Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown added 20 apiece as the Boston Celtics overwhelmed the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 139-107 on Monday night.
Los Angeles Lakers 107-139 Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown added 20 apiece as the Boston Celtics overwhelmed the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 139-107 on Monday night.
Enes Kanter had 18 points (all before half-time) and 11 rebounds off the bench as the Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak. Gordon Hayward chipped in 16 points.
LeBron James had 15 points and 13 assists for the Lakers, who lost for just the second time in their past 12 games. Anthony Davis had nine points in his return from a five-game absence caused by a bruised tailbone.
The Celtics outscored the Lakers 36-25 in the second quarter and led by 14 at half-time. Brown, Walker and Tatum came out firing to start the third, and Boston's lead surpassed 20, 88-66, on a Tatum three-pointer with 7:11 to go.
The Celtics were up by 27 when they reached the century mark in points on a Semi Ojeleye trey at 2:56 of the third, and the "Beat LA" chants rained down from the crowd. Boston led 104-80 after three quarters.
The Celtics' advantage topped 30 on a Tatum three-point play with 9:12 remaining, and Los Angeles waved the white flag soon after, pulling James and Davis.
Chicago Bulls 98-111 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a triple-double with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the Milwaukee Bucks cruised to a 111-98 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Khris Middleton added 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting for Milwaukee, who won their seventh game in a row. The Bucks improved to 21-2 on their home court and completed a four-game sweep over the Bulls in the regular season.
Zach LaVine scored 24 points to lead the Bulls, who have lost nine of their last 12 games. Kris Dunn had 15 points and Thaddeus Young finished with 14 points off the bench.
Antetokounmpo's triple-double was his fourth of the season and the 18th of his career. It was his first against Chicago.
Rookie guard Coby White got hot in the final minute of the third quarter as he drained a three-pointer and made a pair of free throws to draw Chicago within seven points at 84-77.
Milwaukee started the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run to make it 95-81 with 8:45 remaining. Bucks guard Kyle Korver stung his former team with a three-pointer during the run and finished with 12 points off the bench.
Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 Houston Rockets
Dennis Schroder scored 15 fourth-quarter points and teamed with Danilo Gallinari to rally the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 112-107 win over the Houston Rockets.
Gallinari scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth as the Thunder erased a 15-point deficit and won for the seventh time in their last eight games on the road. They did so despite a quiet second half from Chris Paul, who tallied just one point after posting 27 prior to half-time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (13 points, 10 rebounds) turned his steal against Rockets guard James Harden into a dunk that gave the Thunder the lead for good at 106-105 with 1:13 left.
Harden struggled mightily throughout, missing 17-of-18 three-pointers while scoring 29 points. Russell Westbrook posted a triple-double of 32 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, but his errant triple with 8.8 seconds left represented the Rockets' final gasp.
The Rockets appeared in control when Westbrook converted a backcourt steal into a lay-up for a 100-85 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. But when Schroder delivered a driving lay-up for the Thunder, it sparked a sudden 13-0 run that featured two Gallinari triples and three Gallinari free throws that pulled Oklahoma City to within 100-98 with 4:27 remaining.
Although the collapse wasn't complete at that point, the Rockets proved unable to stem the tide. Gallinari added another three that pulled the Thunder even before Schroder completed the rally with another driving lay-up, a pair of free throws and a pull-up jumper in the lane over Harden.
Philadelphia 76ers 117-111 Brooklyn Nets
Ben Simmons posted a triple-double with a career-high-tying 34 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers made enough plays down the stretch to beat the Brooklyn Nets 117-111 Monday in New York.
The 76ers beat the Nets for the second time in six days by executing in the fourth quarter. After outscoring the Nets 31-16 in the final 12 minutes on Wednesday at home, Philadelphia did not dominate the entire quarter but they made plays on both ends in the final minutes after blowing most of a nine-point lead in the final six-plus minutes.
Simmons played a big hand in Philadelphia pulling out the win by posting his 26th career triple-double and fourth this season. He scored 11 points in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the third when the Sixers sliced their deficit to 91-90 entering the fourth.
Simmons then reached his triple-double early in the fourth and his jumper pushed Philadelphia's lead to 105-96 with 6:14 remaining. The Nets scored the next eight points and were within 105-104 on a dunk by Jarrett Allen with 4:03 remaining and neither team scored again until Al Horford hit a three-pointer with 82 seconds left to push Philadelphia's lead to 108-104.
