Westbrook notches eighth successive triple-double as Thunder trounce Grizzlies; Siakam scores 33 as Raptors blow out Hawks; Pacers blow out depleted Clippers
Friday 8 February 2019 10:51, UK
Rajon Rondo hit a game-winning buzzer-beater as the Los Angeles Lakers, powered by a triple-double from LeBron James, beat the Boston Celtics 129-128 at the TD Garden.
Rajon Rondo recovered Brandon Ingram's blocked shot and buried a buzzer-beating 20-footer as the Los Angeles Lakers stunned the Boston Celtics 129-128 in a nationally televised game in Boston on Thursday night.
The game-winner capped a wild back-and-forth that began with back-to-back three-pointers by the Lakers' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and LeBron James that erased a late six-point deficit and produced a 124-124 tie with 50.1 seconds remaining.
The Celtics twice subsequently regained the lead, first on two free throws by Jayson Tatum with 34.7 seconds to go, then after a three-pointer by Kyle Kuzma with 19 seconds to go, one final time at 128-127 on a short jumper by Kyrie Irving with 11.5 seconds remaining.
Down one, the Lakers went to Ingram, whose lay-up was rejected by Al Horford with three seconds left. The ball went right to Rondo, who drilled his game-winning jumper.
James finished with a triple-double for the Lakers, the 77th of his career, with game highs in points (28), rebounds (12) and assists (12).
Kuzma backed James with 25 points, Rondo, Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee scored 17 apiece, Lance Stephenson had 14 and Ingram 11 for Los Angeles, who were coming off a 136-94 thumping at the hands of the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
Irving had a team-high 24 points and team-high eight assists for the Celtics, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Tatum finished with a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double for Boston, while Daniel Theis had 20 points, Terry Rozier 19, Jaylen Brown 18 and Horford 12.
Terrence Ross came off the bench to score a season-high 32 points and lead the Orlando Magic to a 122-112 win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon scored 19. The Magic came into the game having lost five of their last seven, but with the win they are only three-and-a-half games behind the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota has lost three straight and five of its last six. The Wolves were missing point guards Jeff Teague (foot), Derrick Rose (ankle) and Tyus Jones (ankle).
Orlando had just a one-point lead after the first quarter, but took control of the game in the second. The Magic outscored Minnesota 39-27 in the period and continued to pad their lead in the third quarter.
Wes Iwundu hit a three-pointer in the final seconds of the third, giving Orlando a 102-85 lead. Ross then opened the fourth with another three, and the Magic extended their lead to 20 points, their largest of the night.
Towns cut the lead to nine with 2:39 left to play, but Ross ended any hopes of a Timberwolves' comeback with his sixth three-pointer.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points and Myles Turner added 17 as the Indiana Pacers extended their winning streak to four games with a 116-92 home victory over the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers.
Thaddeus Young and Darren Collison added 14 points each as the Pacers continued to distance themselves from a four-game losing streak to close out January that came immediately after the news Victor Oladipo was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Montrezl Harrell scored 19 points in just his fourth start of the season as the Clippers were down to 10 players.
The Clippers' makeshift roster started out fast in a back-and-forth first quarter, making their first 11 shots from the field and 14-of-18 in the opening 12 minutes. But because of eight turnovers, the Pacers held an early 36-31 lead.
The Pacers broke the game open in the second quarter, taking a 71-53 lead into half-time after converting 11 Clippers first-half turnovers into 21 points.
Cory Joseph had 13 points for the Pacers, who easily handled the Clippers after blowing out the Los Angeles Lakers by 42 points at home on Tuesday.
Danilo Gallinari had 12 points for the Clippers, who are expected to have a number of new players available for their game at Boston on Saturday. Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, JaMychal Green, Garrett Temple, Michael Beasley and Ivica Zubac all are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Pascal Siakam scored a career-best 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the visiting Toronto Raptors, playing with a depleted roster, defeated the Atlanta Hawks 119-101.
Fred VanVleet added a career-high 30 points for the Raptors, who have won three in a row. Kyle Lowry chipped in with 13 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds while Serge Ibaka and Danny Green scored 12 points each and Norman Powell added 11 off the bench.
Trae Young had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Hawks. Taurean Prince also scored 19 points, John Collins had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Dewayne Dedmon added 10 points.
The Raptors won all three games between the teams this season and have defeated the Hawks in seven straight.
The Raptors played with a short roster. Kawhi Leonard did not play because of a sore left knee. Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and CJ Miles were traded earlier in the day to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marc Gasol.
The Raptors overcame a 17-point deficit in the second quarter to take a three-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Norman Powell's three-pointer from the corner stretched the Raptors lead to 13 points, 101-88, with 8:36 remaining in the game and there was no way back for the Hawks.
Paul George scored 27 points and Russell Westbrook recorded his eighth consecutive triple-double as the host Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Memphis Grizzlies in the second half en route to a 117-95 win.
The win was the Thunder's ninth in 10 games and their fifth consecutive at home. Memphis, playing with a short bench, had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Westbrook had 15 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds to keep his triple-double streak alive. He clinched the triple-double with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter when he made a put-back shot.
He became just the second player in NBA history with eight consecutive triple-doubles. Wilt Chamberlain holds the NBA record with nine consecutive triple-doubles in 1968.
Memphis had just nine players dressed for the game after trading four players earlier in the day, including longtime standout Marc Gasol, who had played all of his 11 NBA seasons in Memphis before being dealt to the Toronto Raptors.
Mike Conley stayed put through the trade deadline and struggled against the Thunder, scoring 15 points but making just 4-of-15 shots from the floor. Jaren Jackson Jr led the Grizzlies with 27 points.
The Thunder quickly took control in the third quarter, outscoring Memphis 32-19 in the period to start to put the game away.
CJ McCollum scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Damian Lillard added 24 points and nine assists in the Portland Trail Blazers' 127-118 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
Six players scored in double figures for the Trail Blazers, who won for the 11th time in their past 15 outings. Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting.
DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points, Rudy Gay contributed 25 points and LaMarcus Aldridge collected 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost three in a row following a five-game win streak.
Nurkic scored 14 points and Portland shot 60 per cent from the field en route to a 70-57 half-time lead. The Blazers extended their advantage to 84-63.
The Spurs responded with a 25-4 run to tie it at 88-88 late in the third quarter, Gay scoring 16 of the first 18 points in that span.
Portland increased their lead to 108-97 on a three-pointer by McCollum with 7:37 remaining. The Spurs trimmed the deficit to 120-110 on a three-pointer by Marco Belinelli with 3:40 to play, but they could get no closer until the closing seconds.
