Porzingis hits season-high 38 as Mavs beat Pacers; Celtics top Hawks for fourth straight win; Knicks outlast Cavs in overtime
Tuesday 4 February 2020 07:15, UK
Five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, playing against the team that traded him last year, scored a season-high 38 points in just 29 minutes to lead the host Miami Heat past the Philadelphia 76ers 137-106 on Monday night.
Five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, playing against the team that traded him last year, scored a season-high 38 points in just 29 minutes to lead the host Miami Heat past the Philadelphia 76ers 137-106 on Monday night.
It was the second-highest-scoring regulation game in Heat history. Miami shot 56.5 per cent from the floor, including 16-of-32 on three-pointers.
Butler made 14-of-22 shots from the floor, including 2-of-2 on three-pointers. Butler also made all eight of his free throws on Monday as the Heat improved to 22-3 at home this season.
Goran Dragic added 24 points and six assists, and Bam Adebayo had 18 points, a game-high 11 assists and eight rebounds as Miami clinched the season series over Philadelphia, 3-1.
The 76ers were led by Joel Embiid, who had 29 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow All-Star Ben Simmons added 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Mike Scott added 17 points off the bench, but Philadelphia, which is 9-18 on the road, have lost 10 of their past 12 games away from home.
Both teams led by as many as four points in a highly competitive first quarter. Miami ended the quarter on a 10-2 run and led 30-26. Embiid led all scorers with 11 points in that first quarter.
The teams played to a stalemate in the second quarter as the Heat went into the break with a 56-52 advantage. The Heat had a 28-16 edge in first-half paint points, and Butler was dominant, scoring 23 points in the first 24 minutes.
Miami then produced their highest-scoring third quarter of the season with 41 points, taking a 97-77 lead. Butler, who had 15 points in the third, did not score again, but he was not needed in the fourth quarter as the Heat cruised to victory.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points and Paul George had 19, leading the LA Clippers to a come-from-behind 108-105 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
Leonard, who also had seven assists and six rebounds, had scored at least 30 points in each of his previous nine contests. George finished with game highs in rebounds (12) and assists (eight). Montrezl Harrell added 14 points, and Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley contributed 12 points each.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 27 points and nine rebounds while DeMar DeRozan had 26 points. Patty Mills had 18 points off the bench, and Trey Lyles scored 10 for San Antonio, who led by 15 points in the second quarter.
A three-pointer by Beverley knotted the sore at 102 before a dunk by Leonard gave the Clippers the lead for good with 1:35 remaining. After the Spurs failed to convert on consecutive possessions, George nailed a three-pointer for a 106-102 edge with 13.7 seconds remaining.
Mills' trey pulled San Antonio within one with 2.8 seconds left, but two free throws by Williams with 1.3 seconds left clinched the victory for Los Angeles, winner of eight of their last 10 games. Derrick White's half-court heave at the buzzer wasn't close.
Kristaps Porzingis recorded season-highs in both points (38) and three-pointers (six) as the Dallas Mavericks posted a 112-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
Porzingis added 12 rebounds and sank all 12 free-throw attempts en route to surpassing his previous season-high point total of 35, set in Dallas' 128-121 setback in Houston on Friday.
Tim Hardaway Jr had 25 points and Dorian Finney-Smith added 15 and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who improved to 17-7 on the road after defeating Indiana for the fifth time in their last six meetings.
Domantas Sabonis collected 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, who have dropped three of their last four games on the heels of winning seven of their previous eight.
Indiana's Victor Oladipo scored nine points following a dismal 4-of-17 shooting performance from the floor. The All-Star has yet to find his range in his first three games since returning from a gruesome ruptured quad tendon, making just 8-of-39 shots.
Sabonis converted a three-point play to pull Indiana to within three at 99-96 with 5:09 to play, but Finney-Smith highlighted a 7-2 surge with a three-pointer. The Pacers again tried to narrow the gap as Malcolm Brogdon made a pair of shots from the perimeter, but Porzingis and Jalen Brunson each made a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Jayson Tatum scored 15 of his team-high 28 points in the third quarter as the visiting Boston Celtics took control of the game en route to a 123-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Tatum was 10-for-20 from the field with five three-pointers and had seven rebounds. He was one of three Celtics in double figures in scoring, joining Gordon Hayward with 24 points and Jaylen Brown with 21. Hayward added seven rebounds and six assists.
