Russell Westbrook hits game-winning three for Wizards against Nets, 76ers win for the first time this season without Embiid; Sky Sports coverage of the NBA continues on Thursday night when the Golden State Warriors travel to Dallas, join us from 12.30am on Sky Sports Arena
Monday 1 February 2021 08:46, UK
Nikola Jokic matched his career-high of 47 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 128-117 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Sunday night.
Will Barton scored 18 points and Jamal Murray added 16 for the Nuggets. Barton (six) and Murray (five) also combined for 11 assists. Denver snapped Utah's 11-game winning streak after shooting 54 percent from the field and a blistering 64.3 percent from deep (18 of 28 on 3-pointers).
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points to lead the Jazz and Utah had seven players score in double figures but could not keep up with the Nuggets' blazing shooting in the end.
Jokic led the way. He did whatever he wanted against Utah's defense during the first quarter. Jokic poured in 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting to power Denver's offense. That represented a career-best for Jokic for most points scored in any quarter.
Denver did not cool down in the second quarter. They led by as many as 27 points before halftime, going up 79-52 after Jokic made a hook shot and hit a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions.
Jokic totaled 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting by halftime. Utah rallied in the third quarter, cutting a 28-point lead to single digits after making eight 3-pointers in the quarter. Clarkson's back-to-back treys cut Denver's lead to 99-91, capping a 30-11 run by Utah, but the Jazz could get no closer.
Russell Westbrook hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds remaining as the host Washington Wizards posted an unlikely 149-146 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Washington's only lead was briefly in the second quarter before the frenetic end to the contest that saw them overcome a five-point deficit in the final 12.3 seconds. Bradley Beal's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8.1 seconds left got Washington within 146-144.
Washington had a chance to tie or get the lead when Garrison Matthews intercepted an inbounds pass by Joe Harris intended for Kevin Durant with 6.8 seconds left. He quickly dished to Westbrook, who sank a 3-pointer over Kyrie Irving with 4.3 seconds on the clock.
After Brooklyn used two timeouts, the Nets could not score when Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot's point-blank layup rolled around the rim and out with seventh-tenths of a second remaining. After officials ruled there was still time, Beal hit two free throws for the final margin.
Westbrook scored 15 of his season-high 41 points in the fourth quarter as Washington snapped a four-game losing streak. He also added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Beal added 22 of his 37 in the final stanza as Washington beat the Nets in the final seconds for the second time this season.
Durant scored 37 and Harris added a career-high 30 for the Nets, who saw a four-game winning streak stopped and played without James Harden (left thigh contusion). Irving added 26 and Jeff Green contributed a season-best 23 for Brooklyn, which shot 56.8 percent and led by 18 late in the first quarter.
Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 28 points on Sunday afternoon for the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, who fended off a fourth-quarter rally by the New York Knicks and pulled away for a 129-115 win.
Reggie Jackson had 18 points for the Clippers, who put six players into double figures as they won for the 10th time in 11 games. Paul George scored 17 points, Serge Ibaka added 15 points and Marcus Morris Sr. contributed 11 points off the bench.
Julius Randle had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost four of five. Immanuel Quickley had another big game off the bench with 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. RJ Barrett scored 23 points and Elfrid Payton finished with 10 points.
The Clippers had a quartet of 12-point leads before carrying a 101-91 lead into the fourth. Quickley scored eight straight points to pull the Knicks within 105-103 with 7:44 left, but Los Angeles scored the next nine points and extended the lead to double digits again on a Leonard layup with 5:45 left.
The Knicks scored six of the next eight points and pulled within 116-109 on a pair of free throws by Barrett, but Ibaka hit a 3-pointer and converted a traditional 3-point play during an 8-0 run that lasted less than a minute and iced the game for the Clippers, who led by at least 12 the rest of the way.
For the first time this season, the Philadelphia 76ers found a path to victory without Joel Embiid by defeating the Indiana Pacers 119-110 in Indianapolis. The Sixers had previously gone 0-4 in games where Embiid didn't play.
Tobias Harris finished with 27 points and eight rebounds and Ben Simmons had 21 points, six rebounds, seven assists and four steals to help the Sixers erase a 20-point second-half deficit and win their third consecutive game.
Philadelphia switched to a 2-3 zone on defense in the final quarter, which frustrated Pacers shooters during a scoring drought that lasted almost five minutes until Myles Turner hit a pair of late free throws. Indiana were outscored 37-15 in the fourth and dropped their second consecutive game.
The Sixers outrebounded the Pacers 44-41 and were competitive in the paint, scoring 56 points there to Indiana's 60, despite Embiid's absence. Turner was held to only nine points, with six of those coming on free throws. Korkmaz scored 17 points and Howard finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds as the Sixers' bench outscored the Pacers' reserves 54-37.
Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers with 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting and Damontas Sabonis totaled 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Pascal Siakam scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Orlando Magic 115-102 in Tampa Bay to end a three-game losing streak.
It was the third straight loss for the Magic, who have won only twice in their past 13 games.
Kyle Lowry added 12 points and had a season-best 15 assists for the Raptors, who visit Orlando on Tuesday. DeAndre' Bembry and Terence Davis had 12 points each, Yuta Watanabe added 11 points while Aron Baynes had eight points and a season-best 16 rebounds.
Cole Anthony had 16 points and Nikola Vucevic had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic. Aaron Gordon had 14 points before leaving the game with a left ankle sprain with 1:14 to play in the third quarter and did not return.
Malik Beasley and rookie Anthony Edwards scored 23 points apiece to propel the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 109-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Minneapolis.
Beasley and Edwards combined to make 18 of 32 shots from the floor and D'Angelo Russell added 19 points for the Timberwolves, who posted just their third win in their last 17 games.
Jaylen Nowell had a career-high 13 points off the bench, marking his third straight double-digit scoring performance.
Minnesota will bid to record consecutive victories for the first time since winning its first two contests of the season when it visits Cleveland on Monday night.
Andre Drummond collected 25 points and 22 rebounds and Darius Garland had 17 points for the Cavaliers, who went 4 of 16 from 3-point range en route to losing for the fourth time in their last five games. Cleveland's road woes continued to boot, as it fell to 3-7 away from home.
Collin Sexton overcame an ailing ankle to score 16 points while Isaac Okoro added 13 in a losing effort. Jarrett Allen also scored 10 points off the bench.
