Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns ejected as 76ers beat Timberwolves
Curry breaks hand in Warriors loss; Harden scores 59 in wild Rockets win; Celtics rally to top Bucks
Thursday 31 October 2019 08:18, UK
Joel Embiid scored 19 points in 20 minutes before being ejected for a third-quarter brawl with Karl-Anthony Towns to lead the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-95 on Wednesday night.
Minnesota Timberwolves 95-117 Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid scored 19 points in 20 minutes before being ejected for a third-quarter brawl with Karl-Anthony Towns to lead the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-95 on Wednesday night.
Embiid led six Philadelphia players in double figures. Tobias Harris scored 18 points, Furkan Korkmaz had 17 and Ben Simmons added 16. Al Horford scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and the Sixers improved to 4-0. The San Antonio Spurs as the league's only other undefeated team.
Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 19 points, Jeff Teague added 15 and Towns had 13 before being ejected. Shabazz Napier also had 13 for Minnesota, who suffered their first loss in four games.
The game turned ugly with 6:42 left in the third when Embiid and Towns became entangled and wrestled to the floor with numerous players and coaches joining in. Towns appeared to throw a punch as the players hit the floor.
After an extensive review by league officials, Embiid and Towns both were ejected. Fans chanted "MVP!" to Embiid as he left. The Sixers held a 77-55 lead when play was halted.
Philadelphia had a 92-78 advantage after the third quarter. Korkmaz knocked down a three-pointer and later added a dunk and the Sixers quickly pulled ahead 97-80 with 8:27 remaining in the fourth.
Houston Rockets 159-158 Washington Wizards
James Harden scored 59 points and hit a free throw with 2.4 seconds left to lift the Houston Rockets to a wild 159-158 victory over the Washington Wizards for their third straight win.
After Bradley Beal hit three free throws to tie it with 7.7 seconds left, Harden drove, got the foul call and made the first free throw. He missed the second and Washington were unable to get a shot off.
Harden was 18-of-32 from the field. Russell Westbrook had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists and Clint Capela added 21 points for the Rockets, who shot 53.4 per cent (55-of-103) from the field.
Beal led the Wizards with 46 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Rookie Rui Hachimura had 23 points and Davis Bertans 21. Washington shot 62.6 per cent (57-of-91) from the field.
Houston trailed 152-150 when Eric Gordon hit a three-pointer with 59 seconds left. Beal responded with a lay-up and foul shot to put the Wizards ahead by two at the 48-second mark.
Westbrook's three-point play put the Rockets up 156-155 with 32 seconds left. Beal turned the ball over, and PJ Tucker hit two free throws with 14 seconds remaining.
Milwaukee Bucks 105-116 Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum had 25 points, including 11 during a third-quarter comeback, as the Boston Celtics overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 116-105.
Kemba Walker led all scorers with 32 points, Gordon Hayward had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Smart hit five three-pointers and scored 19 as the Celtics won for the third time in four games.
Boston played without swingman Jaylen Brown, scratched hours before the game with an illness.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Khris Middleton scored 26 for the Bucks, who have lost two of their opening four games.
The Celtics outscored the Bucks 38-18 in the third quarter carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, extending their lead to seven on a Hayward lay-up with 8:48 to go. Walker scored eight straight points for the Celtics to increase their lead to 13 with 3:10 left, and Milwaukee never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
LA Clippers 91-106 Utah Jazz
Mike Conley scored 29 points and Donovan Mitchell added 24 to lead the Utah Jazz to a 110-96 victory over the LA Clippers in Salt Lake City.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 14 points and Rudy Gobert chipped in 13 to help the Jazz win their third home game of the season and fourth game overall.
Lou Williams scored 24 points to lead the Clippers. JaMychal Green added 23 points and Montrezl Harrell chipped in with 10 off the bench.
The Clippers played without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, forcing Williams - the team's sixth man - into the starting line-up.
Utah ended the first quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 33-23 lead. Los Angeles rallied late in the quarter and cut the deficit to one at 52-51 on three free throws from Landry Shamet.
Conley took over in the third quarter, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the quarter to give Utah a lead they never relinquished. Mitchell and Conley combined for six straight baskets to spark a 32-8 run for the Jazz.
Phoenix Suns 121-110 Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry broke his left hand when he fell hard in the third quarter of another embarrassing Golden State loss, a 121-110 reverse to the Phoenix Suns.
The two-time MVP drove to his left defended by Kelly Oubre Jr and with big man Aron Baynes standing solidly in the paint. Curry leapt with the ball then came down headfirst landing awkwardly on his hands to brace himself from the court, with Baynes crashing onto Curry's left hand. Curry grimaced in pain grabbing at his fingers then walked to the locker room with 8:31 left in the third quarter.
Baynes had 24 points, 12 rebounds seven assists and three blocked shots, Devin Booker scored 31 points as the Suns jumped out to a huge lead they never relinquished.
The ailing, undermanned Warriors fell behind 39-11 shooting 4-for-17 as the Suns made 14 of their first 23 shots and 8-of-12 three-pointers.
Curry had nine points on 3-for-11 shooting before getting hurt.
