Jokic leads Nuggets to win over Wizards; Young powers Hawks past Jazz; Walker drops 31 as Hornets beat Timberwolves
Friday 22 March 2019 09:16, UK
Each of Golden State's five starters scored in double figures as the Warriors blew out the Indiana Pacers 112-89 on Thursday night in Oakland.
Each of Golden State's five starters scored in double figures as the Warriors blew out the Indiana Pacers 112-89 on Thursday night in Oakland.
DeMarcus Cousins contributed six points to a third-quarter runaway in his return to the lineup as the defending NBA champions (49-22), who had lost three of their previous four at home, were able to retain a half-game lead over Denver (48-22) in their duel for best record in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (44-29) saw their lead over Boston (43-29) trimmed to a half-game in their fight for the fourth seed in the East.
The Warriors used an 18-10 burst late in the second quarter to take a 53-43 half-time advantage before busting the game open early in the third.
Cousins had three hoops, Kevin Durant a three-pointer and Draymond Green a three-point play in an 11-0 flurry that doubled what had been an 11-point lead, vaulting the hosts into a commanding 70-48 lead just past the midpoint of the third period.
In winning for the fourth time in their last five games, the Warriors went up by as many as 28 before the end of the third quarter, then coasted home.
Cousins, who had missed the final two games of Golden State's just completed four-game trip with a sore ankle, recorded a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double in 26 minutes of action.
Klay Thompson (18 points), Durant (15), Stephen Curry (15), Andre Iguodala (11) and Green (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who had lost their previous home game to Phoenix.
Curry complemented his 15 points with a game-high seven assists. He made five of his 12 three-point shots, nearly single-handedly outscoring the Pacers (6-of-23) from beyond the arc.
Tyreke Evans had a game-high 20 points off the bench, and Thaddeus Young 18 for the Pacers. Aaron Holiday chipped in with 13 points and Doug McDermott 11 for Indiana.
Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 11 assists as the visiting Denver Nuggets held off the Washington Wizards 113-108.
The Nuggets, who began play a half-game behind Golden State in the Western Conference, have won five straight.
Eight Nuggets scored in double figures, including Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, Jamal Murray and Torrey Craig, who scored 15 points each.
With the scored tied 90-90, Craig hit a three-pointer that started a 10-0 run capped by Malik Beasley's triple. Bradley Beal's consecutive lay-ups pulled Washington within 102-98 with 3:37 remaining.
Beal struck again when his steal and lay-up cut the Nuggets' lead to 106-104 with 1:53 to go, but Denver got a Murray lay-up and, after a Beal miss, a three-pointer by Will Barton.
The Wizards hit four free throws to pull within 111-108, but Thomas Bryant missed a three-point attempt. Harris missed two free throws but got the rebound and made two with 7.3 seconds left to seal the win.
Beal scored 25 points for the Wizards, Bryant scored 22 and Tomas Satoransky had 16 points and 10 assists.
Rookie Trae Young scored 23 points, including the go-ahead three-point play with 1:47 remaining, as the Atlanta Hawks hung on to beat the visiting Utah Jazz 117-114.
Atlanta's Dewayne Dedmon made a free throw with 6.2 seconds left to give the Hawks a 117-114 lead. Utah's Kyle Korver then missed two free throws, the second on purpose, and Donovan Mitchell missed a three-pointer that was rebounded by Atlanta's Kent Bazemore as the clock expired.
The win broke Atlanta's three-game losing streak and snapped Utah's five-game winning streak. The teams split their two-game series.
Young gave the Hawks the lead for good when he scored on a lay-up and made the free throw for a 112-110 lead. He added 11 assists for his 25th double-double of the season.
Dedmon, who made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 19 seconds, finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. John Collins, hampered by foul trouble for the third straight game, was limited to nine points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Utah, playing the second half of a back-to-back road series, got 34 points from Mitchell, his second straight 30-point game. Ricky Rubio scored 17 points, Derrick Favors added 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Kemba Walker scored 31 points as the host Charlotte Hornets rolled to a much-needed 113-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Hornets scored seven straight points early in the fourth quarter to gain a working margin, and then they went on to lead by as many as 11 down the stretch, the latest at 111-100.
The Hornets (32-39) had lost four of their previous five and 11 of their previous 15. They remain 10th in the Eastern Conference standings but now are three games behind No 8 Miami with the tie-breaker over the Heat. The Timberwolves (32-40) have lost five straight.
The Hornets also got 14 points from Malik Monk, 13 points from Marvin Williams and Jeremy Lamb, 11 points and 12 rebounds from Miles Bridges and 10 points from Willy Hernangomez.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 21 points and 16 rebounds, and he added six assists. Andrew Wiggins scored 20, Dario Saric 15, Tyus Jones 14 and Josh Okogie and Gorgui Dieng 10 apiece.
The teams were tied 25-25 after one quarter. The Hornets then took a 54-51 half-time lead and led 81-78 after three quarters. Minnesota tied it 81-81, but the Hornets went back to work at that point and were in control the rest of the way.
The closest the Timberwolves got down the stretch was five in the final minute.
Wayne Ellington scored 23 points, hitting six three-pointers, as the visiting Detroit Pistons pulled away to beat the Phoenix Suns 118-98.
Ellington delivered back-to-back 20-point outings for the first time since 2015. He had 25 points against Cleveland on Monday.
Detroit's Blake Griffin had 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists despite shooting 4-of-17 from the field. Andre Drummond supplied 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Luke Kennard also scored 16 points to help the Pistons win for the third time in four games.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 26 points, and rookie Deandre Ayton contributed 20 points and eight rebounds. Mikal Bridges added 13 points and seven assists.
Detroit, who outrebounded the Suns 46-35, outscored Phoenix 31-18 in the fourth quarter. The Pistons also turned 19 Suns turnovers in 22 points as they began a stretch of four consecutive road games against Western Conference teams.
The Pistons led 87-80 heading into the fourth. Drummond flushed a fastbreak dunk after a Phoenix turnover to make it 93-84. Kennard made a steal and lay-up to increase the lead to double digits with 9:20 left. Drummond followed with a dunk before a Booker basket ended the Pistons' run.
When Smith hit a jumper midway through the quarter, Detroit's lead was up to 106-86.
Buddy Hield scored 29 points and Harrison Barnes chipped in with eight third-quarter points against his old team to lead the host Sacramento Kings to a 116-100 home win over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Kings bounced back after blowing a 25-point fourth-quarter lead in their last outing against visiting Brooklyn on Tuesday, resulting in a 123-121 loss.
Sacramento opened a 15-point lead in the third quarter Thursday but watched Dallas whittle the deficit to 74-67 on Trey Burke's lay-up. The teams traded three-point jumpers and Sacramento took an 84-76 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks got within 87-81 early in the fourth, but unlike on Tuesday, the Kings didn't wilt and went on to win for only the second time in their past six games. The Mavericks lost for the 10th time in their past 11 games.
Hield connected on seven three-pointers and now has made 238 treys in this campaign. He trails Peja Stojakovic by only two for the most in a single season in Kings history.
Marvin Bagley III came off the Sacramento bench to score 22 points, grab 12 rebounds and block four shots. Willie Cauley-Stein also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
De'Aaron Fox recorded 15 points, nine assists and four blocks for the Kings.
Former Kings forward Justin Jackson led the Mavericks with 19 points. Luka Doncic scored 13 points and hauled down 10 boards.
