Sunday 10 March 2019 08:17, UK
Kyrie Irving scored 30 points as the Boston Celtics extended the Los Angeles Lakers' losing streak to five games with a 120-107 victory on Saturday night.
Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris added 16 points each as the Celtics made it three victories from three on their west coast road trip.
Gordon Hayward continued maintained his upturn in form with 15 points as the Celtics avenged a home defeat to the Lakers in February when former Boston point guard Rajon Rondo hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
LeBron James finished with a triple-double (30 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) for the Lakers, who were playing without a number of key contributors because of injuries and lost for the seventh time in its last eight games.
The Lakers were playing their first game amid the news that both forward Brandon Ingram and guard Lonzo Ball would miss the remainder of the season. Ingram has a deep venous thrombosis in his right shoulder and Ball has a severely sprained left ankle.
Kyle Kuzma was also missing for the Lakers with a sprained ankle, allowing Moritz Wagner a first career start, which he marked with 22 points.
Irving took full advantage of the depleted Lakers, going 12 of 18 from the field, including 5 of 8 from three-point range, after missing Wednesday's game at Sacramento because of a left thigh contusion.
Giannis Antetokounmpo produced another stunning all-round performance with 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Milwaukee Bucks brought up their 50th win of the season with 131-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
MVP candidate Antetokounpo made seven of his 11 field goal attempts, as did Brook Lopez, who had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks.
Milwaukee trailed by as many as 14 in the second quarter but exploded for 39 third-quarter points to take the lead before increasing their advantage to as many as 18 in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Brogdon and Nikola Mirotic also contributed 18 points each as the Bucks became the first team in the league to reach the 50-win plateau.
They are now 27-5 at home. They have won two straight and nine of their past 11.
Kemba Walker scored 25 points to lead the Hornets, who remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Frank Kaminsky scored 16, Miles Bridges had 15, Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb finished with 14 apiece, and Cody Zeller scored 10.
CJ McCollum scored 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting as the Portland Trail Blazers eased to a 127-120 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns.
Seth Curry came off the bench to match his season high with 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who ended a two-game losing streak.
Damian Lillard added 18 points and nine assists, and Jusuf Nurkic contributed 14 points and nine rebounds for Portland, who remained fifth in the Western Conference despite moving level on a 40-26 record with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who hold a superior head-to-head record.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and DeAndre Ayton collected 21 points and eight boards for the Suns, who had won three in a row. Kelly Oubre had 17 points and seven rebounds for Phoenix.
The Blazers, who have won 10 straight games against the Suns, shot 50 percent from the field and went 13-for-29 from three-point range.
The Suns, who scored 31 points on 17 Portland turnovers, shot .417 from the field and went only 9-for-27 from beyond the arc.
Karl-Anthony Towns collected 40 points and 16 rebounds before exiting with a right knee injury as the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the Washington Wizards for a 135-130 overtime victory.
Towns, who left in the final minute of regulation and did not play in overtime, reached 40 points for the third time in five games.
The two-time All-Star will undergo further testing on his knee, but coach Ryan Saunders said he had not heard reason for serious concern.
Derrick Rose scored 16 of his 29 points after the third quarter for the Timberwolves, who have won two of three. Taj Gibson had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Bradley Beal, who finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, made a curious decision by making an uncontested layup with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation with the Wizards trailing 119-116. Rose sank a pair of free throws, but Beal calmly sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Rose drilled a jumper and Taj Gibson followed his miss with a tip-in to give Minnesota a 129-125 lead with 1:08 remaining in overtime.
D'Angelo Russell hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining as the Brooklyn Nets held off the Atlanta Hawks to complete a season-series sweep with a 114-112 victory.
The Nets, who took another step towards the postseason by improving to 35-33, had to overcome a triple-double performance by Hawks rookie Trae Young, who continued his fine recent form.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 23 points and Jarrett Allen finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who had beaten the Hawks twice in Brooklyn earlier in the three-game season series.
Young's triple-double consisted of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. John Collins had 33 points and 20 rebounds for Atlanta, who dropped their second straight game.
All-Star Russell's three-pointer came after the Hawks had gone ahead as many as five late in the game after a pair of treys by Young and two interior hoops by Collins.
A three-point play by Allen got the Nets within 109-107 with 2:15 to go, setting the stage for Russell's big hoop.
De'Aaron Fox scored a game-high 30 points Saturday afternoon and hit the go-ahead basket with 5:03 to play that gave the Sacramento Kings the lead for good in a 102-94 win over the host New York Knicks.
The Kings (33-32) overcame a 15-point first quarter deficit and survived squandering an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter to win the opener of a pivotal four-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Sacramento, who haven't made the playoffs since 2006, entered Saturday four games behind the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Buddy Hield scored 19 points and Nemanja Bjelica had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) for the Kings. Harrison Barnes added 11 points while Willie Cauley-Stein pulled down 12 rebounds.
Dennis Smith Jr scored 18 points and DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double (14 points, 15 rebounds) for the NBA-worst Knicks (13-53) who have lost five straight. Lance Thomas and Allonzo Trier each had 10 points.
