Derrick Rose hits last-second winner to lead Pistons past Pelicans
Bjelica's buzzer-beater stuns Rockets; Siakam stars as Raptors edge Bulls; George hits 36 as Clippers defeat Pacers
Tuesday 10 December 2019 07:57, UK
Derrick Rose scored a team-high 21 points, capped by a last-second game-winner jumper, as the visiting Detroit Pistons defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
Detroit Pistons 105-103 New Orleans Pelicans
Derrick Rose scored a team-high 21 points, capped by a last-second game-winner jumper, as the visiting Detroit Pistons defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-103 on Monday night.
The Pistons inbounded the ball with 14.7 seconds left and cleared out for Rose, who dribbled down the clock, penetrated and hit a jumper from just inside the foul line.
The Pelicans called a timeout with 0.3 seconds left, but their subsequent lob pass was deflected, and they lost their ninth consecutive game.
Langston Galloway added 16 points, Luke Kennard scored 14 and Andre Drummond had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit. Brandon Ingram scored 31, Jrue Holiday scored 20, Jaxson Hayes added 13 and Josh Hart had 12 to lead New Orleans.
Rose had a lay-up and a 3-pointer, in addition to assisting on a lay-up by Galloway, as the Pistons took an 88-76 fourth-quarter advantage but Hart made two three-pointers and another basket as the Pelicans closed to 96-95.
Ingram's jumper gave New Orleans a 103-101 lead with 1:11 remaining before a Rose basket tied the score again with 38.7 seconds left. After Ingram missed a jumper, the Pistons called a timeout and drew up Rose's winning play.
Sacramento Kings 119-118 Houston Rockets
Nemanja Bjelica drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Sacramento Kings claimed a 119-118 victory over the host Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
Bjelica drilled a 33-footer off an inbound pass from Cory Joseph to answer a driving lay-up from Rockets guard Russell Westbrook on the preceding possession.
Bjelica scored over PJ Tucker to cap his 17-point performance and the Kings finished 20-of-45 from behind the arc to win two of three legs of the Texas triangle. They lost 105-104 in overtime at San Antonio on Friday before winning 110-106 at Dallas on Sunday.
Westbrook scored a season-high 34 points, primarily on driving lay-ups as the Kings offered scant rim protection. His basket countered a game-tying triple from Kings guard Buddy Hield (team-high 26 points), whose trey matched a three from Ben McLemore with 22.7 seconds left.
The Kings received 19 points and eight rebounds from Harrison Barnes and 16 points plus eight rebounds from Richaun Holmes. Joseph added 14 points and six assists.
James Harden paired 27 points with 10 assists for the Rockets while Tucker grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 10 points. Clint Capela also had a double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds.
Toronto Raptors 93-92 Chicago Bulls
Pascal Siakam scored 22 points as the visiting Toronto Raptors overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Chicago Bulls 93-92 to end a three-game losing streak.
Kyle Lowry added 11 points and made the go-ahead layup with 50.9 seconds remaining for the Raptors, who have won 11 in a row against the Bulls. Norman Powell had 17 points, Serge Ibaka had 11 points and 14 rebounds and OG Anunoby scored 10 for Toronto.
Zach Lavine scored 20 points - all in the first half - and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have lost three straight. Wendell Carter Jr and Daniel Gafford added 14 points each.
The game was tied after three quarters and the Bulls opened an eight-point lead in the fourth. The Raptors went on a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead on Lowry's two free throws with 3:52 to play.
Siakam made one of two free throws with 1:59 to play to give Toronto a two-point advantage, but Markkanen's three-pointer gave the Bulls a 90-89 lead. Toronto took the lead for good on Lowry's lay-up.
The Bulls had possession with 8.1 seconds remaining but the Raptors defense held off LaVine's attempt.
LA Clippers 110-99 Indiana Pacers
Paul George made seven three-pointers to highlight a 36-point performance against his former team as the LA Clippers posted a 110-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
George was booed by the crowd in his third game back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after requesting a trade from Indiana, his home for his first seven NBA seasons. George was sent to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in July 2017 before the Thunder traded him to the Clippers in the latest offseason.
Montrezl Harrell had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard (left knee soreness). Ivica Zubac added 13 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles, who improved to 11-2 in their past 13 games.
Indiana's Malcolm Brogdon scored a team-high 20 points in his return from a one-game absence caused by a dislocated finger on his right hand. Sabonis collected 18 points and 22 rebounds for his 19th double-double in the first 22 contests of the season.
George heated up just before half-time, sinking three consecutive free throws and back-to-back three-pointers to ignite a 14-3 surge. He remained hot in the third quarter, sandwiching three-pointers around an off-balance lay-up over Myles Turner in a 78-second span to give the Clippers their largest lead at 84-65.
Doug McDermott sank a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Brogdon added one of his own as Indiana trimmed the deficit to 103-93 with 3:43 remaining. Sabonis worked the interior and TJ Warren made a floating jumper to get the Pacers within seven with 1:46 left before the hosts ran out of steam.
Orlando Magic 101-110 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks extended their NBA-best winning streak to 15 games with a 110-101 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic.
