George hits clutch three-pointer as Clippers edge OKC; Harden and Westbrook combine for 64 as Rockets beat Blazers; Celtics defense shuts down Suns
Tuesday 19 November 2019 08:41, UK
Luka Doncic poured in a career-high 42 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded 12 assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-110 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs for their second straight victory.
Luka Doncic poured in a career-high 42 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded 12 assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-110 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs for their second straight victory. The triple-double was Doncic's league-leading sixth of the season.
Dorian Finney-Smith's lunging shot after a wild scramble barely beat the shot clock to push Dallas' lead to 112-107 with 1:14 to play. Rudy Gay's three-point jumper with 43.6 seconds to play brought the Spurs back to within two points, but Doncic answered with a three-pointer 16 seconds later that sealed the game for the Mavericks.
Finney-Smith had 22 points for Dallas, Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Brunson scored 11 points in the win for the Mavericks.
DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 36 points for the reeling Spurs, who lost their sixth straight game. LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points for San Antonio, with Forbes hitting for 13.
Doncic was on fire from the opening tip, scoring 17 points in the first quarter in 5-of-7 shooting that included making 4-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc. Dallas led by as many as 18 points in the half on the way to a 59-49 advantage at intermission. Doncic finished with 24 points by the break.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 64 points as the Houston Rockets won the battle of the backcourts with their 132-108 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday at Toyota Center.
While Harden did the heavy lifting prior to the half-time intermission, scoring 23 of his 36 points on 6-of-12 shooting, Westbrook came alive in the second half with 15 of his 28 points, adding 13 rebounds and 10 assists overall as Houston extended their winning streak to eight consecutive games.
The Rockets were bolstered by the return of center Clint Capela and forward Danuel House Jr. Capela dominated the paint with 22 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks. House went 3-for-6 from three-point range and scored 11 points.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, the Trail Blazers' high-scoring guard tandem, totaled 38 points on 14-of-34 shooting, with Lillard missing 11 of his 15 shots while shooting 1-of-6 on three-pointers. Lillard did add 11 assists but Portland failed to keep pace when the Rockets seized control down the stretch of the first half.
The Trail Blazers have dropped seven of their last nine games.
It was Harden who provided the Rockets an advantage they would not relinquish, sandwiching two threes around a driving lay-up to help Houston build a 54-44 lead with 4:06 left in the half. Harden added his second four-point play of the half with 73 seconds remaining as the Rockets carried a 64-50 lead into the break.
Westbrook attacked the rim with fervor in the third quarter to keep the Rockets rolling along, scoring nine points in the period as Houston methodically pulled away.
Boston forward Jayson Tatum scored 14 of his season-high 26 points in the third quarter and added a season-high 11 rebounds as the Celtics outscored the hosts Phoenix Suns 99-85 to get back on the winning track.
Kemba Walker produced 19 points for Boston and Marcus Smart had 17 points before leaving in the fourth quarter with an ankle sprain. Jaylen Brown had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Daniel Theis grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had a 10-game winning streak broken in a one-point loss at Sacramento on Sunday.
Devin Booker had 20 points, Kelly Oubre Jr had 15 points and Dario Saric had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who posted a season-low in points after winning five of their previous seven games.
The Celtics used a 20-4 run late in the second quarter to take a 15-point half-time lead, and the Suns were never closer than nine points thereafter. Walker had seven points in the run and Smart had six.
The Suns got within 85-73 midway through the fourth quarter before Brad Wanamaker made a 10-footer and a 3-pointer to push the margin back to 17. Wanamaker had 10 points and six assists off the bench.
Paul George's three-pointer with 25.9 seconds remaining was the difference as the LA Clippers held off the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder for a 90-88 victory.
Montrezl Harrell had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers. George, who scored 70 total points in his previous two games, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds against his former club. Los Angeles center Ivica Zubac added 12 points and 10 rebounds while Lou Williams chipped in 11 points.
Chris Paul scored 22 points and recorded four steals and Danilo Gallinari had 14 points for the Thunder. However, Gallinari missed a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds. Dennis Schroder scored 12 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 11 for Oklahoma City.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard missed his third consecutive game due to a left knee contusion.
Gallinari's three-pointer tied the score at 86 with 52.5 seconds remaining. Two free throws by Paul gave Oklahoma City a two-point lead with 31.3 seconds left before George delivered the game-winner.
Gallinari was initially ruled to have been fouled with 7.3 seconds remaining, but the call was overturned by the officials after the Clippers challenged it. Gallinari then failed to convert a jumper near the top of the key with four seconds left. George, who grabbed the rebound, subsequently hit a free throw for the final point.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks produced a strong finish to earn a 115-101 win over the host Chicago Bulls.
Brook Lopez had 19 points and 10 rebounds to go with five blocked shots for Milwaukee, who won their fourth game in a row. George Hill scored 18 and Donte DiVincenzo finished with 15.
Rookie Daniel Gafford amassed 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting for the Bulls. Fellow Bulls rookie Coby White scored 13 points off the bench and made 3-of-6 attempts from three-point range. Zach LaVine made only 4-of-16 shot attempts and finished with 11 points.
