Doncic hits triple-double as Mavs rout Warriors; Mitchell scores 30 as Jazz stun Clippers; Heat outlast 76ers in dramatic OT win
Sunday 29 December 2019 08:59, UK
LeBron James scored 21 points and matched his season-best of 16 assists while playing through a groin injury to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 128-120 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
LeBron James scored 21 points, matched his season-best of 16 assists and also collected seven rebounds while playing through a groin injury to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 128-120 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Kyle Kuzma scored a team-high 24 points and Anthony Davis added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists as Los Angeles halted a season-worst, four-game losing streak. Rajon Rondo tallied 15 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 and Dwight Howard had 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Damian Lillard recorded 31 points and nine assists for the Trail Blazers, who lost their third straight game. Hassan Whiteside recorded 19 points and 16 rebounds, CJ McCollum scored 18 points, Anfernee Simons added 14, Carmelo Anthony had 13 and Anthony Tolliver tallied 12.
The Lakers led 85-75 after Davis' basket with 7:45 left in the third quarter before the Trail Blazers scored the next 11 points to take the lead. Los Angeles later went on a quarter-ending 13-4 run to take a 103-95 lead into the final stanza.
Caldwell-Pope knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner 61 seconds later to make it 123-112. James recorded assist number 16 in stellar fashion with an alley-oop to Davis, who slammed the ball home to make it 127-115 with 1:37 left to put the game away.
Luka Doncic recorded 31 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 141-121 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
The triple-double was the ninth of the season for Doncic and ties the franchise record set by Jason Kidd in 1995-96. Doncic also made five three-pointers as Dallas set a franchise record by making 24 from behind the arc (out of 51 attempts).
Tim Hardaway Jr made six three-pointers and scored 25 points and Kristaps Porzingis made four treys while adding 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots as the Mavericks won for the 15th time in the last 20 games.
D'Angelo Russell scored 35 points and matched his career-best of nine three-pointers for the Warriors, who had a four-game winning streak halted. Russell scored 32 of his points prior to a collision with Doncic with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Russell's head smacked into Doncic's hip during a scramble for the ball. A stretcher was brought out but Russell eventually stood up and walked to the locker room. He returned at the outset of the fourth quarter.
The Warriors led 84-82 after Russell's basket with 7:08 left in the third quarter before Dallas scored 15 straight points and 23 of 25.
The Mavericks led 117-98 entering the final period. Porzingis drained his team's 23rd triple with 11:05 remaining in the game. Dallas' largest lead was 30 points en route to increasing their road record to 12-3.
Jimmy Butler made the go-ahead free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining in overtime against his former team, as the Miami Heat recorded a 117-116 overtime victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
After Ben Simmons converted an alley-oop dunk to forge a tie at 116 with 18.3 seconds left in overtime, Butler was fouled on a jumper on the next possession. Butler misfired on the first attempt before sinking the second, and Tobias Harris failed to convert a three-point attempt as Miami improved to 6-0 in overtime games this season.
Butler finished with 25 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. Goran Dragic had 19 points and rookie Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson each had 16 for the Heat.
Joel Embiid collected 35 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who have dropped the first two contests of their four-game road trip. Josh Richardson, who played his first four seasons with Miami, chipped in with 17 points, and Simmons added 15 along with 11 rebounds.
With Philadelphia nursing a 106-104 lead, Embiid corralled an offensive rebound and appeared content to hold on to the ball with 10 seconds remaining in regulation before Butler punched it out of his hands.
Herro calmly sank a three-pointer in transition to give Miami the lead with 6.9 seconds left. After he again stole the ball from Embiid, Butler made a free throw to extend the advantage, but Richardson was sent to the free-throw line after being fouled on a last-second shot. Richardson misfired on the first attempt and purposely missed the second, with Simmons's putback tying the game at 108 and forcing overtime.
Donovan Mitchell had 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a 120-107 victory over the LA Clippers.
Jordan Clarkson scored 19 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 and Joe Ingles chipped in 15 for the Jazz, who captured their seventh win in their last eight games.
Paul George had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points for the Clippers. Center Ivica Zubac finished with 15 points and 12 boards, nine of those on the offensive end.
