Grizzlies extended their winning streak to 11 games with their victory against the Timberwolves; Warriors comfortably beaten in Milwaukee; Denver Nuggets thrash Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder end losing streak with win at Brooklyn Nets
Friday 14 January 2022 07:57, UK
Memphis Grizzlies secured their 11th consecutive victory with their win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Golden State Warriors suffered their record first-half deficit in a heavy loss against the Milwaukee Bucks. Round-up of Thursday night's NBA action...
Giannis Antetokounmpo notched his third triple-double of the season as the Milwaukee Bucks blew out the visiting Golden State Warriors 118-99 to snap a two-game losing streak.
The five-time All-Star produced 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and shot 11 of 17 to lift Milwaukee to just its second win in six games. Khris Middleton hit five three-pointers and added 23 points, Bobby Portis chipped in 20 points and seven rebounds and Grayson Allen scored 15.
Andrew Wiggins paced the Warriors with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Jonathan Kuminga tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, and Stephen Curry notched 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Klay Thompson had 11 points.
Things quickly spiralled out of control for the Warriors, who went into half-time trailing 77-38. The 39-point deficit was the largest the Warriors had faced since the franchise relocated to the Bay Area ahead of the 1962-63 season.
Desmond Bane scored 21 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 20 points and five blocks to lift the surging Memphis Grizzlies to a 116-108 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.
John Konchar collected 15 points and 17 rebounds and Brandon Clarke added 14 and eight as the Grizzlies extended their franchise-best winning streak to 11 games. Memphis, which has won 21 of its last 25 games, also avenged a 138-95 shellacking at the hands of Minnesota in November.
Ja Morant recorded 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds despite nursing an apparent back injury. He left the contest after committing his third foul late in the second quarter, but he returned to start the third.
Anthony Edwards scored 30 points and D'Angelo Russell made six three-pointers to highlight his 29-point performance for the Timberwolves, who have dropped two in a row.
Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double and five team-mates scored in double figures as the host New Orleans Pelicans never trailed during a 113-89 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Valanciunas finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds, Brandon Ingram scored a game-high 24 points, Herbert Jones added 14, Jaxson Hayes and Devonte' Graham had 13 each and Josh Hart scored 12.
The Pelicans led by 13 points at the end of the first quarter and by 19 at half-time. They never lost control against a Clippers team that had overcome a 25-point third-quarter deficit in defeating visiting Denver 87-85 on Tuesday.
New Orleans improved to 3-0 against Los Angeles this season and won for the seventh time in the last nine home games. Terance Mann scored 15 points for the Clippers, with Marcus Morris Sr. added 12 as the only starter to score in double figures for the visitors.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander totalled 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder took control in the first quarter and snapped a five-game losing streak with a 130-109 rout of the Brooklyn Nets in New York.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 11 of 18 shots and notched his second straight game with at least 30 points. Luguentz Dort added 27 and hit six of Oklahoma City's season-best 20 three-pointers. Rookie Josh Giddey added 19 as the Thunder shot a season-best 51.6 per cent.
Darius Bazley contributed 16 and Mike Muscala chipped in 14 as Oklahoma City won its fourth straight game in Brooklyn on a night when it set season highs for points, first-quarter points (38) and first-half points (70).
Playing a fourth game in five nights and in a third different time zone, the Nets lost for the sixth time in seven home games, dropping to 11-11 in Brooklyn as Kevin Durant and Patty Mills were rested.
Will Barton scored 21 points, Nikola Jokic had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and the host Denver Nuggets pounded the Portland Trail Blazers 140-108 on Thursday night.
Jeff Green scored 19 points, Facundo Campazzo had 18 points and 12 assists, Bones Hyland added 17 and Zeke Nnaji amassed 16 points and nine rebounds for Denver, which recorded season highs in points and made 3-pointers (21).
Barton sustained a neck strain in the third quarter when he went head-first into Jusuf Nurkic's knee. He was down on the court for several minutes before walking to the locker room. He returned to the bench at the end of the third quarter but didn't play again.
Ben McLemore scored 18 points and Dennis Smith Jr. had 17 points and eight assists for the Trail Blazers. Nassir Little scored 14, Trendon Watford finished with 11 and Robert Covington and Nurkic had 10 each. Nurkic added eight rebounds and six assists.