The Warriors trailed 72-46 at halftime Wednesday after falling behind 70-37 at the break in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Indiana Pacers 118-108 Brooklyn Nets
Domantas Sabonis scored 29 points and Jeremy Lamb added a season-high 25 points as the visiting Indiana Pacers picked up their first win of the season by pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 118-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Pacers avoided their first 0-4 start since the 1988-89 season and did so on a night in which they lost center Myles Turner to a sprained right ankle late in the first quarter.
Sabonis constantly dominated inside and finished a point shy of his career-high. He shot 11-of-18 and scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter when the Pacers outscored the Nets 28-25.
Lamb returned after missing the previous two games with a bruised right hip and shot 11-of-19 to help the Pacers beat the Nets for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings.
Kyrie Irving scored 28 points for the Nets, who dropped to 1-3. Brooklyn shot 44.1 per cent and committed 19 turnovers. Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points as Brooklyn made 10-of-31 three-pointers.
Portland Trail Blazers 102-99 Oklahoma City Thunder
Damian Lillard scored 23 points, including three consecutive three-pointers in a fourth-quarter stretch, to lead the visiting Portland Trail Blazers to a 102-99 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Trail Blazers never led by more than nine points in a competitive game, but Lillard's hot fourth quarter provided them just enough breathing room to hold off the Thunder.
When Lillard was not scoring in the fourth, he distributed to team-mates for open looks. Three of his game-high 13 assists came in the final minutes. He twice found Rodney Hood, who scored five of his nine points down the stretch, including for a key corner three-pointer that extended the Portland lead to five with 30 seconds remaining.
Lillard also dished a crucial assist to Hassan Whiteside on a dunk immediately following the guard's three-point flurry. Whiteside registered a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Oklahoma City cut the lead to two after Whiteside's dunk, countering with two Nerlens Noel slams. Noel scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Hood's three-pointer ultimately put the game out of reach.
Detroit Pistons 113-125 Toronto Raptors
Pascal Siakam scored 30 points, grabbed five rebounds and added five assists as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Detroit Pistons 125-113. It was the third 30-point game in five games this season for Siakam.
Kyle Lowry added 20 points and eight assists for Toronto, Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka had 19 each, Fred VanVleet contributed 13 points and 11 assists and OG Anunoby scored 13 points with eight rebounds.
Andre Drummond had 21 points and 22 rebounds for the Pistons, Derrick Rose had 16 points and 10 assists, Langston Galloway added 17 points and Markieff Morris had 16 points.
The Raptors took a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter and increased it to 21 on Powell's three-pointer with 8:35 remaining. Ibaka's hook shot had the lead at 22 points with 6:46 to play.
New York Knicks 83-95 Orlando Magic
Nikola Vucevic scored 21 points as the host Orlando Magic overcame squandering a 13-point lead to record a 95-83 victory over the New York Knicks.
Vucevic shot 8-of-17 from the field and added 13 rebounds, two days removed from a nightmarish 1-for-13 performance in Orlando's 104-95 setback to Toronto.
Aaron Gordon collected 15 points and 11 rebounds and Evan Fournier added 14 points as the Magic notched their fifth win in six meetings against New York.
Julius Randle had 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Knicks, who failed in their bid to win two in a row for the first time this season after managing the feat just three times in all of 2018-19.
Bobby Portis sank a three-pointer to earn the Knicks to an 80-79 advantage with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter, but Orlando answered as Vucevic made a pull-up jumper before his kickout pass found Gordon for a three-pointer.
Gordon wasn't done, as he sank a triple and added another jumper to push Orlando's lead to 91-82 with 2:22 left.
Charlotte Hornets 118-111 Sacramento Kings
Rookie PJ Washington recorded 23 points and eight rebounds and Terry Rozier added 22 points as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the host Sacramento Kings 118-111.
Malik Monk added 18 points off the bench and Miles Bridges scored 17 as Charlotte snapped a three-game losing streak. Cody Zeller contributed 12 points and 15 rebounds, Devonte' Graham added 12 points and nine assists, and Marvin Williams scored 11 points for the Hornets.
Buddy Hield scored 23 points and Harrison Barnes added 22 for the Kings, who dropped to 0-5 for their worst start since dropping the first seven games of the 1990-91 season.
Richaun Holmes recorded 17 points and nine rebounds, De'Aaron Fox had 16 points and 10 assists and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 points.
The Kings trailed 82-81 on Fox's basket with 3:27 left before Monk answered with back-to-back three-pointers as Charlotte scored 17 of the next 20 points. The score was 93-84 entering the final quarter, with Washington capping the big burst with a basket to make it 99-84 with 10:35 left.
Chicago Bulls 111-117 Cleveland Cavaliers
Tristan Thompson scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Kevin Love finished with 17 points and 20 rebounds to lift the host Cleveland Cavaliers to a 117-111 victory against the Chicago Bulls.
Collin Sexton added 18 points and Jordan Clarkson 17 for the Cavaliers, who had six players score in double figures. Cleveland have alternated losses and wins through their first four games of the season.
Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine scored 16 points to pace Chicago, who lost their third straight game.
After Wendell Carter Jr put the Bulls ahead 90-89 with a lay-up with 8:57 to play, the Cavaliers responded with a 13-4 run over the next 2:33 to seize control.
Chicago drew within 108-106 on a Carter put-back with 1:43 remaining but came no closer.
