George, Harrell, Williams top 30 as Clips hold off Knicks; Dragic fires Heat past Blazers; Valanciunas shines as Grizzlies beat Suns
Monday 6 January 2020 07:31, UK
LeBron James had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists and Anthony Davis had eight of his team's 20 blocks as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
Anthony Davis recorded 24 points, 11 rebounds and a season-best eight blocked shots to help the Los Angeles Lakers register a 106-99 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
LeBron James added 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his ninth triple-double of the season as the Lakers won their fifth consecutive game. Los Angeles blocked 20 shots, one shy of the franchise mark set against the Denver Nuggets on April 9, 1982.
Derrick Rose scored 28 points and reserve Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk added 14 points for the Pistons, who lost for the ninth time in the past 11 games. Langston Galloway tallied 13 points, Andre Drummond had 12 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Sekou Doumbouya and Christian Wood added 11 points apiece.
Rose's three-pointer pulled Detroit within 98-97 with 1:52 left. Davis then hit a corner three and scored on a lay-up with 32.5 seconds left - Drummond was called for goaltending on the latter shot - as Los Angeles took a six-point lead en route to closing it out.
Detroit trailed by nine at half-time and finally led for the first time all night when Mykhailiuk buried a three-pointer to make it 76-74 with 1:22 left in the third quarter. Galloway followed with a trey to make it a five-point margin with 59.3 seconds remaining.
Los Angeles scored the final point of the third quarter to trail 79-75 and erupted for the first 15 of the fourth period. Rajon Rondo's lay-up tied the score and Caruso tallied five points in 27 seconds to give the Lakers an 88-79 advantage with 8:34 to play.
Montrezl Harrell scored 34 points and Paul George had 32, allowing the Los Angeles Clippers to earn a 135-132 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Sunday.
Lou Williams, who connected on 6-of-10 three-pointers, also scored 32 points and recorded nine assists for the Clippers, who had three players score 30 points for the first time in franchise history.
Marcus Morris Sr led the Knicks with 38 points, hitting 6-of-7 three-pointers. RJ Barrett had 24 points, while Julius Randle added 16 points and eight rebounds.
George, who returned after missing Saturday's defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies with a tight left hamstring, converted 5-of-6 triples and 9-of-14 shots in 26 minutes. He fouled out with 7:06 remaining.
Kawhi Leonard didn't play, as the club has held him out of back-to-back contests because of a persistent knee issue.
An 18-7 run allowed the Knicks to cut a 14-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to 121-118 after a three-pointer by former Clipper Reggie Bullock with 4:51 left. They got within three points three times, the second on Morris' three-pointer with 42.2 seconds remaining, but Williams answered with a floater with 18.5 seconds left to essentially put the game away.
Reserve point guard Goran Dragic had his first double-double of the season - 29 points and 13 assists - as the host Miami Heat defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 122-111.
Blazers point guard Damian Lillard scored a game-high 34 points and added 12 assists. Portland center Hassan Whiteside, playing his first game in Miami since the Heat traded him to the Blazers in July, had 21 points, a game-high 18 rebounds and two blocks.
Miami, who never trailed and improved to 10-0 in games following a loss, also got 20 points from Bam Adebayo, 19 from Derrick Jones and 14 from Kendrick Nunn.
The Heat led by as many as 24 points and hung on to improve their NBA-best home record to 17-1, the best 18-game run in franchise history.
Nunn, who scored Miami's first eight points, helped the Heat go up by as many as 14 points before settling for a 31-19 lead at the end of the first. The Heat led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter and went to the break leading 65-46.
Portland got back in the game with a 19-5 third-quarter run, but Miami righted the ship and entered the fourth with a 94-81 lead. The Heat coasted home from there.
Gorgui Dieng collected 22 points and 13 rebounds as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves overcame squandering a 25-point lead to record a 118-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Shabazz Napier finished with 21 points, like Dieng hitting 8-of-10 shots from the floor. Andrew Wiggins returned from a four-game absence due to illness to match Robert Covington with 15 points for the Timberwolves, who have won four of six on the heels of an 11-game losing streak.
Dante Exum scored 24 of his career-high 28 points in the second half for the Cavaliers, who dropped their fourth straight game.
Cleveland rookie Kevin Porter Jr sustained a left knee injury after Covington appeared to step on his foot early in the third quarter. Porter needed assistance to leave the court and finished with six points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
Cavaliers' disgruntled forward Kevin Love was held out of Sunday's game against his former team for rest purposes, one day after his verbal altercation with general manager Koby Altman and his on-court issues at the end of the first half during the 121-106 loss to Oklahoma City. Cavaliers coach John Beilein told reporters prior to the game that Love's day off was pre-planned and had nothing to do with his actions on Saturday.
Exum drained a pair of three-pointers in the third to start the uprising before sinking back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to give the Cavaliers a 97-96 lead with 8:29 left to play.
Undaunted, Minnesota responded as Wiggins sank a three-pointer and a short jumper before Dieng added a pair of shots from beyond the arc the Timberwolves claimed a 107-97 lead with 3:37 to play.
Jonas Valanciunas had eight of his team-high 30 points in a third-quarter run-away as the Memphis Grizzlies took a big lead and held off a frantic finish by Devin Booker for a 121-114 victory over the host Phoenix Suns.
Booker finished with 40 points, including 14 in the final 5:28, during which the Suns rallied from a 14-point deficit to get as close as 115-112 with 52.6 seconds to play.
But De'Anthony Melton countered with two free throws with 36.3 seconds left, after which Ja Morant and Solomon Hill added a pair of foul shots apiece to seal the win for Memphis, who won at Phoenix for the second time this season.
The Suns led by as many as 11 in the first quarter but found themselves down 62-57 at half-time before the Grizzlies spurted off to a 96-77 advantage by the end of the third period.
Jaren Jackson Jr hit a pair of three-pointers among eight points as he and Valanciunas combined for 16 of the Grizzlies' 34 points in the period. Memphis led 109-95 with 5:43 to go before Booker almost brought the Suns all the way back.
Valanciunas' 30 points came on 12-for-16 shooting, as the Grizzlies shot 54.2 percent from the field. Dillon Brooks finished with 19 points, while Jackson had 15, and Morant 13 to complement a team-high seven assists, and Hill and Brandon Clarke 10 points apiece.
Booker made 13 of his 20 shots and 13 of his 14 free throws on his 40-point night. Kelly Oubre Jr (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Deandre Ayton (14 points, 12 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for the Suns, while Mikal Bridges put up 12 points and Ricky Rubio nine to go with a game-high eight assists.