After Allen's alley-oop dunk with 41.4 seconds remaining made it 110-108, Furkan Korkmaz seemingly clinched the win with a three-pointer from the right side for a 113-108 lead with 24.3 seconds left. But Spencer Dinwiddie's three-pointer with 20.8 seconds left made it 113-111.
Josh Richardson hit two free throws with 12.6 seconds left and, after Simmons contested Dinwiddie's three-point try, two Tobias Harris free throws iced the game in the final seconds.
Horford added 19 points for the Sixers. Harris and Richardson contributed 15 apiece as Philadelphia improved their road record to 9-14.
Dinwiddie scored 22 points but shot 6 of 17 as the Nets dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 2-11 in their last 13 games. Caris LeVert added 16 points for the Nets. Kyrie Irving sat out the game with right hamstring tightness.
Denver Nuggets 107-100 Minnesota Timberwolves
Michael Porter Jr had 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-100 in Minneapolis.
Jerami Grant scored 19 points and Will Barton added 18 for Denver, who have won seven straight against the Timberwolves.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points, Josh Okogie scored 16 and Andrew Wiggins 15 for Minnesota, who have lost six straight. Allen Crabbe had three points in his first game for the Timberwolves.
Minnesota opened up a 73-69 lead late in the third quarter but Porter helped the Nuggets come back to take an 81-79 lead heading into the fourth. After Towns tied it on an 11-foot jumper, Mason Plumlee scored on a dunk and lay-up and Porter hit a 3-pointer to put the Nuggets ahead 88-83.
Porter hit a three-pointer, Jokic sank a pair of free throws and Malik Beasley drilled a triple following a steal and then scored on a lay-up to make it 98-88 with 5:50 left.
After a Denver missed on the other end Towns converted a three-point play to get within four. The teams traded baskets before Jokic missed a three-pointer, giving the Timberwolves a chance to get within a possession. Towns missed a runner and Barton hit a three-pointer with 30.4 seconds left to seal it.
Sacramento Kings 113-118 Miami Heat (OT)
Rookie Kendrick Nunn scored a game-high 25 points and reserve James Johnson added a season-high 22 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-113 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings in a game that featured 16 lead changes and 14 ties.
Johnson made 9-of-11 shots from the floor, including 4-of-5 on from three-point range, as the Heat improved their home record to an NBA-best 19-1. Johnson also blocked a potential game-tying three-point shot by Bogdan Bogdanovic in the final seconds of overtime. Nunn sank two foul shots with 0.4 seconds left to seal the Heat's third win in four games.
Nemanja Bjelica scored a team-high 22 points for the Kings, who have lost five consecutive games. Buddy Hield added 20 points for Sacramento, and team-mate Marvin Bagley III had 15 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
Miami was without its top player, four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, who sat out due to a sore right hip.
After five consecutive Bagley points - a pair of put-backs and a free throw - Sacramento led 103-97 with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter. But three-pointers by Johnson and Duncan Robinson tied the score.
Then, in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, there was more drama. Bjelica followed his own shot to give the Kings a 105-103 lead with 1.9 seconds left. Miami scored with 0.8 seconds left on a lay-up by Bam Adebayo, who received a perfect cross-court inbounds pass from Goran Dragic. A missed three-point try by Bogdanovic at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.
Indiana Pacers 88-118 Utah Jazz
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points and Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Utah Jazz continued their home dominance with a 118-88 victory that halted the Indiana Pacers' winning streak at five games.
Georges Niang scored 15 points as the Jazz improved their home record to 17-3 while winning their eighth consecutive game in Salt Lake City. They are the only Western Conference team with three or fewer home defeats. Utah's Mike Conley scored 14 points in 18 minutes during his second game back after missing 19 of the previous 20 contests because of a left hamstring strain.
Aaron Holiday and Myles Turner each scored 12 points, Jeremy Lamb added 11 for the Pacers, who lost for the first time since January 8 against the Miami Heat.
The Jazz established their dominance early, shooting 65 per cent in the first quarter to take a 29-23 lead and 56.1 per cent in the first half to build a 56-44 lead.