Two free throws by Zubac cut the Jazz's lead to 109-107 with 3:35 left, but Utah scored the final 11 points to clinch the win. Los Angeles lost for only the third time in 17 games at home.
A three-pointer by Mitchell gave Utah an 87-77 advantage with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Clippers rallied with a 9-2 surge to pull within 89-86 after a dunk by George with two minutes left in the quarter.
George's three-pointer with six seconds remaining sliced Utah's edge to 93-92 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nikola Jokic had a season-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and Will Barton scored 20 and had seven assists as the host Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-110. It was Jokic's seventh triple-double of the season.
Jaren Jackson Jr.had 20 points, De'Anthony Melton had 17, Ja Morant scored 16 and Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Brandon Clarke finished with 15 points.
Denver led 26-11 after the first 12 minutes and their advantage quickly grew to 34-13. The Grizzlies went on a 17-5 second-quarter run to end the half and went to the locker room down just 50-39.
They opened the second half on a 10-2 run to get within three. Denver responded by scoring 16 of the next 20 points to go back up by 15. Valanciunas hit two three-pointers and a finger roll to make it 91-83 with 8:40 left. The Grizzlies got within seven with 5:15 left but couldn't get any closer.
Kyle Lowry scored 30 points and registered seven assists for the visiting Toronto Raptors, who avenged a Christmas Day loss to the Celtics with a 113-97 win in Boston. Serge Ibaka finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors ended a two-game losing streak.
Kemba Walker scored 30 points for the Celtics, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Jaylen Brown finished with 17 points, followed by Gordon Hayward (13), Jayson Tatum (12) and Enes Kanter (11).
The teams traded runs in the third quarter. The Celtics scored nine in a row to pull within 70-67 with 6:35 left, before the Raptors responded with eight straight over the next 90 seconds.
The Celtics got within five just once more, on a lay-up by Brown with 1:13 left in the period. Terence Davis' putback gave the Raptors an 89-79 lead heading into the fourth and Ibaka's layup with 10:11 remaining lengthened the lead to double digits for good.
James Harden delivered 44 points and 10 rebounds as the host Houston Rockets survived unsightly three-point shooting in their 108-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Harden's floater with 6:51 left to play put Houston ahead to stay at 93-92 and his step-back three-pointer with 42.9 seconds left stretched the lead to 107-98 and erased all doubt.
Russell Westbrook added 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists prior to his ejection inside the final minute. Spencer Dinwiddie paced five Nets in double figures with 17 points while adding a game-high 11 assists. Taurean Prince and Jarrett Allen scored 16 apiece for the Nets.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets went nearly seven minutes without a field goal during a miserable offensive stretch. But when they needed offense down the stretch, Harden was able to provide.
A dominant fourth quarter powered the host Milwaukee Bucks to their second win without star Giannis Antetokounmpo in as many nights, as they downed the Orlando Magic 111-100.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks in scoring Saturday, as he did on Friday at Atlanta, posting 21 points. Milwaukee jumped ahead to lead 37-25 after one quarter, but Orlando chipped away at the deficit over the middle quarters.
Orlando, who trimmed Milwaukee's lead to four points heading into the final period, were paced by 23 points from Evan Fournier and 21 points from Nikola Vucevic. Jonathan Isaac scored 19 points and made seven steals, a big chunk of Milwaukee's 24 turnovers.
The bench contributed to Milwaukee's offensive efficiency. Robin Lopez and George Hill paced a 51-point effort from the Bucks' reserves with 17 points apiece. The Orlando bench, conversely, scored just 28 points.
Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and six team-mates also scored in double figures as the host New Orleans Pelicans routed the Indiana Pacers 120-98.
Jrue Holiday added 20 points, JJ Redick scored 15 and Derrick Favors had 10 points and 16 rebounds as the Pelicans notched their first home victory since November 19. Aaron Holiday scored 25 points, TJ Warren added 20 and Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Pacers.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jrue, Justin, and Aaron Holiday became the first trio of brothers to play in an NBA game when Justin checked in with 5:13 left in the first quarter. Jrue started for New Orleans, Aaron started for Indiana and Justin came off the Pacers' bench.