The Hawks trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half but pulled to within two on a Kevin Huerter jumper that made the score 103-101. Hayward answered with back-to-back baskets, and Atlanta never got closer than three points.
Atlanta was led by Trae Young with 34 points and seven assists. But Young committed nine turnovers, including one with a minute left when the Hawks were down by four. The Hawks also got 23 points from Huerter, who made five threes. John Collins added 22 points and 11 rebounds.
There were 15 lead changes and nine ties in the first half. Boston led by double digits for the first time when Daniel Theis tipped in a shot with 6:38 left in the third quarter to give the Celtics an 83-72 lead. Boston took a 95-84 lead into the fourth quarter.
Caris LeVert tied a career-high with 29 points as the Brooklyn Nets took control in the third quarter and recorded a 119-97 victory over the Phoenix Suns in New York.
LeVert produced his sixth 20-point game of the season and second since returning on January 4 from right thumb surgery on an injury he suffered in Phoenix on November 12. He matched his previous season-high of 27 by hitting a three-pointer with 8:07 remaining that gave Brooklyn a 103-82 lead.
LeVert made 10-of-20 shots, hit all seven free throws attempts and also handed out a season-high seven assists as the Nets won for the fourth time in six games while playing without Kyrie Irving (sprained right knee), who is out for at least a week.
Joe Harris added 16 after announcing he will defend his three-point shootout title at All-Star weekend in Chicago. Taurean Prince added 11 of his 15 points in the third quarter when the Nets outscored Phoenix 35-21, shot 61.9 per cent and held the Suns to 37.5 per cent.
The Nets seized control with a 22-4 run that spanned 3:49 and took an 81-62 lead on a three-pointer by Taurean Prince with 5:50 left in the third. Prince hit three of Brooklyn's four three-pointers during the run and the Nets held a 90-73 lead entering the fourth after LeVert hit two free throws with three-tenths of a second remaining.
Nikola Vucevic scored 22 points as the Orlando Magic snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating the host Charlotte Hornets 112-100. The Hornets were the last team that Orlando had beaten, on January 20 in Charlotte.
Evan Fournier racked up 17 points while Aaron Gordon had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, which shot 53.8 per cent from the field. Orlando had assists on 35 of 43 baskets, helping the team reach the 100-point mark for the first time in five games.
Orlando's Terrence Ross sank four three-pointers and ended up with 13 points, and Mo Bamba and Markelle Fultz had 12 points apiece.
Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 18 points. Cody Zeller had 17 points, Miles Bridges scored 16 and Devontae' Graham had 15. Cody Martin and Malik Monk had 13 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench.
The Hornets have lost 11 of their past 12 games, with last week's victory against the New York Knicks the only interruptions of that slump. They've lost three in a row since then.
Fournier's three-pointer bumped the gap to 91-77 early in the fourth quarter. That was part of a stretch in which the Magic got a three-point play from Michael Carter-Williams and three three-point baskets from three different players.
Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks as the Memphis Grizzlies pulled away from the visiting Detroit Pistons, 96-82. Valanciunas made 13-of-19 field goal attempts.
Dillon Brooks contributed 15 points and five assists as the Grizzlies swept the two-game season series after winning in Detroit last month. Jaren Jackson Jr, who returned after serving a one-game NBA suspension, supplied 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
Reserve guard Tyus Jones had 13 points and five assists off the bench, while rookie Ja Morant added 12 points and seven assists. Memphis recorded 12 blocks while Detroit swatted just two shots.
Andre Drummond led the Pistons with 25 points, 18 rebounds and four assists but his team was limited to 29 second-half points. Reserves Christian Wood and Langston Galloway scored 17 points apiece off the bench. Starters Reggie Jackson, Sekou Doumbouya and Tony Snell shot a combined 4-for-38 from the field.
The game was tied at 53 apiece at half-time. The Pistons only scored 10 points in the third quarter but Memphis also had their offensive struggles after the early outburst. The Grizzlies led 72-63 heading into the fourth.
Memphis extended the lead to 13 in the first two minutes with baskets from Valanciunas and Josh Jackson. They made back-to-back baskets a short time later to increase Memphis' advantage to 16 at 84-68. A Morant jumper with four minutes left made it an 18-point differential at 90-72.
De'Aaron Fox scored 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting to help the Sacramento Kings post a 113-109 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 23 points and Buddy Hield tallied 16 off the bench for the Kings. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and seven assists, and Nemanja Bjelica scored 12 points for Sacramento, who never trailed while winning for the fourth time in the past six games.