Utah received a scare in the fourth quarter when Gobert rolled his left ankle, but he remained in the game.
Toronto Raptors 122-117 Atlanta Hawks
Norman Powell came off the bench to score 27 points and Fred VanVleet scored eight points in the final 63 seconds to help the visiting Toronto Raptors hang on for a 122-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
VanVleet scored 20 points and made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 42.6 seconds to help prevent the Raptors from blowing a 21-point lead. He made each attempt of a three-shot foul with 14.2 seconds remaining to give Toronto a five-point lead and preserve the win.
Powell was 6-for-9 on three-pointers and scored 20-plus points for his fifth straight game. Toronto also got 18 points from Pascal Siakam and 14 from Marc Gasol. Atlanta's Trae Young had 42 points and 15 assists, his fourth career 40-10 game. It was his seventh 40-point game of the season.
The Hawks also got 17 points and 11 rebounds from John Collins, 13 points and eight rebounds from Cam Reddish and 13 points from De'Andre Hunter.
Atlanta led by as many as nine points in the third quarter, going up 70-61 on a three-pointer by Reddish with 8:55 left. Toronto came back to tie the game at 79 with 1:44 left on two Siakam free throws and took an 83-82 lead into the fourth quarter.
New Orleans Pelicans 126-116 Memphis Grizzlies
Jrue Holiday returned from a seven-game absence and tied a season-high with 36 points to lead the visiting New Orleans Pelicans to a 126-116 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Holiday overcame an elbow contusion to make 12-of-18 field goals, including 7-of-10 three3-pointers, and the Pelicans made a franchise-record 21 three-pointers on 48 attempts. Brandon Ingram added 25 points, Nicolo Melli had 15 and Josh Hart and JJ Redick scored 10 each as the Pelicans won for the 11th time in 16 games.
Dillon Brooks scored 31, Jaren Jackson Jr had 19, Ja Morant scored 16, Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and De'Anthony Melton added 10 points off the bench to lead the Grizzlies, who saw their seven-game winning streak end.
Trailing 69-50 at halftime, the Grizzlies scored the first five points of the third quarter to get within 14, but the Pelicans quickly regained command. Lonzo Ball made a three-pointer to break the run and by the time Holiday scored on a lay-up with 7:55 left in the period, New Orleans led 81-60.
New Orleans maintained a 21-point lead before Morant's three-pointer completed a 7-0 run that got Memphis within 114-100 with 5:10 left. Ingram made a three-pointer and scored the Pelicans' next seven points, but the Grizzlies went on an 11-0 run to get within five before Ingram hit a jumper and Redick made a three-pointer to seal the win.
San Antonio Spurs 120-118 Phoenix Suns
Derrick White racked up a season-high 25 points, including a big three-pointer in the final two minutes, as the visiting San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Phoenix Suns 120-118.
Ricky Rubio's three-point play with 2:55 left gave the Suns their first lead of the game, 113-111, before San Antonio responded with consecutive three-pointers by Bryn Forbes and White.
Two free throws from Deandre Ayton cut the Spurs' lead to 117-115 before LaMarcus Aldridge answered with a pair from the charity stripe with 43.4 seconds remaining. Booker hit a runner, and Rubio had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with 6.4 seconds left but missed the first. After he made the second, the Suns fouled Aldridge, who also missed the first of two with 5.6 seconds left.
Booker, who had 37 points, then clanked a 34-foot three-point attempt with two seconds on the clock, allowing San Antonio to escape with the win.
Forbes added 24 points, only three of which came in the second half, as the Spurs took both ends of a home-road back-to-back. San Antonio posted a 107-102 win over the visiting Miami on Sunday.
Aldridge had 19 points and DeMar DeRozan tallied 18 for San Antonio, with Marco Belinelli and Dejounte Murray scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Ayton had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, with Rubio and Kelly Oubre Jr scoring 15 apiece and Dario Saric producing 10, all in the first half.
Orlando Magic 106-83 Charlotte Hornets
Evan Fournier produced a big second half and finished with 26 points as the Orlando Magic withstood a sluggish start and defeated the host Charlotte Hornets 106-83.
Nikola Vucevic poured in 24 points and Terrence Ross, who carried the team in the first half, ended up with 19 points for the road-weary Magic, who wrapped up a season-long six-game road trip. Markelle Fultz added 10 points. Vucevic pulled in 10 rebounds.