Jrue Holiday scored 12 points as New Orleans opened a 77-63 lead. He then made a three-pointer, and Ingram made two triples-pointers as the lead grew to 20 before the Pelicans took a decisive 86-68 edge at the end of the third quarter.
Devin Booker had 32 points and 10 assists and Kelly Oubre had 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns broke an eight-game losing streak with a 112-110 victory over the host Sacramento Kings.
Buddy Hield had 23 points and four three-pointers, Bogdan Bogdanovic had 22 points and five three-pointers off the bench and Harrison Barnes had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Kings, who have lost six in a row.
Barnes' 26-footer to potentially win the game missed with two seconds left. Rubio's three-pointer had given the Suns a 109-104 lead with 1:26 remaining on a three-pointer, but Hield's three cut it to 109-107 at 1:09.
Richaun Holmes, who had 14 points, made one of two free throws with 20.9 seconds left to get the Kings within one at 109-108. Baynes made a dunk off a Rubio feed to push the lead to 111-108 with 9.5 seconds left.
Barnes hit two free throws to make it 111-110 with 7.8 seconds remaining before Booker made one of two free throws with 5.9 left. Then came Barnes' final miss from deep.
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points on 13-of-16 shooting and LaMarcus Aldridge added 25 points and 12 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 136-109 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center.
After a contentious and close first half after which ended with the Spurs up four, San Antonio broke open the game by outscoring the Pistons 42-25 in the third quarter and waltzed to the win. The Spurs were up by as many as 28 points midway through the fourth quarter after their bench took over.
Bryn Forbes added 18 points for San Antonio, with Rudy Gay hitting for 16 and Dejounte Murray scoring 13 in the win.
Derrick Rose paced Detroit with 24 points off the bench, with Andre Drummond scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Langston Galloway added 15 points and Blake Griffin scored 12 for the Pistons, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Julius Randle had 30 points and 16 rebounds as the New York Knicks defeated the Washington Wizards 107-100. Reserve Bobby Portis scored 17 points and RJ Barrett added 14 as New York won two in a row for just the second time this season.
Washington's Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points in his return from a two-game league suspension. Jordan McRae also had 20 points and Gary Payton II scored 15 points for the Wizards, who have lost two straight and five of six.
Wizards leading scorer Bradley Beal (lower right leg soreness) missed his first game since April of 2017. Washington was also without Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant and Davis Bertans.
Damyean Dotson's lay-up completed an 18-3 run that gave New York an 86-71 lead at the 2:08 mark of the third quarter, but Washington's reserves went on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to one with 10:25 left in the game.
Randle scored six straight points to put the Knicks ahead 97-92 with 3:32 left. McRae's corner three pulled Washington within 102-97 with 28 seconds left.
Randle hit two free throws, but McCrae hit another three with 17.6 seconds left. Marcus Morris made two free throws to make it 106-100, and Robinson stole the inbounds pass to seal the win.
Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting as the Chicago Bulls cruised to a 116-81 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Zach LaVine added 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting for the Bulls, who won for the third time in their past four games. Coby White scored 18 points off the bench, Wendell Carter Jr had 13 points and Tomas Satoransky finished with 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.
John Collins scored 34 points on 14-for-26 shooting in a losing effort for the Hawks, who played without top scorer Trae Young because of a sprained ankle.
Atlanta lost its 10th game in a row and fell to 3-15 on the road. The Bulls improved to 3-0 against the Hawks this season. Each of their victories came by at least 20 points. Chicago outscored the Hawks 33-16 in the fourth quarter to secure the runaway victory.
Collin Sexton and Darius Garland scored 18 points each as the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers continued their recent run of improved play with a 94-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kevin Love did not start for the Cavaliers because of hip and back soreness. The Timberwolves were without Karl-Anthony Towns for a sixth consecutive game because of a sprained left knee.
The Cavaliers shot 50 per cent from the field (19 of 38) in the first half while taking a 49-43 lead. The Timberwolves put together a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to take their first lead since the opening minutes at 78-77 on Shabazz Napier's jumper.
The advantage was short-lived, however, and the Cavaliers held on the rest of the way.