Milwaukee closed the game on a 17-2 run to wipe out a 99-98 deficit. Eric Bledsoe and Lopez each converted three-point plays during the final 5:04, which also included six points from Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks led 98-90 with 8:11 remaining when Chicago stormed back with a 9-0 run to grab a one-point lead with 6:23 to go. The outburst included three consecutive three-pointers, with Ryan Arcidiacono knocking down the first one and White draining the next two.
Karl-Anthony Towns matched his career-high of seven three-pointers and contributed 29 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 112-102 victory over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Jeff Teague recorded 21 points and 11 assists for Minnesota, who halted a two-game slide. Robert Covington scored 15 points, Kelan Martin added 14 on 6-of-7 shooting and Josh Okogie had 11 for the Timberwolves.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 points but Donovan Mitchell struggled with 5-of-23 shooting while scoring 17 points for Utah, who dropped to 6-1 at home. Rudy Gobert registered 16 points and 14 rebounds, Mike Conley scored 15 points, Joe Ingles had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Jeff Green added 11.
The Timberwolves took control with a 23-4 run in the final quarter. Green drained a three-pointer and Mitchell added a three-point play as Utah took an 86-80 advantage with 9:23 left in the game.
Minnesota answered with an 11-2 run, capped by two Towns' three-pointer, to take a 91-88 lead with 5:49 remaining. Towns knocked down a triple from the top of the arc to make it 96-90 with 4:45 left.
Teague scored the next four points, and Martin connected on a corner three-pointer to make it 103-90 with 3:23 remaining. The Jazz moved within 108-102 on Gobert's put-back dunk with 33.7 seconds left. Teague made two free throws with 31.1 seconds left as Minnesota closed it out.
Aaron Holiday scored a career-high 24 points and brother Justin Holiday added a season-high 20 points as the Indiana Pacers shook off a sluggish start and continued their success over the host Brooklyn Nets with a 115-86 victory.
The brothers, who are the seventh set of siblings to be team-mates in NBA history, helped the Pacers beat the Nets for the second time this season, 11th time in 12 meetings and sixth straight time in Brooklyn.
Aaron Holiday shot 10-of-19, added six rebounds and a career-high 13 assists. Justin Holiday made 6-of-11 shots as the Pacers overcame shooting missing 21 of 28 shots in the opening quarter.
For the game, the Pacers shot 43.6 per cent, hit 14 three-pointers and led by as many as 30 thanks to outscoring the Nets 41-17 in the second. TJ Warren added 19 points while Domantas Sabonis collected 16 and a career-high 18 rebounds as the Pacers outrebounded the Nets by a commanding 63-40 margin.
The Nets lost for the fourth time in five games and were blown out in their second game without Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement). Irving was listed as questionable for the game but ruled out Monday afternoon.
Spencer Dinwiddie started for Irving and scored 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter when the Nets made a small dent in Indiana's lead. Garrett Temple (10 points) and Jarrett Allen (10) were the only other Nets to reach double figures.
OG Anunoby scored a career-best 24 points as the Toronto Raptors demolished the visiting Charlotte Hornets 132-96.
Pascal Siakam scored 20 points and Normal Powell contributed 17 for the Raptors. Terence Davis chipped in with 16 points off the Toronto bench. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 15 points, Chris Boucher had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet had 11 points and eight assists as Toronto improved to 5-0 at home.
Anunoby did not play in the fourth quarter after being poked in the right eye late in the third quarter, but the team said he was available to return if needed.
Marvin Williams scored 14 points for the Hornets, who had won two in a row. Miles Bridges and Bismack Biyombo contributed 13 points each while Devonte' Graham added 11 points and Terry Rozier had 10 for Charlotte.
The Raptors were up by four points at half-time, were ahead by 18 after three quarters and increased the margin to 38 with 5:20 to play on a three-pointer by Davis.
Julius Randle scored 13 of his game-high 30 points during a pivotal first-quarter run for the host New York Knicks, who never trailed in a 123-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Randle's 30-point effort was the first by a Knicks player since Mario Hezonja scored 30 against the Washington Wizards on April 7. Marcus Morris scored 23 points for the Knicks while rookie RJ Barrett scored 15 points and Damyean Dotson added 11.
Kevin Porter Jr scored 18 points to lead six Cavaliers players in double figures. Collin Sexton and Alfonzo McKinnie each had 14 points while Jordan Clarkson scored 13 points. Brandon Knight added 12 points and Darius Garland finished with 10 points.
Randle almost singlehandedly keyed the 18-5 run that turned a 10-7 Knicks lead into a 28-12 advantage with 3:02 left in the first. He was the only New York player with multiple baskets during the surge.
The Cavaliers scored 12 of the final 16 points of the half and still were within 70-57 with 8:31 left in the third. But Morris' three-point play ended a 10-3 run for the Knicks, who expanded their lead to 90-65 when Dotson scored five straight points with under four minutes remaining in the quarter.
