Embiid lifts 76ers past Pistons; Knicks outlast Hawks in OT; Graham stars as Hornets stun Heat
Thursday 12 March 2020 06:56, UK
Luka Doncic scored 28 points and Boban Marjanovic recorded a career-best 31 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets to snap a two-game losing run.
Boban Marjanovic scored a career-best 31 points and collected a season-best 17 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks recorded a 113-97 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on a Wednesday night.
The game was one of the last completed before the coronavirus outbreak led the NBA to suspend the season.
Luka Doncic added 28 points and nine assists for the Mavericks while Jamal Murray scored 25 points for the Nuggets.
Dallas held a 96-88 lead after Marjanovic scored a basket with 8:30 remaining. The Nuggets pulled within 100-95 on Nikola Jokic's jumper with 5:14 left, but Delon Wright drained a three-pointer with 3:10 remaining and Marjanovic scored the next four points to push the lead to 107-95 with 2:17 remaining.
Doncic's two free throws increased the margin to 111-97 with 1:15 left as Dallas halted a two-game slide.
Maxi Kleber scored 15 points and Tim Hardaway Jr added 14 for the Mavericks. Will Barton added 23 points for Denver while Jokic recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Joel Embiid scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lift the host the Philadelphia 76ers past the Detroit Pistons 124-106.
Embiid returned after a five-game absence caused by a sprained shoulder to propel the Sixers to their league-best 29th win in 31 home games, including 15 in a row. Embiid hadn't played since February 26 at Cleveland, but he managed to register his 11th game this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.
Al Horford added 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Furkan Korkmaz contributed 17 points off the bench, and Tobias Harris scored 15.
The Sixers won easily without Ben Simmons, who will be out for at least three more weeks due to a nerve impingement in his back.
Christian Wood led the struggling Pistons with a career-high 32 points.
Philadelphia surged to a 70-55 lead at half-time thanks in large part to eight late points by Korkmaz, who finished the half with 13.
After the Pistons closed within 77-68, the Sixers responded with six straight capped by Embiid's three-pointer from the top of the key for a 15-point lead with 6:41 left in the third.
With Philadelphia leading 101-88 early in the fourth, Embiid hardly looked rusty as he converted a layup and followed with a trey for an 18-point advantage with 9:33 remaining.
Mitchell Robinson scored five of his 16 points in overtime to help the visiting New York Knicks defeat the Atlanta Hawks 136-131.
Robinson converted a three-point play off an alley-oop slam with 1:13 remaining in overtime to give the Knicks a 131-124 lead. Robinson was 7-for-7 from the field and helped New York avoid blowing a 23-point lead.
New York were led by Julius Randle with 33 points and 11 rebounds (his 30th double-double of the season) and rookie RJ Barrett with 26 points.
Trae Young paced Atlanta with 42 points, 27 of them in the fourth quarter, and 11 assists. It was the 11th time this season that Young has scored 40-plus points. John Collins added 22 points and 15 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the campaign.
The Hawks overcame a 23-point deficit (96-73) and tied the game 118-118 when Young put a shot high off the glass that fell through with 16.6 seconds left.
New York played for the last shot, but Elfrid Payton lost control of the ball as he drove to the basket as time expired.
Devonte' Graham scored 30 points - including five in the final 2:25 - to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 109-98 win over the host Miami Heat.
It was a rare home loss for the Heat. Miami have the NBA's third-best home record at 27-5. Charlotte improved to 13-21 on the road.
Heat guard Kendrick Nunn scored a team-high 24 points. Miami also got 23 points from Derrick Jones Jr and 21 points, a game-high 10 assists and seven rebounds from Bam Adebayo.
However, the Heat, after a 40-point first-quarter explosion, scored just 58 in the final three periods.
Graham made 11-of-19 shots from the floor, including 8-of-11 on three-pointers. He scored all 30 points after the first quarter.
Charlotte outscored Miami 37-11 in the second quarter and never trailed again. The Hornets stretched their lead to 87-77 after three quarters and cruised home from there.