Andrew Wiggins' potential tying three-pointer was in-and-out with less than a second remaining as Minnesota took their season-worst 12th straight loss. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Timberwolves. Shabazz Napier had 17 points and seven assists, Robert Covington scored 15 points, Josh Okogie and Kelan Martin had 12 apiece, and Wiggins scored 10.
Minnesota trailed by 20 points in the third quarter before getting back into the game with 11 straight points. Towns had four points during the run, and Jordan McLaughlin drained a three-pointer to pull the Timberwolves within 91-82 with 1:52 remaining.
Minnesota were down 93-84 at the end of the quarter and continued their push in the final stanza, moving within 97-95 when Towns buried a three-pointer with 6:06 left.
The Kings answered with a 9-3 burst with Barnes scoring the final five points, including a three-pointer to make it 106-98 with 4:02 remaining. The Timberwolves later moved within 108-104 on Covington's three-pointer with 1:31 left.
Covington drained another 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left to pull Minnesota within 112-109. Barnes was unable to get the ball inbounded and was called for a violation to give Minnesota and Wiggins the late opportunity. Bogdanovic split two free throws with 0.1 seconds left to seal it.
Marcus Morris Sr came up big down the stretch, scoring 16 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the visiting New York Knicks overcome a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to outlast the Cleveland Cavaliers 139-134.
Elfrid Payton (17 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds) had the first triple-double of the season for the Knicks, who have won two straight - just their third winning streak of the season. Julius Randle scored 20 points while Dennis Smith Jr (15 points), Bobby Portis (12) and Kevin Knox II (12) each got into double digits off the bench.
Kevin Love scored a season-high 33 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost 11 of their past 12 overall. Collin Sexton scored 29 points while Larry Nance Jr had 18 and Cedi Osman 15. Darius Garland added 14 points and Kevin Porter Jr had 12 off the bench.
Love drained a pair of three-pointers during a 10-0 run by the Cavaliers that gave them a 118-108 lead with 5:17 left. But Morris scored 10 points in a 14-2 run for the Knicks, who took a short-lived lead on Randle's dunk with 2:11 left.
Love tied the score at 122 with a fallaway jumper before Frank Ntilikina hit a three-pointer to put New York up 125-122. Sexton's floater cut the gap to one, and Randle answered with a driving lay-up before Sexton tied the game again with a three-pointer with 33.2 seconds left. Morris missed two jumpers, including an 18-footer at the buzzer.
Garland opened overtime by draining a three-pointer for the Cavaliers. The Knicks twice pulled within a point before Randle's skyhook put them ahead 135-134 with 1:34 left. Love hit a contested long jumper on the next trip down the floor before Morris answered with a fallaway that put New York ahead for good.
Nance was rushed into a shot as the shot clock expired, and Morris hit a jumper as the shot clock expired on the next possession to extend the Knicks' lead to 137-134 with 13.6 seconds left. Garland missed a jumper and Morris iced the game with two free throws.
Alec Burks scored a team-high 30 points, including a key lay-up that stalled a Washington rally with 4:05 to play, as the Golden State Warriors held off the host Wizards 125-117 for a second straight win.
Glenn Robinson had 22 points and Baltimore native Damion Lee had 19 as the Warriors followed up on a win at Cleveland with another high-scoring performance, this one without D'Angelo Russell, who suffered a right quad injury in the victory over the Cavaliers.
Bradley Beal continued his recent surge with a game-high 43 points for Washington, who had won two straight to begin a four-game homestand. Beal's scoring came on 15-for-30 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and 10-for-10 accuracy on free throws. He has now scored 34 or more points in each of his last seven games, going over 40 three times during the stretch.
The Wizards' comeback began after they had fallen behind 109-92 with just 8:59 to go. Beal bombed in two three-pointers among 13 points in a 16-4 flurry that trimmed the gap to 113-108 with still 4:25 to go.
But Burks then hit his momentum-busting hoop, and Robinson nailed a back-breaking 3-pointer with 2:31 to go, helping the Warriors stay in command.
Earlier, Golden State had used a 21-4 run bridging the second and third quarters to break from a 61-all tie into an 82-65 lead in the fourth minute of the third quarter. Lee had a pair of three-pointers, Robinson made a third and Burks converted an old-fashioned three-point play during the burst.
