Zion goes for 38 as Pelicans beat Cavaliers; DeRozan sinks Mavericks at the death; Randle guides Knicks past Raptors; coverage of the NBA continues late on Monday night as the Denver Nuggets visit the Golden State Warriors, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Arena at 3am
Monday 12 April 2021 07:20, UK
Jayson Tatum had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown finished with 20 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 105-87 on Sunday.
Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker scored 14 each and Robert Williams III scored 10 points for the Celtics, who went on a 31-3 run in the third and fourth quarters.
Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Michael Porter Jr had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Facundo Campazzo scored 14 and Will Barton had 13 for Denver. The Nuggets had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
The Nuggets missed 10 straight shots and had five turnovers following Campazzo's three-pointer that put them ahead by 14.
Jokic got a rebound to get his 14th triple-double of the season and 55th of his career but he turned it over, leading to a dunk by Williams. The Celtics made two more field goals after misses by Jokic to push the lead to 96-82 with 4:41 left.
The Nuggets scored just eight points over the final 14:17 of the game and missed 22 of their final 25 shots.
Lou Williams scored on a tie-breaking drive to put Atlanta up with 58 seconds left, and the short-handed Hawks pulled out a 105-101 victory against the host Charlotte Hornets.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 32 points, making eight three-point shots, and Clint Capela had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks, who moved ahead of Charlotte and into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte didn't score in the last two minutes as the Hawks ended the game on a 16-4 run, including Williams' basket, which gave Atlanta a 103-101 lead. Miles Bridges scored 23 points, Terry Rozier 18 and Devonte' Graham 16 for Charlotte, who were trying to complete a three-game series sweep of the Hawks.
Atlanta were without scoring leader Trae Young, who was ruled out in the pregame because of a left-calf contusion after a 42-point outing two days earlier against Chicago. Danilo Gallinari sat out the same game with a sore right foot after scoring 22 points in Atlanta's victory, adding to the team's physical ailments.
Bogdanovic finished 8-for-16 on three-point attempts. He made two free throws for the final margin of victory with 6.3 seconds left.
The Miami Heat held Damian Lillard to just 12 points, beating the host Portland Trail Blazers 107-98.
Lillard, who entered the game ranked third in the league in scoring (29.0), made just 3-of-10 shots from the floor in 37 minutes. It was his third-lowest-scoring game of the season.
CJ McCollum and Norman Powell led the Trail Blazers with 17.
Miami were led by Bam Adebayo, who had a game-high 22 points. Jimmy Butler added 20 points. Butler also had game-highs in assists (five) and steals (four).
Miami played without starting guard Victor Oladipo (right knee). But Heat guard Tyler Herro played despite a sore right foot, and he scored 14 points.
Blazers center Enes Kanter, coming off a franchise-record 30 rebounds in Portland's previous game, suffered an injury scare with 2:08 left in the third quarter. Kanter clashed heads with team-mate Derrick Jones Jr but returned and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
Zion Williamson scored 38 points as the visiting New Orleans Pelicans finished strongly to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-109.
Williamson made 16-of-22 field goals and shot 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Brandon Ingram added 27 points and rookie Naji Marshall scored a season-high 15 as the Pelicans won their sixth straight game against the Cavaliers.
Cleveland played without injured starting guards Darius Garland (ankle) and Collin Sexton (groin). The Cavaliers still led for most of the game, but faded down the stretch.
Dean Wade led Cleveland with a career-high 21 points, rookie Isaac Okoro had a season-high 19, Kevin Love added 19, Cedi Osman scored 15, Taurean Prince had 11 and Isaiah Hartenstein 10.
The Los Angeles Clippers completed a 7-2 homestand on a winning note, but not without a fight from Eastern Conference cellar-dwellers Detroit, who stayed close until the last three minutes of a 131-124 outcome.
Marcus Morris Sr led the Clippers with 33 points, and Paul George finished with 32 points and nine assists. Luke Kennard added 11 points.
The Pistons, who completed a Western Conference road trip at 2-3, got 26 points from Josh Jackson and 25 from Saddiq Bey.
