Schroder's late heroics see Thunder stun Celtics; Suns hand Giannis-less Bucks second straight loss; Oladipo strikes late to lift Pacers past Mavs
Monday 9 March 2020 10:52, UK
LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for 58 points as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the six-game winning streak of their city rivals the Clippers.
Anthony Davis had 30 points and eight rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the LA Clippers' six-game winning streak with a 112-103 victory on Sunday.
LeBron James added 28 points, nine assists and seven boards for the Lakers, who won their fourth straight and 11th in 12 games. Avery Bradley scored a season-high 24 points, hitting 6-of-12 three-point attempts. Kyle Kuzma finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with eight points.
Paul George led the Clippers with 31 points and Kawhi Leonard had 27. Montrezl Harrell added 20 points for the Clippers, who lost for the first time to the Lakers in three contests this season.
The Lakers went up by as much as 12 midway through the fourth quarter before the Clippers pulled to within 107-100 after a foul shot by Marcus Morris with 1:35 remaining. James converted a pair of free throws 22 seconds later for a nine-point Lakers' cushion and added a three-point play with 40.8 seconds left to seal it.
The Lakers took a 64-58 edge after Bradley's three-pointer with 6:45 left in the third quarter before the Clippers came back with a 10-1 surge for 66-65 lead after a three-pointer by George at 5:31. However, the Lakers seized an 85-81 lead heading into the fourth quarter. They never trailed again.
Chris Paul scored 28 points and Dennis Schroder added 27 off the bench to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-104 road win over the Boston Celtics.
The duo came up with the game's deciding play in the final seconds, too, teaming up to trap Kemba Walker in the backcourt after the Celtics inbounded the ball with the Thunder leading by one point with 13 seconds remaining. With help from Paul to contain Walker, Schroder came up with the steal and immediately attacked the basket for a clear lay-up to put the Thunder back in front with 8.5 seconds remaining.
Jayson Tatum's shot on the next possession hit off the side of the rim and Boston couldn't get another shot up.
Oklahoma City have won three in a row and 11 of their last 12 on the road. The Celtics have lost four of their last five, with two of the losses in overtime and two by just one point.
Schroder's in-game heroics made up for a couple of critical mistakes by Oklahoma City in the closing minute after Paul put the Thunder up three with 1:11 remaining. After a quick Celtics bucket, Schroder missed a three-pointer and Boston quickly regained the lead on a Tatum lay-up. Then Steven Adams missed a pair of free throws that could have tied the game or given Oklahoma City the lead.
Devin Booker scored 20 of his team-high 36 points in a 47-point first-quarter explosion on Sunday as the host Phoenix Suns took advantage of the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo to thump the Milwaukee Bucks 140-131.
The Bucks announced before the game that an MRI taken on Antetokounmpo's left knee, injured in Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, showed no significant damage, but that the Most Valuable Player candidate would be held out of at least two games nonetheless.
The absence was Antetokounmpo's seventh of the season. Milwaukee fell to 5-2 in those games after winning their first five without last year's MVP.
Booker, Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio bombed in three-pointers on Phoenix's first three shots, giving the Suns, who had lost four of their previous five games, a 9-0 lead just 1:42 into the game. Phoenix never trailed, leading by as many as 25 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third.
Led by Khris Middleton's game-high 39 points, the Bucks closed within 100-91 on a three-point play by Pat Connaughton with still 1:32 remaining in the third period. Milwaukee got as close as 107-100 on a dunk by Brook Lopez with 10:01 to play, but Mikal Bridges had a three-pointer in an 11-1 Suns counter that created a 17-point gap and led to a relatively comfortable finish.
Jrue Holiday had a season-high 37 points as the visiting New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-107 on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Holiday added nine rebounds and eight assists, Zion Williamson scored 23 points while Brandon Ingram had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Lonzo Ball also scored 18 points with eight assists and Nicolo Melli had 11 as the Pelicans turned the tables on the Timberwolves five days after a 139-134 home loss to them five days earlier.
Malik Beasley scored 21, D'Angelo Russell had 19, James Johnson had 15, Josh Okogie had 12, Jake Layman 11 as Naz Reid and Jarrett Culver notched 10 each for Minnesota.
Holiday made consecutive three-pointers and added another basket as New Orleans extended their eight-point half-time lead to 15 midway through the third quarter. The Wolves got within 11 early in the fourth quarter, but Holiday had seven points and an assist as the Pelicans took control with a 110-91 lead.
Norman Powell scored 31 points and Kyle Lowry added 30 as the visiting Toronto Raptors defeated the Sacramento Kings 118-113.
Pascal Siakam scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter - including eight straight down the stretch - as the Raptors won their third straight game. Serge Ibaka had 15 points and 10 rebounds and OG Anunoby added 12 points for Toronto.
De'Aaron Fox had 28 points - 18 in the fourth quarter - for Sacramento. Kent Bazemore and Alex Led added 15 points apiece off the bench, Nemanja Bjelica scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Buddy Hield added 11 points.
Siakam's lay-up put Toronto up by two with 27.7 seconds left, then he made it a four-point lead at 115-111 with two free throws with 20.3 seconds to play. A lay-up by Richaun Holmes cut the lead to two six seconds later, then Anunoby made one of two free throws and Toronto led by three with 13.7 seconds to play.
Bjelica missed a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left, the Raptors grabbed the rebound, and Powell sank a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds to play to put the game away.
