LeBron passes Jordan on all-time scoring list; Celtics resist Kings rally; Drummond dominates as Pistons beat T-Wolves
Thursday 7 March 2019 08:26, UK
Zach LaVine scored 39 points and made the game-winning lay-up with 1.6 seconds remaining as the Chicago Bulls stunned the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Zach LaVine's driving lay-up with 1.6 seconds left in the game lifted the Chicago Bulls to a 108-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia had a chance to win after LaVine missed a free throw, but a lob into the paint intended for Jimmy Butler was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Players walked off the floor but the officials convened and determined Robin Lopez did not tip the ball and the clock erroneously started, giving Philadelphia a second chance.
Ben Simmons' inbound pass to Butler was fumbled and the Bulls finally earned the win to snap a two-game losing skid.
Butler made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give the 76ers a 107-106 lead. Chicago called timeout and LaVine drove the lane practically uncontested to score the winning basket after a defensive switch gone wrong. He was fouled by Mike Scott, but missed the free throw.
LaVine finished with 39 points on 14-of-26 from the field. He scored 24 of his points in the second half.
Robin Lopez recorded 19 points and nine rebounds. Otto Porter Jr finished with 15 points and nine boards.
Butler scored 22 points to lead five Philadelphia players in double figures. Ben Simmons compiled 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The Sixers were playing without Joel Embiid, who missed his seventh straight game because of knee soreness. He could return on Friday when Philadelphia faces the Rockets in Houston.
Gordon Hayward avenged a critical foul 5.6 seconds earlier with a tie-breaking jumper with two seconds remaining, giving the Boston Celtics a 111-109 victory over the host Sacramento Kings.
Al Horford recorded a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while also finding time for a team-high seven assists as the Celtics completed a back-to-back sweep in northern California after shellacking the Golden State Warriors 128-95 on Tuesday night.
Harrison Barnes had a game-high 24 points for the Kings, who wrapped up a 1-3 homestand that dented their playoff hopes.
Hayward's hoop occurred after the Kings had rallied from a late six-point deficit to gain a 109-all tie on three free throws by Buddy Hield with 7.6 seconds left.
The foul shots were the result of a foul called on Hayward while attempting to defend the potential game-tying shot.
Without calling a timeout, the Celtics rushed the ball up the court, and Hayward nailed a nine-footer for the winner.
After a timeout that allowed them to advance the ball, the Kings took a shot at a win, but Barnes' 30-footer with two-tenths of a second remaining was off the mark.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points to lead the Celtics. Morris had 19 points, Terry Rozier 16, Hayward 12 and Jaylen Brown 10 for Boston.
Hield finished with 23 points for the Kings, who have lost four of five as they pursue a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Fox complemented 16 points with seven assists for Sacramento, while Cauley-Stein had 19 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic 14.
LeBron James passed Michael Jordan to move into fourth place on the NBA career scoring list, but the host Los Angeles Lakers fell short in a 115-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
James, who finished with 31 points, came into the night 12 behind Jordan's career total of 32,292 points. Next on the list is Kobe Bryant, who finished his career with 33,643 points.
Will Barton had 23 points and Nikola Jokic finished with 12 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists for Denver. Jamal Murray and Gary Harris scored 19 points each to help the Nuggets avoid blowing a 23-point lead.
Denver ended a three-game skid and moved within a game of Golden State for the top seed in the Western Conference.
James tied Jordan when he drained a 19-foot jumper midway through the second quarter. A minute later he passed the Hall of Famer when he drove to the basket for a left-handed lay-up.
His team-mates congratulated him, and at the next timeout James sat alone on the bench with his face buried in a towel.
The Nuggets scored 43 points in the first period, a season high for a quarter for them, before James got going. He passed Jordan during a 9-0 Lakers run that got them within 13, but Denver built the lead back up to 18 and when into the half ahead 66-49.
The Lakers kept chipping away and got within 89-87 on two free throws by James with 8:30 left. James missed a three-pointer that would have given the Lakers their lead of the game and Harris hit two three-pointers and converted a three-point play during a 19-4 run that put Denver comfortably ahead late in the game.
The Lakers have lost four straight and six of their last seven.
Andre Drummond erupted for 31 points and 15 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons won for the 10th time in 12 games by downing the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 131-114.
Detroit's bench also played a major hand in the victory, which took them over the .500 mark for the first time since December 19. Luke Kennard had 21 points and Ish Smith supplied 19 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 24 points before fouling out. Andrew Wiggins had 18 points and Jeff Teague contributed 15 points and eight assists.
Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson was ejected with 10:07 remaining for elbowing Drummond in the face.
Detroit carried a 90-88 lead into the fourth quarter and wasted no time extending it. Kennard hit a three-pointer and Langston Galloway had a four-point play in the first minute of the quarter. A dunk by Glenn Robinson III then gave the Pistons a 99-88 lead.
The Gibson incident allowed Detroit to score seven points in a matter of seconds. Smith made a basket at the same time Gibson committed the foul. Free throws by Galloway and Drummond and a three-pointer by Thon Maker gave Detroit an unassailable 106-90 lead.
Derrick Favors scored 25 points as the visiting Utah Jazz ended the New Orleans Pelicans' three-game winning streak with a 114-104 victory.
Rudy Gobert added 22 points and 13 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell scored 22, Kyle Korver had 12, Jae Crowder scored 11 and Joe Ingles had 10 points and 10 assists for the Jazz, who had lost at home to the Pelicans 115-112 on Monday night.
