Paul George suffers losing debut as Pelicans defeat Clippers
Porzingis booed throughout as Knicks beat Mavs at MSG; Giannis scores 38 as Bucks beat Bulls; Oubre stars as Suns defeat Hawks
Friday 15 November 2019 08:21, UK
Jrue Holiday scored 36 points as the host New Orleans Pelicans spoiled Paul George's Clippers debut with a 132-127 victory over Los Angeles on Thursday night.
LA Clippers 127-132 New Orleans Pelicans
Jrue Holiday scored 36 points as the host New Orleans Pelicans spoiled Paul George's Clippers debut with a 132-127 victory over Los Angeles on Thursday night.
Holiday broke out of a shooting slump to outduel George, who returned from offseason surgery on both shoulders to score 33 points in 24 minutes.
Frank Jackson added 23 points, Derrick Favors had 20 points and 20 rebounds, JJ Redick scored 19 and E'Twaun Moore had 15 as the Pelicans won just their third game of the season.
Lou Williams scored 31, Rodney McGruder had 20 and Montrezl Harrell added 18 for LA. Kawhi Leonard, the other marquee offseason acquisition that helped make the Clippers championship contenders, did not suit up after playing 41 minutes in a 102-93 loss at Houston the night before.
The Pelicans led 72-59 at half-time but the Clippers cut the deficit to four as George scored seven of his team's first 11 points in the third quarter. The score was tied three times before the Clippers took a 97-96 lead after three quarters.
There were five more ties before Holiday produced the seventh and final lead change of the fourth quarter by making a three-pointer that put New Orleans ahead 117-115 with 3:27 remaining.
Jackson sealed the victory with a three-pointer with 29 seconds left and two late free throws by JJ Redick.
Dallas Mavericks 103-106 New York Knicks
Marcus Morris Sr drained the tie-breaking three-pointer with 13.4 seconds left as the host New York Knicks outlasted Kristaps Porzingis and the Dallas Mavericks in a wild 106-103 win.
The Knicks won for just the third time in 12 games this season, but two of those wins have come at the expense of Porzingis and the Mavericks. New York traded Porzingis, their first-round pick in the 2015 draft, to Dallas in February in a blockbuster deal involving six players and two first-round picks.
Porzingis collected a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) but was scoreless in the fourth quarter. He was booed throughout his first game as a visiting player at Madison Square Garden.
Morris' game-winning shot capped a back-and-forth fourth quarter in which there were five ties, the last of which was created when Seth Curry put back a Tim Hardaway Jr miss to knot the score at 101-101 with 38 seconds left.
The Knicks' Julius Randle and the Mavericks' Delon Wright were whistled for a held ball on the next possession. Randle won the tip, and the ball ended up in the hands of Morris, who dribbled for a few seconds while being guarded by Maxi Kleber before taking a step back and hitting the go-ahead shot.
Luka Doncic, who recorded his fifth triple-double of the season, drove the lane to pull the Mavericks within one point with 5.8 seconds left. But Frank Ntilikina hit two free throws with 3.9 seconds to go, and Curry missed an off-balance 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left.
Morris scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. Julius Randle had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Mitchell Robinson scored 16 points. Doncic finished with 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in his 13th career triple-double - the most ever in the NBA by a player before his 21st birthday.
Chicago Bulls 115-124 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo matched his season-high of 38 points and recorded 16 rebounds and three steals to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 124-115 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Eric Bledsoe scored a season-best 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting for his fifth straight 20-point outing. Bledsoe added eight assists as Milwaukee defeated Chicago for the seventh straight time.
Watch Nets @ Bulls live on Sky Sports Arena on Saturday at 11pm
Wesley Matthews tallied 15 points and Brook Lopez added 13 points for the Bucks, who have won six of their past seven games. Milwaukee played their first game without All-Star forward Khris Middleton, who is expected to miss three to four weeks with a left thigh injury.
Rookie Coby White was 6-of-13 from three-point range and scored 26 points to lead the Bulls. Zach LaVine registered 25 points and seven assists before fouling out with 43.2 seconds left.
The Bulls pulled within 117-114 on LaVine's lay-up with 1:53 remaining. But Bledsoe scored back-to-back baskets and Matthews added two free throws to push the lead to nine with 1:03 left as the Bucks closed it out.
Atlanta Hawks 112-128 Phoenix Suns
Kelly Oubre Jr scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the host Phoenix Suns pulled away from the Atlanta Hawks for a 128-112 victory.
Phoenix guard Devin Booker added 27 points and seven assists. Dario Saric had a season-high 23 points and pulled down six rebounds, and Frank Kaminsky tied a season-high with 19 points and had six rebounds off the bench for the Suns, who made 15 three-pointers to extend their franchise-record streak to nine games with at least 11 threes.
Jabari Parker had 24 points and seven rebounds and Trae Young contributed 21 points and 13 assists for the Hawks, who played their first game without injured guard Kevin Huerter.
The Suns (7-4) are off to their best 11-game start since they went 9-2 in 2009-10, the last time they made the playoffs. They outscored Atlanta 61-51 in the second half, and they led by as many as 19.
Atlanta center Alex Len, booed heavily when he was on the floor, had season highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. He spent his first four seasons with the Suns.
Atlanta guard Cam Reddish was ejected in the fourth quarter after getting called for a second flagrant foul.
Miami Heat 108-97 Cleveland Cavaliers
Rookie Kendrick Nunn had 23 points and eight assists as the visiting Miami Heat enjoyed a fast start before holding on for a 108-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Nunn shot 10-of-16 from the floor on Thursday after going 21-of-60 in his previous five games. The Heat, who have won six of their past eight games, sport an 8-3 record, their best 11-game start to a season since the LeBron James-led Big Three era in 2013-14.
Miami's Bam Adebayo collected 16 points and 15 rebounds, and rookie Tyler Herro scored 16 points in his return from a one-game absence caused by a sprained ankle.
Jimmy Butler had 14 points and six assists for the Heat, who claimed a 68-44 lead at intermission after shooting a robust 63.4 per cent from the field (26-of-41) and 52.9 per cent from three-point range (9-of-17).
Kevin Love had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Collin Sexton chipped in with 15 points for the Cavaliers. Cleveland shot 1-of-14 from three-point range in the first half en route to falling for the fifth time in seven games.
Brooklyn Nets 93-101 Denver Nuggets
Nikola Jokic had 18 points and 10 rebounds while Paul Millsap contributed 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the host Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 101-93.
Will Barton scored 17 points and Jerami Grant had 12 points off the bench for Denver, which overcame a sluggish first half to win for the fifth time in six games. The Nuggets have trailed at half-time in eight of their 11 games and are 6-2 in those games.
Jarrett Allen had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kyrie Irving scored 17 and dished out nine assists, and Spencer Dinwiddie also scored 17 points for the Nets, who were held to a season-low in points.
Brooklyn finished 8-of-38 from three-point range, missed their last 19 shots from long range and scored just 32 points in the second half, three less than they managed in the first quarter.
The game was tied at 83 early in the fourth quarter when Denver took their first lead since the first quarter on Grant's three-pointer. Mason Plumlee had a dunk and Barton hit an 18-footer to put the Nuggets ahead 90-83.
Barton increased the advantage to nine, but three lay-ups pulled the Nets within 96-93 and prompted Denver to call a timeout. Jokic's putback and Barton's jumper pushed the lead back to seven with less about two-and-a-half minutes left.
The Nets didn't score for the final 3:31 of the game.
