Sixers' late rally falls short against Magic; Giannis sits out but Bucks hammer Hawks; Brown and Tatum shine in Celtics win
Saturday 28 December 2019 07:54, UK
Goran Dragic hit the go-ahead shot as the host Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 113-112 on Friday night.
Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 20 points and Goran Dragic hit the go-ahead shot as the host Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 113-112 on Friday night.
There were 20 lead changes in a game that was tight throughout. The final lead change came with 6.8 seconds left as Dragic made a nine-foot lefty floater in the lane. It was Miami's third shot in that wild possession.
Indiana had one more chance to win the game, but Aaron Holiday drove to his right, spun to his left and then missed a floater in the lane under heavy pressure. Miami are now 14-1 at home this season and have won four consecutive games overall.
Indiana were led by Holiday, who had 17 points and nine assists. Miami also got 18 points, 15 rebounds and six assists from Bam Adebayo, and 18 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting from Duncan Robinson. Kendrick Nunn added 17 points, and Dragic had 14.
For the Pacers, Jeremy Lamb and TJ Warren each had 16 points. The Pacers played without leading scorer Malcolm Brogdon, who missed his second straight game due to a groin injury.
Neither team had a double-digit lead at any time in the game.
The Pacers built a nine-point lead early in the second quarter but the Heat used a 13-2 run to grab a 58-55 lead at half-time.
The Heat took a 84-82 lead in the third quarter as they continued to push their advantage inside. There were 14 lead changes through three quarters, and there were five more before Dragic hit the biggest shot of the game.
Evan Fournier scored 20 points and Aaron Gordon added 19 points and 11 rebounds as the host Orlando Magic held on for a 98-97 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Terrence Ross chipped in 17 points off the bench and Nikola Vucevic collected 16 points, 12 boards and seven assists for the Magic, who improved to 10-6 at home after defeating Philadelphia for the second time this season.
Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid each recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia, who nearly overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter and saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.
Fournier drained a three-pointer, Vucevic added one of his own and Gordon's reverse dunk appeared to put the game out of reach at 93-82 with 1:49 left.
Harris, Al Horford, Josh Richardson and Embiid each knocked down a three-pointer as Philadelphia went on a 12-4 run to pull within three with 24.8 seconds remaining. However, after Orlando's Markelle Fultz missed two foul shots, Fournier stole the ball and made one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Embiid nailed another three-pointer with 5.1 seconds left. The 76ers forced a turnover to get one last chance, but Embiid's desperation attempt from beyond the arc fell short as time expired.
Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez combined for 42 points as the visiting Milwaukee Bucks defeated Atlanta 112-86, handing the Hawks their ninth straight loss.
Middleton scored 23 and Lopez matched his season-high with 19 points as Milwaukee bounced back from their lopsided loss to Philadelphia on Christmas.
Middleton, who scored a season-high 31 on Wednesday, was 10-for-19 from the floor and had eight rebounds. Lopez was 8-for-14 from the field against Atlanta's undersized interior and blocked three shots. The Bucks did not miss league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did not play because of back soreness. Veteran Ersan Ilyasova got the start in his place and equalled his season-high with 18 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds.
Atlanta lost leading scorer Trae Young with a sprained right ankle late in the first half. He had 12 points when he injured after stepping on another player's foot and immediately helped to the locker room.
Atlanta's top scorer was Allen Crabbe, who came off the bench to make four three-pointers and scored a season-high 20 points. Kevin Huerter scored 12 and John Collins had a season-high 16 rebounds.
Milwaukee set the tone early by scoring the first eight points of the game and had a 32-19 lead after one quarter. Milwaukee padded the lead to 63-40 at half-time and led by as many as 32 in the third quarter before the Hawks trimmed the margin to 84-63 going into the final quarter.
Jaylen Brown matched his career-high of 34 points and Jayson Tatum scored 24 of his 30 in the first half as the host Boston Celtics cruised to a 129-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brown followed up a season-high-tying 30-point performance in Boston's 118-102 victory over Toronto on Wednesday by making 13-of-20 shots, including 5-of-10 from three-point range.
Tatum, who also made 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, sank 9-of-13 shots from the floor in the first half and finished 11-of-20 to answer a dismal 5-for-18 performance against the Raptors.
Enes Kanter chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the Celtics collected their fifth straight win overall and seventh in a row versus Cleveland.
Kevin Love scored 21 of his 30 points in the first half and made 6-of-11 three-point attempts for the Cavaliers, who had won a season-high three in a row after losing 16 of their previous 18. Collin Sexton chipped in 21 points and rookie Kevin Porter Jr added 16 off the bench for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers trimmed the Celtics' lead to 92-81 at the end of the third quarter and Dante Exum opened the fourth with a three-pointer. Tatum answered with one of his own, Daniel Theis followed suit and Brown later sank back-to-back triple to push Boston's advantage to 108-90 with 7:20 to play.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points and Dennis Schroder added 24 as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the host Charlotte Hornets 104-102 in overtime.
The Hornets had a chance to tie the game with 1.9 seconds to play in the extra session, but rookie forward PJ Washington missed on a pair of free-throw attempts.
The Thunder led throughout overtime, though Devonte' Graham's three-pointer for Charlotte closed the gap to 103-102 with 8.4 seconds left. Chris Paul, who made a couple of key baskets down the stretch of regulation, finished with 16 points, and Steven Adams had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma City.
Terry Rozier's 26 points paced the Hornets, while Graham ended up with 15 points and 13 assists and Washington had 14 points. Miles Bridges chipped in 11 points, and Bismack Biyombo and Cody Martin scored 10 points apiece.
The Thunder scored six straight points to go up 91-87 in the fourth quarter. Bridges made a three-pointer for Charlotte at the 37.3-second mark. But Paul converted again at the other end with a step-back jumper to re-establish the lead at 93-90. Schroder made the second free throw of a two-shot foul before Graham's tying basket with 1.9 seconds left.
Paul scored seven points in the last 3:34 of regulation, but he missed a potential game-winning shot so the game went to overtime.
D'Angelo Russell recorded 31 points and six assists to help the Golden State Warriors rally to a 105-96 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Damion Lee added 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Alec Burks scored 13 points off the bench as the Warriors extended their season-best winning streak to four games. Golden State trailed by 12 after three quarters before outscoring Phoenix 39-18 in the fourth quarter.
Glenn Robinson III registered 12 points and Draymond Green had 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Warriors, who won just five of their first 29 games prior to the winning streak.
Devin Booker scored 34 points but couldn't prevent the Suns from losing their eighth straight game. Dario Saric added 11 points and 10 rebounds, Ricky Rubio also scored 11 points and Frank Kaminsky added 10.
Phoenix led by 10 points with under nine minutes left when the Warriors began their charge. Russell knocked down a 22-footer to start the spurt, and Burks later converted a three-point play to move Golden State within 86-81 with 6:46 left.
Burks' lay-up knotted the score at 89 with 4:52 remaining, and Robinson hammered home a putback dunk to move the Warriors ahead 38 seconds later. Burks' driving bank shot with 3:26 left gave Golden State a 95-89 lead.
Green drained a straight-away three-pointer to make it 102-95 with 1:58 left. Russell added a lay-up to make it a nine-point margin with 1:15 remaining and the Warriors closed it out.
