Coverage of the NBA continues late on Wednesday night as the Brooklyn Nets visit the Utah Jazz, live on Sky Sports Main Event & Mix from 2am
Wednesday 24 March 2021 07:51, UK
Brandon Ingram scored 36 points and Zion Williamson added 27 as the hosts New Orleans Pelicans routed the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 128-111.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points, Kira Lewis Jr. had 16, Jaxson Hayes had 15 and Steven Adams scored 12 as the Pelicans ended a seven-game losing streak against the Lakers.
Ingram made 14 of 21 shots, Williamson made 9 of 13, Alexander-Walker 7 of 14, Lewis 5 of 9, Hayes 4 of 6, and Adams 6 of 6 as the Pelicans shot 52.2 percent from the floor.
New Orleans won their second straight game despite the absence of point guard Lonzo Ball (hip flexor strain) for both games.
L.A. were playing their second consecutive full game without LeBron James, who suffered a high ankle sprain in a loss to Atlanta on Saturday. The Lakers lost at Phoenix 111-94 on Sunday.
Former Pelicans forward Anthony Davis has missed the last month because of a calf strain and is expected to be re-evaluated Friday by the Lakers.
Montrezl Harrell scored 18 points, Kyle Kuzma had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Markieff Morris scored 16, Dennis Schroder had 15, Wesley Matthews 14 and Alex Caruso 10 for LA, which shot 42.4 percent.
James Harden scored 25 points and matched his career-high of 17 assists to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 116-112 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers.
Jeff Green scored 20 points and Joe Harris added 17 as the Nets won for the 16th time in the past 18 games. Nicolas Claxton recorded 16 points and nine rebounds and fellow reserve Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 11 points as Brooklyn prevailed in the opener of a three-game road trip.
The Nets were without Kyrie Irving, who is skipping the trip due to a family matter. Kevin Durant remains side-lined with a hamstring injury.
Damian Lillard scored 22 points with nine assists and Enes Kanter registered 19 points, 19 rebounds and six assists for Portland. The Trail Blazers lost their second straight following a stretch in which they won seven of nine.
Portland's CJ McCollum scored 16 points, Carmelo Anthony added 15, Robert Covington had 13 points and nine rebounds, Derrick Jones Jr. also scored 13 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 11.
Devin Booker scored 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead the visiting Phoenix Suns to a 110-100 victory over the Miami Heat.
The Suns took the lead with 5:43 left in the first quarter as part of an early 10-0 run and never trailed again. They won their third consecutive game.
Kendrick Nunn led Miami, scoring 17 of his 25 points in the second half and shooting 10 of 19 - including 5-for-9 from 3-point range - for the game. But the Heat's struggles maintaining consistency on offense continued as they lost their fourth consecutive game.
Booker was one of five Phoenix players who scored in double figures. The Suns improved to 5-2 since the All-Star break and have won 21 of their past 26 games. Phoenix shot 50 percent (45-for-90) and 32.4 percent from 3 (12-for-37). The Heat had allowed 15.0 3-pointers per game over their previous three games.
Deandre Ayton finished with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and collected 16 rebounds for the Suns. Jae Crowder played his first game in Miami since departing the Heat in free agency. He finished with 13 points and Mikal Bridges had 12 points. Torrey Craig added 10 points off Phoenix's bench.
Chris Paul was the only Phoenix starter to not score in double figures, but finished with eight points and nine assists without a turnover.
Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Jimmy Butler totalled 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Tobias Harris scored five of his game-high 25 points in a 9-0 flurry late in the game that allowed the Philadelphia 76ers to break from a tie and into a 108-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Ben Simmons chipped in with 22 points with eight rebounds and Tony Bradley, starting in place of Joel Embiid, put up 18 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who won for the ninth time in their past 10 games.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had a team-high 24 points with 10 rebounds and Jordan Poole added 19 points in place of injured Stephen Curry for the Warriors, who fell back to .500 with a second straight loss.
After trailing 33-11 to open the game and falling behind by as many as 24 points in the first half, the Warriors made a successful uphill climb into a 92-86 lead on a driving layup by Poole with 7:21 remaining in the game.
But the 76ers regrouped, first with a 10-0 run that featured two hoops by Shake Milton and a go-ahead 3-pointer by Danny Green.
Oubre forged one final tie at 96-all with 4:10 to go before Harris dropped in a pair of floaters, Simmons hit two free throws, Harris added one and Bradley connected on a hook shot to open a nine-point lead with just 2:12 to play.
Nikola Jokic collected 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to lift the visiting Denver Nuggets to a 110-99 victory over the Orlando Magic.
The triple-double was the second in as many games, 12th this season and 53rd career for Jokic, who was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
Jamal Murray had 21 points, Will Barton added 17 and Michael Porter Jr. chipped in with 18 for the Nuggets, who have won nine of their last 11 games and nine straight against Orlando.
P.J. Dozier had 14 points off the bench to help Denver extend its road winning streak to six games by taking the opener of the three-game trek.
Evan Fournier sank five 3-pointers to highlight his season-high-tying 31-point performance for the Magic, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 games. Nikola Vucevic had 18 points (on 8-for-25 shooting) and Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
Prior to the game, an emotional Nuggets coach Michael Malone broke down in tears while reading the names of the 10 victims of Monday's shooting massacre.
Julius Randle scored 37 points as the host New York Knicks rolled to a 131-113 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards.
It was Randle's fifth time scoring at least 30 points this season, and his big performance helped the Knicks bounce back from Sunday's overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Randle made 13 of 24 shots and tied a career with seven 3-pointers. After getting 21 points in the first half, the All-Star forward highlighted his big night by hitting three 3-pointers in a span of 52 seconds to give the Knicks a commanding 88-57 lead with 7:49 remaining in the third, earning "MVP" chants from the small crowd.
The Knicks scored 69 points in the first half for a 20-point lead at halftime.
RJ Barrett added 21 points for the Knicks, whose previous four games were decided by five points or less. Alec Burks added 20 points while Mitchell Robinson totalled 16 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back from a broken hand.
The Knicks shot 51.1 percent, hit 16 3-pointers and picked up their 22nd win to surpass their win total from last season.
Rookie Immanuel Quickley chipped in 14 points and Reggie Bullock contributed 10 for New York.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 22 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Russell Westbrook added 14 and 12 assists, but he and Beal combined for nine turnovers and did not play in the fourth.
