Kemba hits 32 as Celtics beat Mavs; Thunder pull off second straight 20-plus-point comeback win; Pelicans beat T-Wolves to end losing streak
Thursday 19 December 2019 07:35, UK
Kendrick Nunn scored 26 points and Bam Adebayo added 23 as the visiting Miami Heat defeated the 76ers 108-104 on Wednesday night, snapping Philadelphia's season-long home winning streak.
Kendrick Nunn scored 26 points and Bam Adebayo added 23 as the visiting Miami Heat defeated the 76ers 108-104 on Wednesday night, snapping Philadelphia's season-long home winning streak. At 14-0, the 76ers had been the last unbeaten home team in the league.
Duncan Robinson contributed 15 points and Jimmy Butler had 14 for the Heat. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 22 points and 19 rebounds while Tobias Harris added 20 points. Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson had 17 apiece.
The Heat led by 16 points in the fourth quarter but saw the margin cut to four before Derrick Jones Jr made a clutch three-pointer to make it 104-97 with 1:08 remaining. Embiid came back with a pair of baskets, and the Sixers trailed 104-101 with 47.9 seconds left.
Butler hit two free throws, and the Heat moved ahead 106-101 with 33.9 seconds remaining. Harris responded with a trey from the corner to pull the 76ers within 106-104. Nunn missed both free throws with 12.7 seconds left, but Philadelphia's Al Horford misfired on a three-point attempt.
Adebayo sealed the win with two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Kemba Walker scored 32 points and Jaylen Brown added 26 as the visiting Boston Celtics ended a two-game losing streak with a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points while Enes Kanter grabbed 13 rebounds as the Celtics rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to avoid dropping to .500 on the road. While the Celtics are 10-1 in home games, they are just 8-6 away from Boston.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 points before he fouled out and Seth Curry added 20 off the bench as the Mavericks lost a game for the first time without Luka Doncic, who is out for two weeks with a sprained ankle.
The Mavericks took a 55-50 advantage into the break. Behind nine points from Tatum, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 26-18 in the third quarter to take a 76-73 lead. Boston closed out the period on a 5-0 run after a three-pointer and a turnaround jumper by Grant Williams.
The Celtics grabbed their first double-digit lead at 95-85 with 4:13 remaining after seven consecutive points by Walker, who finished 5-of-10 from three-point range. Walker scored 16 points in the first quarter and 13 in the fourth.
Jamal Murray scored 33 points and Nikola Jokic had 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds as the host Denver Nuggets used a big third quarter to beat the Orlando Magic 113-104.
Paul Millsap had 15 points and 12 rebounds in his return to the line-up for Denver, who beat the Magic for the eighth straight time.
Nikola Vucevic had 20 points, DJ Augustin scored 18 off the bench, Evan Fournier had 13 and Markelle Fultz finished with 10 for Orlando, who were outscored 68-44 in the second half.
The Magic closed the first half in strong fashion, going on an 18-3 run to take a 17-point lead. Orlando settled for a 60-45 advantage at intermission, then were up 69-50 early in the third quarter on a 26-foot step-back three-pointer by Fournier.
The Nuggets woke up after that. The Magic missed 11 consecutive shots while Denver scored 24 straight points to go from 19 down to five ahead. Millsap got it going with three baskets and a free throw to cut the deficit to 12, Jokic hit a short jumper and Will Barton had a steal and a dunk.
Denver led by eight midway through the fourth quarter but Orlando scored six straight points to get within 98-96 with 4:30 remaining. Murray hit a 13-footer and after Vucevic missed a three-pointer that would have cut it to one, Murray hit one from long range. Another Vucevic miss led to a three-pointer by Jokic to make it 106-96, and Denver was able to close it out.
Brandon Ingram scored 34 points as the visiting New Orleans Pelicans ended their franchise-worst 13-game losing streak with a 107-99 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jrue Holiday added 18 points, JJ Redick had 12, Josh Hart added 11 and Lonzo Ball 10 as the Pelicans won their first game since November 21 in the opening game of a four-game road trip.
Andrew Wiggins scored 27, Robert Covington had 15, Gorgui Dieng scored 13, and Treveon Graham 10 and Shabazz Napier had 10 each to lead the Wolves, who lost their eighth consecutive game. Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns didn't play because of a sprained knee suffered in a loss to the Clippers on Friday.
The Pelicans led by 13 points at half-time and maintained a comfortable margin throughout the third quarter. The Wolves closed within 11 midway through the quarter, but New Orleans quickly rebuilt the lead to 15.
The Wolves scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to get within eight, but Hart made a three-pointer. Holiday added two three-pointers and Redick had one as New Orleans took command with a 100-82 lead with five minutes remaining.
Pascal Siakam had 26 points and Serge Ibaka supplied a season-high 25 points with 13 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors downed the host Detroit Pistons 112-99.
Kyle Lowry notched a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, while OG Anunoby had 19 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
Detroit center Andre Drummond, the league's leading rebounder, returned to action after missing two games due to left eye inflammation related to an allergic reaction. He had 22 points and 18 rebounds. Power forward Blake Griffin contributed 15 points and Derrick Rose had 16 points and five assists off the bench.
