Spurs beat Rockets despite 50 from Harden; Butler stars as Heat take down Raptors in OT; Clippers too strong for Trail Blazers
Wednesday 4 December 2019 09:52, UK
Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds while battling an illness and LeBron James had 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 105-96 on Tuesday night.
Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds while battling an illness and LeBron James had 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 105-96 on Tuesday night.
Dwight Howard scored 13 points and Rajon Rondo had 11 for the Lakers, who won the match-up of the top two teams in the Western Conference. Los Angeles rebounded from having their 10-game winning streak stopped with a home loss to Dallas on Sunday.
Jamal Murray scored 22 points, Paul Millsap had 21 and Nikola Jokic was held to 13 points for the Nuggets. Denver have lost two straight contests following a six-game winning streak.
Davis was battling flu-like symptoms, a condition that has bothered some of his team-mates as well, and he was a game-time decision. He had 10 points in the final seven minutes of the second quarter and 13 in the third quarter when the Lakers held off a charge by Denver.
Los Angeles led 60-49 at half-time and by 10 early in the third when Denver scored 10 straight points to tie it. Millsap later hit a three-pointer to put Denver ahead 72-71, their first lead since the first quarter, but Davis hit a three-pointer and James had a lay-up and a fastbreak dunk to give the Lakers the lead again.
Los Angeles took an 84-76 lead into the fourth quarter and led by 10 after James hit a lay-up about 15 seconds into the period. Denver chipped away, getting within 97-96 on two free throws by Jokic with 2:23 left, and after Davis split a pair from the line, the Nuggets missed two chances to tie.
Lakers guard Alex Caruso hit two free throws, Jokic missed a short hook, and James' putback dunk made it 102-96 with 1:15 left.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, including the game-winning free throws with 3.3 seconds to play, as the San Antonio Spurs came back from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the visiting Houston Rockets 135-133 in double overtime.
Lonnie Walker IV scored a career-high 28 points, 19 of them in the fourth quarter, to pace the Spurs. Bryn Forbes added 25, Rudy Gay had 14 points, Derrick White scored 12 and Jakob Poeltl pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds.
James Harden poured in 50 points, making all 24 of his free throws, to pace Houston. Clint Capela scored 22 points and grabbed 21 rebounds for the Rockets while Russell Westbrook contributed 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Both teams struggled on offense in the second overtime, with the game tied at 131 after a three-pointer by Forbes with 1:28 remaining. Two free throws by Harden with 48.5 seconds to play staked Houston to a two-point lead, and DeRozan hit one of two from the charity stripe with 30 seconds to play, bringing the Spurs to within a point.
After Harden missed a jumper with 7.8 seconds to play, DeRozan was fouled and hit both free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining to give the Spurs a 134-33 advantage. Harden was then whistled for an offensive foul on a drive to the basket with 0.8 seconds left. Walker subsequently made one foul shot, and the Spurs escaped with the win.
Luka Doncic had 33 points and 18 rebounds in three quarters as the visiting Dallas Mavericks rolled past the New Orleans Pelicans 118-97.
The red-hot Mavericks, fresh off a 114-100 road victory that ended the Lakers' 10-game winning streak, overcame a cold-shooting first quarter to win for the eighth time in their last nine games.
Seth Curry came off the bench to score 19, Tim Hardaway Jr and Maxi Kleber added 12 each and Dallas made 19-of-45 three-pointers. Brandon Ingram scored 24, Jrue Holiday had 18, JJ Redick added 12 and Josh Hart 11 to lead the Pelicans, who lost their sixth consecutive game.
Dallas stretched their six-point half-time lead to 10 points midway through the third quarter. Ingram and Redick each made a three-pointer as New Orleans closed within four points. The Pelicans got within four on two more occasions before Doncic made five free throws and the Mavericks held an 84-75 lead at the end of the quarter.
With Doncic on the bench to start the fourth quarter, his team-mates quickly expanded the lead. Justin Jackson and Dwight Powell had consecutive baskets and Delon Wright added a free throw as Dallas took a 15-point lead before New Orleans scored a fourth-quarter point. Ingram ended the scoring drought by making two free throws, but the lead grew to 104-84 on a three-pointer by Curry with 5:24 left.
