Trae Young erupted for 39 points as the Atlanta Hawks recorded an upset win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Philadelphia 76ers 117-127 Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young exploded for 39 points as the Atlanta Hawks stunned the visiting Philadelphia 76ers with a 39-point first quarter en route to a front-running 127-117 victory on Thursday night.
John Collins accumulated 17 points and a season-high 20 rebounds for the Hawks, who avenged an earlier 105-103 home loss to the 76ers. Ben Simmons paced the 76ers with 31 points.
Young had 14 points and De'Andre Hunter 10 of his 15 in the first quarter, as the Hawks took a lead they never relinquished in winning their third straight at home.
The 76ers rallied within 119-114 on two free throws by Joel Embiid with still 1:41 to go. But Collins turned a Cam Reddish assist into a dunk, and the Hawks closed out the 76ers on free throws by Vince Carter, Reddish and Young.
Young's 30-point night was his 24th of the season. He made almost half of his points by going 18-for-20 at the free throw line.
Carter and Damian Jones added 14 points apiece, while Reddish and Kevin Huerter had 12 each for the Hawks, who outshot the 76ers 48.3 per cent to 46.3 and outscored them 33-27 on three-pointers.
Ben Simmons used 11-for-13 accuracy at the line to reach 31 points for the 76ers, who lost for just the second time in their last eight games. Shake Milton went for a career-high 27 points, Embiid grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds to go with 21 points, Tobias Harris also had 21 points and Mike Scott added 11 for Philadelphia.
Sacramento Kings 124-103 LA Clippers
De'Aaron Fox scored a game-high 34 points with eight assists and four steals, sparking the Sacramento Kings to a surprising 124-103 victory over the host LA Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard.
Buddy Hield added 19 points off the bench for Sacramento, who set a franchise record with 21 three-pointers. Hield converted 5-of-11 from behind the arc. Cory Joseph chipped in 16 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic contributed 15 for the Kings, who snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Clippers.
Lou Williams scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and Montrezl Harrell had 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Clippers. Landry Shamet scored 15 points.
Paul George was back in the line-up for Los Angeles after being sidelined for nine games with left hamstring tightness. However, George managed just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Leonard was a late scratch after being ruled out with lower back tightness shortly before tip-off.
It was the Clippers' first home game since the death of former NBA great Kobe Bryant on Sunday. The team honoured Bryant with a pregame tribute and a 24-second moment of silence.
After leading by double digits early and staking themselves to a 33-28 lead after one quarter, the Clippers' offense became stale. The Kings, who were playing the second end of back-to-back contests after losing by 20 at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, took advantage of the Clippers' lull with their three-point shooting.
Sacramento outscored Los Angeles 36-14 in the second quarter for a 64-47 advantage at the break. The Kings held an 85-71 edge heading into the fourth quarter. The Clippers sliced the gap to 13 but got no closer.
Utah Jazz 100-106 Denver Nuggets
Nikola Jokic had 28 points and 10 assists and Will Barton scored 18 as the host Denver Nuggets held on to beat the Utah Jazz 106-100.
Jerami Grant added 15 points, Torrey Craig scored 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds and Michael Porter Jr added 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for Denver, who overcame a huge fourth quarter from Jordan Clarkson.
Clarkson scored 24 of his season-high 37 points in the final quarter as Utah fought to rally back from 17 down. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points and Georges Niang had 10 points for the Jazz, who have lost three in a row.
Utah led went up 54-45 on a three-pointer by Joe Ingles early in the third quarter, but Denver got within four multiple times before breaking through when the Jazz went cold after Bogdanovic's triple with 4:13 left made it 70-61.
Barton started the rally with a mid-range jumper and Porter hit two three-pointers, the second of which gave Denver a 73-70 lead, their first since late in the first quarter. PJ Dozier capped the third with a three-pointer at the horn that put the Nuggets ahead 76-70.
Denver continued to score while Utah couldn't buy a basket. Grant and Dozier hit two foul shots each to make it 80-70 before Clarkson's free throw with 10:53 left ended a scoring drought of more than five minutes.