Favors made 9-of-11 field goals and Gobert made 10-of-12.
Julius Randle scored 23 points, Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis added 16 each, Frank Jackson scored 13 and Kenrich Williams had 12 to lead the Pelicans.
Favors started the fourth-quarter scoring with a put-back and he added another basket as Utah opened a 93-78 lead. The Pelicans closed within 104-98, but Ricky Rubio made one of two free throws and Gobert added a dunk and free throw for a 10-point lead with two minutes remaining.
Bradley Beal scored 30 points as the Washington Wizards pulled away late for a 132-123 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
Trevor Ariza added 22 points and Jabari Parker scored 20 points for Washington, who have won three of their last four games. Parker made his final 10 shots after missing his first attempt.
Beal hit 11-of-19 shots in registering his 17th 30-plus-point game since December 1. Tomas Satoransky had 14 points and 11 assists for Washington, who ended a nine-game home losing streak to Dallas.
Luka Doncic had 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Mavericks, who have lost eight of their past nine games. Dwight Powell added 26 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored two points in what was likely his last game in Washington.
Ariza's three-pointer put Washington up 114-112 with 5:04 left and Jeff Green's consecutive threes gave the Wizards a 122-115 lead at the 2:35 mark. Parker's put-back off a Satoransky miss increased the margin to 10 with 1:12 remaining.
Kelly Olynyk scored 22 points and Hassan Whiteside came off the bench for 18 points and 15 rebounds as the visiting Miami Heat emerged from a playoff atmosphere with a 91-84 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
The Heat went on a 14-0 run early in the fourth quarter to lead by 16, and later pushed the lead up to 17 before the Hornets got as close as four in the final minute. Olynyk keyed the 14-0 run with a three-pointer and a steal and dunk, as the Heat pushed a 69-67 lead up to 83-67.
The teams entered the game with identical 29-34 records, so the win allowed the Heat to take sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Heat have now won three straight and four of their last five.
The Heat also got 13 points from Josh Richardson and 10 from Bam Adebayo. Dwyane Wade, in his final game at the Spectrum Center, scored eight on 4-of-15 shooting from the field. Six of Wade's points came at crucial times in the fourth quarter.
Kemba Walker and Frank Kaminsky led the Hornets with 20 points apiece, although Walker was just 5-of-17 from the field.
LaMarcus Aldridge racked up 32 points, including a pair of big baskets in the final two minutes, as the visiting San Antonio Spurs defeated the Atlanta Hawks 111-104 to capture their fourth straight win.
The Spurs led 98-96 before Aldridge canned a jumper and Davis Bertans hit a three-pointer from the corner to push the lead to seven points with 2:56 remaining.
Trae Young pulled Atlanta within 103-100 with two free throws and a lay-up before Aldridge converted a three-point play with 1:51 left. DeMar DeRozan then went to the hole for a driving lay-up to give the Spurs enough cushion to secure the victory.
Derrick White added 18 points and a career-high six blocked shots for San Antonio. DeRozan scored 14 points, and Patty Mills, Rudy Gay, and Bertans hit for 12 points each for the Spurs. Gay also grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory.
Young led the Hawks with 22 points, 20 of them in the second half. John Collins scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
Reserve Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 points as the host Brooklyn Nets overcame a lacklustre third quarter, gained control midway through the fourth and held on for a 113-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dinwiddie recorded his team-record 14th game with at least 20 points off the bench and shot 10-of-21 from the floor.
The Nets won their second straight game by overcoming an ugly third quarter in which they were outscored 35-25. They entered the fourth facing an 85-80 deficit but dominated most of the final quarter by outscoring Cleveland 33-23.
Dinwiddie scored 12 points in the fourth and played a significant role in Brooklyn's decisive 14-0 run by scoring nine points, including the last seven. During the run, Dinwiddie hit a pair of lay-ups, a corner three-pointer, and two free throws.
Dinwiddie's lay-up put Brooklyn up 110-94 with 3:26 remaining but the Nets were forced to sweat out the final minutes. The Nets finally iced the game on a free throw by rookie Rodions Kurucs with 3.8 seconds left.
D'Angelo Russell scored 25 points while Jarrett Allen collected 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Kevin Love scored 21 of his 24 points after half-time and pulled down 16 rebounds for Cleveland.
Devin Booker scored a season-high 41 points, including nine straight on three consecutive three-pointers spanning the second and third quarters that gave the Phoenix Suns the lead for good in a 107-96 win over the visiting New York Knicks in a battle of the two worst teams in the NBA.
The Suns (15-51) have won three straight, one shy of their season high, to drop one-and-a-half behind the Knicks (13-52) in the 'race' for the worst record in the NBA. The teams with the three worst records will all have a 14-per cent chance of landing the No 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery on May 14.
The 41 points exceeded Booker's previous season-high of 38 points, set three times, and marked his first 40-point effort since he collected 40 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on February 26, 2018.
Kelly Oubre Jr added 18 points for the Suns, who also received double-digit scoring performances from Tyler Johnson (14 points), Deandre Ayton (10 points) and Richaun Holmes (10 points).
DeAndre Jordan had a double-double (17 points, 14 rebounds) for the Knicks. Noah Vonleh, Damyean Dotson and Dennis Smith Jr had 15 points apiece.