Montrezl Harrell scored 26 points and Paul George added 25 as the LA Clippers pulled away in the second half to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 117-97. Kawhi Leonard added 11 points in helping extend the Clippers franchise-best start at home to 13-1.
The game was tied 10 times in the first half before the Clippers eked out a 62-59 lead at half-time. George and Leonard took over to start the third. They each hit three-pointers and George had a steal and a dunk to go with a free throw from Leonard as part of a 14-3 run that gave the Clippers a 76-62 lead.
The Blazers answered with seven straight points to trail by seven. Harrell dominated the rest of the quarter, scoring nine points in the Clippers 21-7 run over the end of the third and start of the fourth that extended their lead to 96-76.
George tied his season-high by making 6-of-7 three-pointers, some arcing like rainbows on their way into the net. As a team, the Clippers made 17 three-pointers on 34 attempts, with Patrick Patterson scoring 15 of his 19 points on threes.
Patterson and George connected on back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth before George and Leonard sat down for good with 3:57 remaining.
CJ McCollum scored 20 points, Hassan Whiteside had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Damian Lillard added 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting for the Blazers, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Jimmy Butler delivered 22 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists and Duncan Robinson scored 22 points as the Miami Heat spoiled Kyle Lowry's return to Toronto's line-up by beating the Raptors 121-110 in overtime.
Butler scored eight consecutive points in 55 seconds to begin the extra session as the Heat recovered after blowing a seven-point lead in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo scored 18 points, Justise Winslow had 17 and Kelly Olynyk 16 as the Heat snapped the Raptors season-high winning streak at seven games, and became the first visitor to win north of the border this season.
Pascal Siakam had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Norman Powell scored 23 points and Fred VanVleet had 19 for Toronto, who had won a franchise-record nine straight home games to begin the season.
Toronto missed all nine of their field goal attempts in overtime, eight of them from three-point range.
Lowry returned after missing 11 games because of a fractured left thumb. The five-time All-Star missed his first 11 shot attempts, including seven from three-point range, before making a lay-up with 8:40 to go in the fourth. He finished with 12 points and 11 assists in 41 minutes.
Evan Fournier led six Orlando players in double figures with 31 points as the Magic used a balanced attack to overcome a 42-point performance by Bradley Beal to beat the host Washington Wizards 127-120.
DJ Augustin (24 points), Markelle Fultz (20), Aaron Gordon (18), Terrence Ross (14) and Jonathan Isaac (11) also scored in double figures for the Magic, who set a season-high in points in winning their second straight and for the third time in their last four. Davis Bertans had 21 points, Isaiah Thomas 20 and Rui Hachimura 15 to back Beal for the Wizards, who lost their third straight.
Orlando held the lead for most of the contest, going up by nine in the first quarter and 68-50 with 1:14 left in the first half on a three-pointer by Fournier.
Washington made their best run of the game to start the second half, with Bertans nailing three three-pointers and Beal two in a 21-6 burst that allowed the Wizards momentarily to take a lead at 75-74 less than four minutes into the period.
But Gordon countered immediately with a three-pointer of his own and the Magic never trailed again, going up by as many as 11 before the third quarter's end and 104-88 in the second minute of the fourth period. The Wizards never got closer than the final margin after that.
Blake Griffin scored 24 points in 24 minutes as the visiting Detroit Pistons won consecutive games for the first time this season by clobbering the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-94.
Andre Drummond racked up 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, five steals and four blocks for Detroit, who defeated San Antonio 132-98 on Sunday. It is the first time in franchise history the Pistons have recorded back-to-back victories of 30 or more points.
Svi Mykhailiuk had 15 points, Langston Galloway scored 14 and Markieff Morris, and Derrick Rose added 12 apiece. Rose also contributed nine of the Pistons' 33 assists.
Collin Sexton's 22 points led the Cavaliers, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Kevin Porter Jr had 12 points, and Tristan Thompson supplied 10 points and 14 rebounds. Cedi Osman and Jordan Clarkson each added their own 10 points for Cleveland.
The Pistons outscored the Cavs 30-18 in the second quarter en route to a 62-46 half-time lead. Detroit continued to build their lead in the third. Tony Snell opened the half with an alley-oop dunk off a Bruce Brown feed. A Drummond three-point play and a Luke Kennard three-pointer increased the advantage to 24 at 72-48. A Morris fourth-quarter three-pointer with 7:16 left upped the Pistons' lead to 35.