Fournier shot 10-for-14 from the field, including 6-for-8 on three-pointers. The Magic were 14-for-28 on threes as a team, recovering from a rough stretch in that category.
Reserve guard Malik Monk's 20 points, PJ Washington's 19 points and Devonte' Graham's 15 points led Charlotte, who have lost seven games in a row. Starting guard Terry Rozier, who has been Charlotte's best scorer over the past month, had four points and was 0-for-6 from the field.
Orlando had huge success at the start of the second and fourth quarters. A 10-2 stretch at the outset of the fourth quarter helped build an 82-67 advantage. Soon after, it was a 91-71 lead, allowing the Magic to complete a 3-3 road trip.
Golden State Warriors 124-129 Portland Trail Blazers (OT)
Damian Lillard broke his own franchise records by scoring 61 points and making 11 three-pointers to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 129-124 overtime victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors.
Lillard was 17-of-37 from the field - including 11-of-20 from three-point range - and hit all 16 of his free-throw attempts. He also had 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Hassan Whiteside recorded 17 points and 21 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who had lost four of their previous six games. Anfernee Simons added 15 points, Carmelo Anthony scored 14 and Gary Trent Jr had 11.
Alec Burks scored a season-high 33 points and matched his season best of eight assists for Golden State, which lost for the 11th time in the past 12 games. D'Angelo Russell added 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Portland had to rally as Cauley-Stein had two dunks during an 8-2 run to start the overtime as the Warriors took a 121-115 lead with 2:04 left. Simons hit a three-pointer 25 seconds later for Portland, and Lillard tied it with his 11th triple with 58.3 seconds remaining.
A lay-up by Trent gave Portland a 123-121 advantage with 34.6 seconds to go. Burks drained a three-pointer with 32.7 seconds left to put the Warriors ahead by one before Lillard made two free throws to give the Trail Blazers a 125-124 lead with 26.7 seconds remaining.
Whiteside made two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to make it a three-point margin, and Lillard reached his career high with two free throws with 4.6 seconds left to seal it.
New York Knicks 106-86 Cleveland Cavaliers
Marcus Morris' four-point play Monday night capped a game-turning run of 15 unanswered points in the third quarter by the visiting New York Knicks, who pulled away from the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 106-86 win.
Morris finished 19 points for the Knicks despite playing through an ankle injury suffered when he landed awkwardly while being fouled by Kevin Love on the four-point play. Julius Randle had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks. Damyean Dotson, Bobby Portis and Reggie Bullock scored 12 points apiece and Taj Gibson added 10 points.
Tristan Thompson had 13 points and collected a career-high with 22 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who led 50-49 at the half but shot just 26.1 per cent (12-of-46) in the second half. Collin Sexton had 17 points and Cedi Osman added 14 points.
Elfrid Payton started the Knicks' run with a reverse lay-up and a floater, the latter of which gave New York the lead for good at 55-54 with 9:50 left. Randle hit a lay-up in between a three-pointer and a lay-up by Bullock before Morris' four-point play extended the lead to 66-54.
Dotson's layup with 1.2 seconds left in the third gave the Knicks their biggest lead to that point at 79-64. New York led by as many as 21 in the fourth.
Detroit Pistons 100-106 Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal had 29 points and six assists as the Washington Wizards edged away from the visiting Detroit Pistons 106-100.
Center Ian Mahinmi supplied 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting and added seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals for Washington, who won the season series, 3-1. Thomas Bryant added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Derrick Rose led the Pistons with 21 points. Andre Drummond had 18 points and 16 rebounds but also made nine turnovers. He left the game in the final minute after being elbowed in the face by Bryant. Tony Snell added 16 points and Svi Mykhailiuk chipped in 10.
Pistons forward Marcus Morris was ejected with 7:06 for a flagrant 2 foul against Davis Bertans. Morris struck Bertans in the head trying to block a lay-up attempt.
A Rose jumper gave Detroit an 87-86 lead with 10 minutes left. The Wizards then scored the next nine points. Bertans got it going with a three-pointer. He also made both free throws following Morris' ejection to complete the run. At 97-92, Beal made a basket and a free throw to give his team some breathing room. Ish Smith tacked on a short-range shot to hand the Wizards a double-digit advantage.