Khris Middleton scored 20 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 12 as the Bucks improved to 11-1 at home and matched the Los Angeles Lakers for best record in the NBA at 21-3.
Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Terrence Ross added 23 as the Magic saw their season-best four-game winning streak come to an end, but not before putting together a late run.
The Magic trailed 52-40 at half-time and were down by as many as 18 in the second half before going on an 18-5 run to slice the deficit to five points at 78-73 near the end of the third quarter.
The Bucks pushed the lead back up to 10 at 94-84 with 5:33 remaining on a three-pointer from Middleton and held on from there. Aaron Gordon had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, while DJ Augustin scored 13 off the bench.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks in scoring for the ninth consecutive game and for the 21st time this season. He also recorded his 22nd double-double in 24 games after failing to collect at least 10 rebounds in two of his previous four contests.
Cleveland Cavaliers 88-110 Boston Celtics
Kemba Walker led the way with 22 points and Gordon Hayward had 14 in his return from a hand injury as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 110-88.
Jaylen Brown added 20 points, Jayson Tatum 19 and Daniel Theis 10 as all five Celtics starters scored in double figures. Boston improved to 10-0 at home and won for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Jordan Clarkson had 19 points and Tristan Thompson 17 for the Cavaliers, who lost their seventh straight and for the 13th time in their last 14 games.
Hayward was back in the line-up for Boston two weeks ahead of his initial projected return date from surgery to repair a fractured left hand that he underwent in November. He scored 10 of his points in the third quarter before sitting out the fourth.
The Celtics led from start to finish for the second straight game, going up by as much as 13 in the first quarter. They ended the second on a 9-3 run to take a 53-40 advantage into the half.
Boston began the third on a 9-1 run, taking their lead above 20 for the first time, 62-41, on a Tatum three-pointer with 9:39 to go. A 14-2 Celtics stretch in the middle of the quarter included rookie Grant Williams hitting his first career three-pointer on his 26th attempt.
Cleveland got as close as 13 the rest of the way before Boston restored their 20-point margin at 103-83 with 3:32 left and closed out the win.
Oklahoma City Thunder 104-90 Utah Jazz
Dennis Schroder scored 27 off the bench to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-90 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and Chris Paul had 16 points and seven assists for the Thunder, who overcame 26 points from Utah's Donovan Mitchell.
The Thunder came into the game without starters Terrance Ferguson (right hip soreness) while Danilo Gallinari missed a game for the first time this season after sustaining a left ankle sprain. Utah were without point guard Mike Conley for the third consecutive game due to a strained left hamstring.
While Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander had big offensive nights for Oklahoma City, it was the Thunder defense that set the tone. Utah's 90 points tied the fewest scored against Oklahoma City this season.
Oklahoma City took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Jazz 34-21, on their way to a 22-point lead. Aside from Mitchell, only two other Utah players scored in double figures.
Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 17 rebounds for Utah, but his counterpart on the Thunder, Steven Adams, had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic scored 13 points.
Minnesota Timberwolves 109-125 Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker had 26 points and three three-pointers and Kelly Oubre Jr had 24 points on his 24th birthday as the host Phoenix Suns pulled away from the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 125-109 victory.
Dario Saric had 20 points and was a rebound short of his fifth double-double in the last eight games and Ricky Rubio had 16 points and 14 assists for the Suns, who beat Timberwolves for the second time in 17 days to get within one game of .500.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 33 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins had 23 points and Jeff Teague had 16 points and four assists off the bench for the Timberwolves, who extended a season-long losing streak to five.
The teams yo-yoed through 15 lead changes and 16 ties through the first 27 minutes before the Suns opened some space when Booker made back-to-back three-pointers for a 73-68 lead. The Suns gradually pulled away, stretching their lead to as many as 19. Minnesota were never closer than seven in the final nine minutes after Cam Johnson's trey made it 100-90.
Suns center Aron Baynes, who had missed the previous four games and nine of the last 10 with injuries, had 12 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.
Memphis Grizzlies 110-102 Golden State Warriors
The Memphis Grizzlies used six three-pointers to bolt to a 24-11 lead in the first 7:19 of the game, then never trailed thereafter in a 110-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Rookie star Ja Morant returned from a four-game layoff caused to back spasms to lead the way with a game-high 26 points and seven assists. He helped the Grizzlies win for just the second time in their last 10 games.
D'Angelo Russell and Alec Burks shared team-high scoring honours for the Warriors with 18 points.
Attempting to build their first winning streak of the season after prevailing at Chicago on Friday, Golden State led 6-4 before Jonas Valanciunas connected on consecutive three-pointers to get the visitors rolling. Dillon Brooks, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant and Grayson Allen added threes in a 20-5 burst that produced the 24-11 lead.
The Warriors trimmed the deficit to two on multiple occasions, then got within 66-65 on a lay-up by Russell near the midpoint of the third period. But Memphis immediately countered with a 13-1 flurry, powered by three-pointers from Solomon Hill and Brooks, and a three-point play from De'Anthony Melton, to re-establish a double-digit lead.
The closest the Warriors could get in the final period was 106-100 after two free throws by Burks with 1:32 to go before Morant iced the victory with a dunk 13 seconds later.