Ivica Zubac finished 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Batum added 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Clippers.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Pistons. Cory Joseph netted 18 points to go with 13 assists, Wayne Ellington added 15 and Mason Plumlee tallied 12. Frank Jackson added 16 points off the bench.
The teams will meet again on Wednesday in Detroit.
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, including the deciding jumper with one second to play, to lift the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 119-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks that snapped a five-game losing streak.
A pair of free throws and then a running jumper by Dallas' Luka Doncic tied the game at 117 with 19.4 seconds remaining. The Spurs called a timeout and set up a play for DeRozan, who dribbled the ball on the perimeter before rising up over Finney-Smith to hit the game-winner.
Dejounte Murray added 25 points for the Spurs, with Lonnie Walker IV scoring 13 and Jakob Poeltl hitting for 12 points for San Antonio, who played the first of a road back-to-back that continues on Orlando on Monday.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 31 points and took 15 rebounds for Dallas before fouling out with 1:14 to play. Doncic added 29 points, Josh Richardson scored 16, and Jalen Brunson hit for 11 points for the Mavericks, who have lost two of their past three.
Khris Middleton collected 21 points and eight rebounds to lift the visiting Milwaukee Bucks to a 124-87 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Middleton made 8-of-13 shots from the floor in his return from a one-game absence from a sore right knee. He wasn't alone, as Jrue Holiday (bruised left knee), Donte DiVincenzo (bruised right hip) and Brook Lopez (sore back) returned after sitting out Milwaukee's 127-119 setback to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
Bobby Portis recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds and Holiday added 12 points and seven assists for the Bucks, who snapped a three-game skid despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore left knee). The two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player sat out his fifth straight game and for the seventh time in the last 12 contests.
Orlando's Mo Bamba highlighted his career-high 21-point performance by shooting 8-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range.
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to help the Minnesota Timberwolves notch a 121-117 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Minneapolis.
D'Angelo Russell also scored 27 points and fellow reserve Naz Reid had 18 points for Minnesota. Ricky Rubio made five three-pointers while adding 17 points and nine assists, and Anthony Edwards had 15 points for the Timberwolves.
Zach LaVine registered 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for the Bulls, who lost for the 10th time in the past 14 games.
The Bulls later moved within 116-113 on Coby White's layup with 57 seconds remaining.
Towns drained a three-pointer to push the lead to six, but LaVine scored back-to-back baskets as Chicago crept within 119-117 with 11.3 seconds left.
Towns made two free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining to make it a four-point margin. LaVine missed a three-pointer and Edwards grabbed the rebound as Minnesota ran out the clock.
Julius Randle finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists to help the Knicks end a nine-game losing streak against the Toronto Raptors in New York.
The Knicks won their second in a row despite letting an 18-point third-quarter lead slip away to the Raptors, who had won the past four meetings between the teams at Madison Square Garden.
RJ Barrett finished with 19 points and five assists while Elfrid Payton and Derrick Rose each had 11 points. Nerlens Noel had nine points and 13 rebounds, and was a factor for New York on defense with four blocks.
Coming off a career-high 44 points in his previous game, Gary Trent Jr led the Raptors again with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry also returned to the Raptors' line-up as expected. Siakam made only one of his first 11 shots, and went 5-for-18 from the field to finish with 16 points and seven assists. Lowry posted 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Chris Boucher had 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Caris LeVert scored 34 points, Malcolm Brogdon added 29, and the visiting Indiana Pacers never trailed in their 132-125 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
LeVert shot 14-of-20 from the floor en route to his high-point total since joining the Pacers on March 13, and his 34 points were his second-most scored on the season. His previous high of 43 points, while with the Brooklyn Nets, also came against the Grizzlies at FedExForum on January 8.
Valanciunas also grabbed 22 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive end.
Domantas Sabonis nearly recorded a triple-double for Indiana with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Brogdon fell one rebound shy of a triple-double and dished a game-high 11 assists.