A flagrant foul by Niang put Craig on the line and kept possession for Denver and Grant made the Jazz pay with a three-pointer and a free throw. Malik Beasley's three-pointer with 8:57 left put the Nuggets up 88-71 and Clarkson's field goal 15 seconds later gave Utah their first basket in 7:31.
Clarkson stayed hot, hitting four three-pointers while Donovan Mitchell, who had just four points, hit two free throws to make it 98-93. Clarkson was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three free throws to make it 99-96 but Jokic's 11 straight points for Denver kept the Nuggets in front.
Golden State Warriors 104-119 Boston Celtics
Gordon Hayward scored 25 points and Marcus Smart added 21 as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Golden State Warriors 119-104.
Jayson Tatum had 20 points in his return from a three-game absence with a groin injury, and Jaylen Brown chipped in 18 before fouling out as the Celtics won for the fifth time in their last six games. Tatum was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a reserve earlier in the day.
D'Angelo Russell had 22 points and Alec Burks 18 for the Warriors, who have lost five straight games and 15 of their last 16.
The Celtics played their first game at home since a tragic helicopter crash claimed the life of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others Sunday. Prior to the contest, Boston held a 24-second moment of silence in honour of Bryant, followed by a tribute video.
The Warriors grabbed a 7-1 lead to start, but the Celtics tied the score at 15 on a Brown dunk off a full-court pass from Smart. Boston went ahead and held the lead from there, ending the first up 29-22.
Kemba Walker beat the buzzer with a short basket to earn Boston a 60-50 lead at half-time.
Brown and Tatum hit three-pointers to begin the third and the Celtics upped their lead to 18 at 72-54 on a Tatum bucket with 8:38 to go. The Warriors got within single digits, 77-68, at 4:02, but Smart drained back-to-back triples, added another with 1:40 left and helped Boston to a 91-79 edge entering the final quarter.
The Celtics' lead reached 19 points as they coasting through the fourth quarter.
Toronto Raptors 115-109 Cleveland Cavaliers
Serge Ibaka scored 26 points as the visiting Toronto Raptors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-109 to extend their season-best winning streak to nine games.
Kyle Lowry added 23 points - 14 in the third quarter - for the Raptors, who completed a three-game sweep of the season series with the Cavaliers.
Norman Powell scored eight of his 16 points in the final 1:02 of the game for Toronto to help repel a Cleveland rally. Pascal Siakam contributed 19 points for Toronto, Chris Boucher had 10 points and Fred VanVleet had eight points and a season-best 12 assists.
Kevin Love and Collin Sexton scored 23 points each for Cleveland. Darius Garland had 16 points and eight assists, Kevin Porter Jr and Larry Nance Jr added 13 points each and Tristan Thompson had two points and 12 rebounds.
The Raptors took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to four. The Raptors responded by taking a 10-point lead on Siakam's three-pointer with 5:41 remaining.
Cleveland went on a 9-0 run and Love's three-pointer cut the lead to one point with 3:52 left at 100-99.
Powell made a three-pointer and then a dunk with 35.1 seconds remaining to give Toronto a five-point lead. He later added two free throws to increase the lead to six.
Charlotte Hornets 107-121 Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal scored 34 points as the Washington Wizards put together a strong second half to defeat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 121-107 to snap a two-game losing skid.
Thomas Bryant added 21 points, Isaiah Thomas tallied 18 points, Troy Brown Jr supplied 12 points and Ish Smith had 11 points.
Charlotte were held to 47 second-half points after a big first half.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 23 points and Terry Rozier pumped in 21. PJ Washington had 15 points, Willy Hernangomez added 12 points and Devonte' Graham, who was slow to get cranked up for the second game in a row, finished with 11.
Washington relied on a heavy dose of perimeter shooting for the first three quarters but still made regular trips to the free-throw line. Beal was 14-of-15 on foul shots.
It was a vastly improved defensive effort for the Wizards, who allowed more than 150 points in each of their two previous games.