobby Portis added 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead Washington. Thomas Bryant added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards.
The Jazz seemingly broke the game open in the third quarter. Mitchell and Royce O'Neale each scored back-to-back baskets to fuel an 11-0 run that gave Utah a 92-77 lead.
Washington answered with a 13-0 run - capped by a 40-foot three-pointer by Jordan McRae at the third-quarter buzzer - to cut the deficit to 92-90.
Ingles opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back baskets to give Utah some breathing room again.
The Wizards kept chipping away and finally took a 116-114 lead on a dunk from Beal off a Jazz turnover. Utah surged back in front for good after going up 120-116 on back-to-back baskets from Gobert and Rubio.
LeBron James had 27 points and nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers prevented the visiting Charlotte Hornets from moving closer to a playoff spot with a 129-115 win.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 25 points, Kyle Kuzma scored 20, Rajon Rondo had a season-high 17 assists, and Lance Stephenson contributed 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds off the bench for the Lakers, who have won three out of four games for the first time since December 8-15.
Kemba Walker scored 24 points to lead the Hornets, who dropped two games behind the Miami Heat for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte have seven games remaining, five on the road.
Dwayne Bacon finished with 21 points, Miles Bridges scored 17, and Marvin Williams and Frank Kaminsky had 13 points each for the Hornets, who came in riding a season-long four-game winning streak.
Walker scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to pull the Hornets within eight at 101-93 with 9:56 left, but that was the only points they would score in the first 4:24 of the period.
Meanwhile, the Lakers extended their lead to 17 points and the Hornets never got back within single digits.
