Dinwiddie stars as Nets snap 76ers' win streak; Jokic posts 25 points as Nuggets beat Knicks; Magic hand Pelicans 12th straight loss
Monday 16 December 2019 07:52, UK
LeBron James scored 32 points to lead the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-96 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday and extend their road winning streak to 14 games.
LeBron James scored 32 points to lead the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-96 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday and extend their road winning streak to 14 games.
James made 12-of-21 from the field, four of them three-pointers, and added 13 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks to help the Lakers extend their current overall winning streak to seven.
The Lakers' road winning streak is the longest by the club since they won 18 straight away from home during their NBA record 33-game winning streak in 1972-73.
The Hawks, who lost to the Lakers by 21 last month in Los Angeles, were in the game until the end. Atlanta got as close as 98-96 when De'Andre Hunter hit a pair of free throws with 19.1 seconds, but James made one of two free throws with 15.2 seconds left to extend the lead to 99-96.
Atlanta rookie Cam Reddish missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 10 seconds remaining, and the Lakers' Danny Green grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to nail down the win.
The Lakers also got 27 points and 13 rebounds from Anthony Davis, who picked up his 12th double-double. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo both added 11 points.
The Hawks got 30 points from Trae Young, who was 9-for-23 from the field, including three 3-pointers. It was the 13th time Young has scored at least 30 points this season. Atlanta, who have lost four straight games, also got 12 points from Jabari Parker.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points as the Brooklyn Nets capitalised on Joel Embiid's absence and led most of the way in a 109-89 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in New York.
The Nets led for the final 41:54 in the first meeting between the teams since the first round of last spring's postseason. Embiid averaged 24.8 points in the four games he played in that series but sat out with an upper respiratory illness and missed his sixth game of the season.
Dinwiddie helped the Nets improve to 10-5 without Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement) by shooting 9-of-21 from the field and adding six assists. It was Dinwiddie's fourth straight 24-point game and 13th since being elevated to the starting line-up to replace Irving.
Joe Harris added 16 for the Nets, who led by as many as 23 and shot 45.3 per cent. Garrett Temple added 13 while DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Nets scored 64 points in the paint and outrebounded Philadelphia 52-38.
Ben Simmons scored 20 points for Philadelphia, who saw a five-game winning streak stopped, lost for only the second time in their past 11 games and were held under 90 points for the first time this season.
Tobias Harris added 17 for the 76ers, Josh Richardson was held to 11 points and Al Horford finished with 10 as he started for Embiid at center.
The Sixers trailed 66-58 following a jumper by Harris with seven minutes left. Philadelphia missed 11 of their final 13 shots to end the third quarter as the Nets took an 83-66 lead into the fourth. The Nets finished off the game when Dinwiddie hit a three-pointer with 6:29 remaining to push the lead to 99-76.
Eight Orlando players scored in double figures as the visiting Magic handed the New Orleans Pelicans their franchise-worst 12th consecutive loss, 130-119.
Jonathan Isaac led the Magic with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic, returning from an 11-game absence due to a sprained ankle, scored 20. DJ Augustin scored 17, while Evan Fournier had 16. Terrence Ross added 14, Mo Bamba 13 and Michael Carter-Williams and Markelle Fultz had 10 each.
Aaron Gordon was the only Orlando player to play and not reach double figures - and he finished with nine points. The Magic, who made 17-of-34 three-pointers, ended a three-game losing streak that came against the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.
Jrue Holiday scored 29 points, JJ Redick added 23, Brandon Ingram had 21 and Josh Hart had 20 for the Pelicans, who haven't won since a 124-121 victory at Phoenix on November 21. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was ejected after being called for two technical fouls in the third quarter.
The Magic led by one point at half-time and pushed the lead to 80-70 on Aaron Gordon's three-pointer midway through the third quarter. The Pelicans got within eight points twice, but Orlando increased their lead to 99-84 at the end of the third quarter. New Orleans scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, but Ross made three three-pointers as the Magic opened a 120-95 lead.
Nikola Jokic had game-highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds and Will Barton scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the host Denver Nuggets beat the New York Knicks 111-105 on Sunday night.
Jokic has recorded double-doubles in six straight games, including a triple-double against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. Gary Harris had 15 points and Jamal Murray and Mason Plumlee scored 14 points each to help the Nuggets beat New York for the 12th straight time in Denver.
The Nuggets have won the first three games of their five-game homestand after dropping five of their previous six.
Marcus Morris led the Knicks with 22 points, Julius Randle had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Frank Ntilikina scored 13 and had four steals and four assists for New York. The Knicks had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
The Nuggets, who were playing their second home game in as many nights, led by 20 with about eight minutes left in the second quarter and took a comfortable 16-point half-time lead, but New York slowly chipped away in the third quarter.
Denver's lead was 11 after Harris hit a three-pointer with 3:46 left in the period, but the Knicks closed out the period on an 11-3 run to make it 87-84 heading into the fourth. They started the last quarter on a 14-6 run to lead by five, 98-93.
But New York then went cold, going without a bucket for nearly six minutes and allowing Denver to take over and seal the win. The Nuggets tied the game on a three-pointer by Barton with about six minutes left, and after a New York basket, Denver scored 11 straight points to pull out the victory.
Plumlee split a pair of free throws and Jokic hit a shot from behind the arc to give Denver a 102-100 lead with 3:46 left. The Knicks had three more empty possessions, Jokic hit two free throws, and Murray drained a three-pointer with 1:32 left to widen the lead to 107-100.
Bogdan Bogdanovic recorded 25 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 100-79 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Buddy Hield scored 19 points and Marvin Bagley III added 17 points as the Kings won for the fourth time in their past five games. Harrison Barnes tallied 15 points as Sacramento ended a five-game losing streak to the Warriors.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and notched a season-high six steals for Golden State. Damion Lee scored 13 points and Alec Burks had 11 for the Warriors, who lost their fourth straight game to drop their NBA-worst record to 5-23.
Sacramento shot 60.3 per cent from the field, including 10-of-22 from three-point range, while overcoming an NBA season-worst 29 turnovers. Bogdanovic was 9-of-11 from the field and made 4-of-5 from three-point range, while Hield made 8-of-11 shots overall.
The Warriors committed 21 turnovers and shot 39 per cent from the field, including 6-of-25 from long range. Golden State were outrebounded 38-26.
Sacramento shot 59.4 per cent from the field in the first half while taking a 51-42 lead. With 9:26 left in the third quarter, Sacramento erupted with a 16-2 burst. Richaun Holmes scored back-to-back baskets to end the surge and make it 74-51 with 4:41 remaining. Bogdanovic's driving basket with 0.1 seconds left sent the Kings into the fourth quarter with a 79-59 lead. The game remained one-sided as the Warriors fell to 2-10 at home.
Aaron Holiday scored 23 points off the bench as the Indiana Pacers rode a dominant fourth quarter to a 107-85 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in Indianapolis.
Indiana's Domantas Sabonis recorded his 12th consecutive double-double after collecting 12 points and 12 rebounds to propel the Pacers to their 11th win in 14 games. Myles Turner added 14 points and 10 boards.
Cody Zeller collected 19 points and 12 rebounds and Bismack Biyombo added 11 points and a season-high 17 boards for the Hornets, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.
Devonte' Graham was limited to 12 points on 3-of-18 shooting from the floor - including 3-of-14 from three-point range.
Indiana responded after seeing their 19-point lead whittled to six with a frenzied start to the fourth quarter. Aaron Holiday highlighted an early 11-4 surge with four free throws before sinking a three-pointer and pull-up jumper to give the Pacers a 95-75 advantage with 4:24 remaining.