Victor Oladipo sank a go-ahead jumper with 38.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the visiting Indiana Pacers to a 112-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Domantas Sabonis collected 20 points and 17 rebounds to record his 50th double-double of the season, surpassing Troy Murphy (2008-09) for the franchise record. Texas native Myles Turner, TJ Warren and Oladipo scored 16 points apiece for the Pacers, who have won eight of 10 on the heels of a season-high six-game losing streak.
Dallas' Luka Doncic, who was unable to make a last-second three-point attempt, finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr highlighted his 30-point performance with six three-pointers in a losing effort for the Mavericks, who were thwarted in their bid for their first three-game winning streak since mid-January.
Kristaps Porzingis endured a horrific night after averaging a robust 30.0 points and 12.2 rebounds in his previous five games. The 7ft 3in forward/center made just 3-of-17 shots from the floor and misfired on all five attempts from three-point range to finish with nine points.
Oladipo sank a pair of mid-range jumpers to give Indiana a 110-109 lead. Courtney Lee was unable to connect on a three-point attempt following the timeout before Oladipo drained a pair of free throws at the other end to close out the win.
DJ Augustin scored 24 points and was one of six players to reach double figures for the Orlando Magic, who dismantled the reeling Rockets 126-106 at Toyota Center in Houston.
Despite playing without injured guard Evan Fournier, their second-leading scorer who sat with an elbow injury, the Magic ran roughshod over the defenseless Rockets, starting with a run midway through the opening quarter.
Orlando turned their size advantage into a dominant display on the offensive glass, turning 13 first-half offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points before the break. Nikola Vucevic (16 points, 16 rebounds) and Aaron Gordon (19 points, 10 rebounds) posted double-doubles to pace the effort on the interior for the Magic.
Point guard Markelle Fultz posted 18 points despite battling cramps in his right calf. Michael Carter-Williams and Terrence Ross (16 points apiece) teamed with Augustin to give Orlando a 61-39 advantage in bench points.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden combined for 47 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, but that duo also surrendered 12 turnovers.
Harden scored five consecutive points to pull the Rockets even at 16-16 at the 5:14 mark of the first period, only for the Magic to respond with an 11-0 run that featured three successive treys.
Bam Adebayo posted 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead the visiting Miami Heat to a 100-89 win over the Washington Wizards. Miami, who snapped their four-game road losing streak, also got 23 points and seven rebounds from Duncan Robinson.
Washington's Bradley Beal, who entered the game ranked second in the NBA in scoring (30.5 points per game), had 23 points but only three after half-time. He shot 1-for-12 in the second half, and that allowed Miami to close out the game on a 25-6 run.
However, Miami's five-time All-Star and leading scorer, Jimmy Butler, left the game in the third quarter due to a toe injury and didn't return. He was held to nine points - none in the second half. Butler failed to record a rebound or assist.
The Heat had a 57-54 advantage at half-time and Washington took their first lead of the game on a three-pointer from the top of the key by Beal with 6:27 left in the third.
Washington led by as many as eight points in the fourth, but the Wizards could not survive Beal's cold shooting at the end.
Andre Drummond scored 28 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as one of four Cleveland players with double-doubles as the Cavaliers outlasted the visiting San Antonio Spurs 132-129 in overtime to win their second game in as many nights.
Rudy Gay's jumper with one second left pulled the Spurs even at 118 and sent the game into an extra period. Cleveland never trailed in overtime, grabbing the lead for good at 124-122 on Drummond's putback lay-up with 2:18 to play. After a Spurs miss, Kevin Love drained a three-pointer and the Cavaliers held on as San Antonio missed five of their final six shots from the floor.
Collin Sexton added 26 points for Cleveland, with Larry Nance Jr scoring 19 and pulling down 10 rebounds, Cedi Osman hitting for 19 points, Love tallying 14 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, Matthew Dellavedova contributing 14 points and distributing 11 assists and Alfonzo McKinnie scoring 10 points.
DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 25 points while Gay and Bryn Forbes scored 19 each, Dejounte Murray and Derrick White hit for 17 points each, and Trey Lyles added 13. San Antonio have lost two straight games.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points as the Brooklyn Nets overcame a season-high 29 turnovers and held for a 110-107 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls Sunday afternoon in the debut of interim coach Jacque Vaughn.
Brooklyn won despite blowing most of a 13-point lead in the final three-plus minutes. A basket by Caris LeVert gave the Nets a 97-84 lead with 3:22 left but Chicago outscored Brooklyn 23-13 the rest of the way.
Dinwiddie split a pair at the line for a 108-104 lead with 3.6 seconds left and Otto Porter Jr hit an off-balance three-pointer with five-tenths of a second to go. After the Nets called a timeout, Dinwiddie finally iced the win by hitting two free throws with four-tenths of a second remaining.
LeVert and Joe Harris scored 23 points apiece. Porter led the Bulls with 23 points while Coby White added 21.
Julius Randle collected 22 points and 12 rebounds as the host New York Knicks clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter to post a 96-84 victory over the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden.
New York grabbed the lead for good midway through the third quarter and then outscored the Pistons 24-13 in the fourth quarter. Randle posted his 29th double-double of the season and scored 17 of his points in the second half as the Knicks also allowed their second-fewest points of the season and held Detroit to 37 points after half-time.
Elfrid Payton added 16 points and six assists. Mitchell Robinson posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie RJ Barrett added 12 points and his three-pointer with 5:18 remaining in the third gave the Knicks the lead for good.
Christian Wood led Detroit with 22 points but the Pistons saw their losing streak reach four games. Bruce Brown added 16 as Detroit shot 36.2 per cent, missed 15-of-19 shots in the fourth quarter, and were held under 85 points for the fourth time this season.
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