Toronto led 70-64 at halftime behind Anunoby's 17 points. It was the most first-half points the Pistons have allowed this season. Toronto's 40-point second quarter was also a season-high allowed in that quarter by the Pistons.
Lowry opened the second half with a three-pointer for a nine-point Raptors advantage. The Pistons crept within four at 77-73 when Brown dunked off a Griffin feed. Toronto then went on an 18-4 run to increase their lead to 18. Siakam and Ibaka had back-to-back dunks late in the outburst, and Ibaka finished it off with a three-pointer.
The Raptors led 96-79 heading into the fourth quarter. Drummond dunked with four minutes remaining to pull Detroit within nine at 105-96. The Pistons couldn't get any closer.
Dennis Schroder scored a season-high 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off a second consecutive improbable comeback, beating the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 126-122.
Schroder scored 22 of his points in the second half when the Thunder started chipping away at a 24-point deficit. It was the third-biggest comeback in Oklahoma City history and came just two days after the Thunder won after trailing the Chicago Bulls by 26 points.
Oklahoma City are the second team in the last 25 seasons to win back-to-back games after trailing by 20 or more points.
Just like they did against the Bulls, Oklahoma City closed the third quarter with a strong push to turn what had been a blowout into a tight game. The Thunder ripped off a 19-5 run to close the third. Schroder handled most of the scoring early in the stretch, scoring 10 points in about a three-minute span.
Then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ended the quarter with a bang. After Abdel Nader's corner three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left in the third, Gilgeous-Alexander got a steal shortly after the inbounds and hit a floater at the buzzer to cut the Memphis lead to seven.
The Thunder comeback extended into the fourth with a quick 12-4 start, giving them their first lead since the game's opening moments. Memphis had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than 15 seconds remaining but Steven Adams grabbed the rebound off Brandon Clarke's miss.
Adams quickly moved the ball to Schroder before the Grizzlies could foul and Schroder made his free throws to put the game away.
Clarke led the Grizzlies with 27 points while Jonas Valanciunas added 24 and Ja Morant 22. Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari added 20 each for Oklahoma City. Adams had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Wendell Carter Jr hit a go-ahead reverse lay-up with 9.1 seconds remaining in overtime and Lauri Markkanen scored a game-high 31 points to spark the visiting Chicago Bulls to a come-from-behind 110-109 victory against the Washington Wizards.
Washington led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter but scuffled down the stretch as the Bulls closed regulation on a 23-5 run. Bradley Beal missed a short jumper in the paint as time expired, as the Wizards lost for the fifth time in six games.
Markkanen made an alley-oop lay-up with 1:47 remaining in OT to give Chicago a 106-105 lead, their first advantage since the opening quarter. Beal and Isaiah Thomas each hit two free throws over the next 55 seconds to put Washington ahead 109-106. Carter made two free throws to cut the deficit to one before capping Chicago's comeback moments later.
Zach LaVine followed Markkanen with 24 points, scoring 20 in the second half and OT. Tomas Satoransky (17 points) and Kris Dunn (15) also finished in double figures for the Bulls.
Davis Bertans paced the Wizards with 26 points while shooting 7-for-13 from long range. Beal (22 points), Thomas (16) and Troy Brown Jr (10) were next, while Anzejs Pasecniks had a team-best eight rebounds in his first NBA game.
Damian Lillard recorded 31 points and a season-high-tying 13 assists, and CJ McCollum scored 30 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers notch a 122-112 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors.
Hassan Whiteside collected a season-best 23 rebounds to go along with 16 points as Portland won for the third time in their past four contests. Carmelo Anthony contributed 17 points and eight rebounds, and Skal Labissiere added 10 points.
D'Angelo Russell registered 26 points and seven assists for the Warriors, who lost their fifth straight game and ninth in the past 10. Glenn Robinson III scored 17 points, Alec Burks added 16, Willie Cauley-Stein had 12, Eric Paschall posted 11, and Marquese Chriss had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Portland led 81-72 after Whiteside's tip-in with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter before the Warriors scored 14 of the next 20 points to pull within one. The Trail Blazers responded with five straight points to take a 92-86 lead.
Portland was on top 97-92 entering the final quarter, and McCollum began the stanza with a three-pointer to push the lead to eight. McCollum knocked down another shot to give the Trail Blazers a 109-102 lead with 4:34 remaining. Whiteside followed with a jumper to make it 114-105 as the Trail Blazers closed it out.
Collin Sexton scored 23 points and Cedi Osman added 18 as the host Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 100-98 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Cleveland saw a 24-point lead trimmed to two, highlighted by Charlotte's Terry Rozier draining four three-pointers in a 65-second span late in the fourth quarter.
Sexton inadvertently dribbled the ball off his foot to give Charlotte one more chance, but Rozier's bid for a game-winning three-pointer in the waning seconds drew iron.
The 20-year-old Sexton, who shot 10-of-14 from the floor, became the third Cavaliers player in franchise history with 100-plus starts before the age of 21. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James are the others.
Kevin Love collected 16 points and 14 rebounds and Tristan Thompson added 14 and 13, respectively, as Cleveland posted just their third win in 19 games.
Rozier scored 19 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and Cody Zeller added 15 for his career-high-tying eighth straight double-digit scoring output for the Hornets, who lost for just the second time in six games.
