Derrick Rose guides Knicks past Clippers; Heat tighten grip on sixth seed after outlasting Celtics; Bulls, Pelicans and Kings keep Play-In hopes alive with vital wins
Monday 10 May 2021 07:33, UK
Anthony Davis' 42 points and 12 rebounds, along with the Lakers' 13 made shots from three-point range, overwhelmed the Phoenix Suns in a 123-110 win on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles (38-30) avoided the three-game season sweep by Phoenix (48-20) and remained one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference standings with four games left.
The Suns are now two games behind Utah (50-18) atop the Western Conference with only four games remaining.
The Lakers, who had lost eight of its previous 10 games, were without LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schroder.
Cameron Payne had a career-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from field, including 4 of 5 from three-point range. Chris Paul had 13 points and 10 assists and Devin Booker finished with 21 points, but he made only 5 of 14 shots from the field and missed his only three-point attempt.
Phoenix, who never led, cut the lead to 78-67 with 4:14 left in the third quarter, but a 3-pointer by McLemore and two free throws and a jump shot by Davis pushed the lead to 85-68 about a minute later.
Phoenix made 12 of their first 13 shots of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 115-108 with 3:57 remaining, but the Suns then made only one more shot in seven attempts, had a turnover and Jae Crowder was whistled for a technical foul to all but wrap up the game for the Lakers.
Buoyed by the 3-point shooting of Reggie Bullock and playmaking ability of Derrick Rose, the New York Knicks ran past the Los Angeles Clippers 106-100 at Staples Center.
Rose led the Knicks with 25 points and eight assists off the bench. Bullock finished with 24 points on 5-for-12 shooting from behind the arc. RJ Barrett added 18 points and seven rebounds and Julius Randle chipped in 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 29 points, four rebounds and three assists but struggled finding his shooting stroke, finishing 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) from the field.
Paul George contributed 18 points and eight rebounds, while Reggie Jackson totalled 12 points. Nicolas Batum added 13 points off the bench.
With the win, New York (38-30) remained the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, pushing their record to 3-2 on a six-game road trip that finishes with a contest against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
The Clippers (45-23) maintained their grip on the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with the loss, a game ahead of the No. 4 seed, the Denver Nuggets (44-24).
Jimmy Butler finished strong with 22 of his 26 points in the second half as the Miami Heat strengthened their hold on the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 130-124 win over the host Boston Celtics.
Despite Butler having only four points at halftime, the Heat managed to build a 26-point lead to help hold off Boston's fourth-quarter push. Butler also contributed 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Duncan Robinson scored 22 points, Bam Adebayo added 20 and Trevor Ariza scored all but two of his 19 points in the first half for the Heat.
Miami (37-31) leads Boston (35-33) by two games for the final seed in the East that guarantees avoiding the Play-In round. The teams will meet for a second straight game in Boston on Tuesday night.
Evan Fournier scored a game-high 30 and Jayson Tatum added 29 for the Celtics. Kemba Walker totalled 18 points while Marcus Smart and Aaron Nesmith chipped in 16 apiece.
Boston was without All-Star forward Jaylen Brown, who missed his third straight game with a sprained right ankle he suffered last Sunday against Portland.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 25 points while hitting on 7 of his 11 3-point shots as the surging Dallas Mavericks defeated the host Cleveland Cavaliers 124-97 in the second game of a home-and-home set between the two teams.
The Mavericks (40-28) won for the fourth straight game and are a season-best 12 games over .500. Dallas remained in fifth place in the Western Conference, moving a game in front of idle Portland in the standings with four games to play.
Josh Richardson added 20 points for the Mavericks, and Luka Doncic scored 15 before being ejected early in the third quarter. Doncic was ejected 1:55 into the third for a flagrant 2 foul against the Cavaliers' Collin Sexton during a scrum for a rebound. Jalen Brunson hit for 13 points and Dwight Powell tallied 12.
Sexton led Cleveland with 24 points while Mfiondu Kabengele hit for 14, Brodric Thomas scored 13 points, Isaac Okoro added 12 and Damyean Dotson contributed 10 points. The short-handed Cavaliers (21-47) lost their 10th consecutive game, matching their longest skid of the season.
Eric Bledsoe scored 24 points Sunday night as the New Orleans Pelicans pulled out a tight game in Charlotte, beating the Hornets 112-110 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive while keeping Charlotte's on hold.
A victory would have clinched a spot in the postseason's Play-In round for the Hornets (33-35), who are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
New Orleans is in 11th place in the Western Conference, a game and a half behind 10th-place San Antonio and the final Play-In round spot. The Pelicans have four games remaining while the Spurs have five games left.
Jaxson Hayes finished with 18 points off the bench for New Orleans, while James Johnson had 17 points and Alexander-Walker and Naji Marshall each posted 13, with 12 from Lonzo Ball.
For the Hornets Rozier finished with 43 points, including 24 in the first half. LaMelo Ball notched 22 points, reserve Cody Zeller tallied 17 points and P.J. Washington had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Charlotte, which was 3-for-8 on second-half foul shots.
The Pelicans were without forward Zion Williamson, who averages 27 points per outing, for the second game in a row because of a finger injury.
Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Zach LaVine added a game-high 30 points Sunday night as the Chicago Bulls led for all but the opening few seconds in posting a 108-96 victory over the host Detroit Pistons.
Chicago (29-39) used a strong defensive effort to keep alive its slim prospects of making the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, moving to 2.5 games behind Indiana with four games left in the Bulls regular season.
In addition to his game-high in scoring, LaVine had six assists. Coby White added 21 points, which included 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Lauri Markkanen contributed to Chicago's defensive showing by coming off the bench to record three steals and seven rebounds.
Killian Hayes registered career highs of 21 points and seven rebounds to go with his game-high eight assists for Detroit, but also committed seven of the Pistons' 13 turnovers. His fellow rookies Saddiq Bey (20 points) and Isaiah Stewart (19 points) shot 5-of-10 and 3-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Maurice Harkless and Terence Davis scored 18 points each to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 126-98 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Kings kept their faint hopes of making the Play-In Tournament alive with the win, their fifth in six games. Sacramento is 2.5 games behind San Antonio for 10th in the Western Conference with four games to play. The Spurs, who have five games remaining, hold the tiebreaker.
The Thunder have lost seven consecutive games and 24 of their last 26.
The Kings (30-38) had seven players score in double figures, including 15 each by Richaun Holmes and Wright.
Darius Bazley led Oklahoma City (21-48) with 18 points while Jaylen Hoard had a career-high 16.
Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell each had 27 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 128-96 blowout win over the host Orlando Magic.
The Timberwolves (21-47) snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-5 over their past 12 games. The Magic (21-47) dropped their third in a row in their home finale and went 11-25 in Orlando this season.
Towns, who also had nine rebounds and four assists, helped jump-start the Timberwolves as they used an early run to overwhelm the Magic and outscore them 74-44 by halftime. Russell also had eight assists and six rebounds.
Minnesota's lead swelled to 43 points within the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Dwayne Bacon provided some highlights for Orlando with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while R.J. Hampton scored 19 points off the bench.
The Wolves didn't need a lot of scoring from rookie Anthony Edwards, but he recorded another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists. Ricky Rubio added 18 points for the Wolves.
