Serge Ibaka nails late three-pointer to earn Toronto Raptors 12th straight win
Jokic posts triple-double as Nuggets edge Jazz; balanced Clippers thrash Heat; Tatum's 33 leads Celtics past Magic
Thursday 6 February 2020 07:42, UK
Serge Ibaka made the winning three-pointer with 30.4 seconds remaining as the Toronto Raptors extended their winning streak to a franchise-best 12 games with a 119-118 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers.
Indiana Pacers 118-119 Toronto Raptors
Serge Ibaka made the winning three-pointer with 30.4 seconds remaining to finish with 30 points as the Toronto Raptors extended their winning streak to a franchise-best 12 games on Wednesday night with a 119-118 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers. The Raptors had won 11 in a row twice previously in franchise history.
Kyle Lowry had 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Raptors, who have won 12 straight regular-season home games against the Pacers. Pascal Siakam had 25 points and nine rebounds for Toronto, Terence Davis II had 11 points and Fred VanVleet chipped in 10.
Malcolm Brogdon had 24 points for the Pacers, who have lost three straight games. Doug McDermott added 19 points for the Pacers, Domantas Sabonis had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Victor Oladipo 13 points.
The Pacers led by as many as 19 points during the third quarter, but the Raptors cut the lead to one early in the fourth quarter. Indiana came back to lead by 10 but Toronto cut it to three on Siakam's dunk with 5:05 to play.
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Brogdon's three-pointer had Indiana up by 11 with 3:50 remaining. Lowry's three-pointer with 1:34 left cut the lead to five. The Raptors regained possession on a turnover with 1:23 remaining. Siakam made one of two free throws, then had a steal and made a lay-up with 1:07 left to cut the lead to two.
After a miss by Oladipo, the Raptors took over and Lowry set up Ibaka's three-pointer. The Pacers were stopped on one last chance.
Miami Heat 111-128 LA Clippers
Paul George and Landry Shamet scored 23 points apiece as the LA Clippers earned a 128-111 victory over the visiting Miami Heat, who lost Jimmy Butler to an injury.
Kawhi Leonard, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams each scored 14 points for the Clippers, who had eight players reach double figures.
Derrick Jones Jr had 25 points and nine rebounds while Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 11 boards for the Heat. Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic chipped in 13 points apiece.
Butler left the contest in the third quarter with a strained right shoulder and did not return. He had 11 points and seven assists in 26 minutes.
An 6-0 surge capped by a Jones dunk allowed the Heat to cut a double-digit deficit to 109-103 with about four minutes left. However, the Heat got no closer as the Clippers pulled away down the stretch.
The two clubs combined to attempt 96 three-pointers. The Clippers set franchise records for three-pointers made and attempted, converting 24-of-54 (44.4 per cent) to 16-of-42 (38.1 per cent) for the Heat.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, who finished with five points and five rebounds in 22 minutes, left the game in the third quarter due to a sore right groin and did not return. The Heat played without rookie guard Tyler Herro (sore right foot) and center Meyers Leonard (left ankle sprain).
Denver Nuggets 98-95 Utah Jazz
Nikola Jokic had 30 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists as the short-handed Denver Nuggets came from behind to beat the Utah Jazz 98-95 in Salt Lake City.
Jokic tied a career-high with his rebound total, and he notched his fourth triple-double in the past nine games. Jamal Murray added 31 points and Monte Morris scored 15 for the Nuggets, who improved to 9-0 against the Northwest Division and won for the sixth time in eight games.
Mike Conley had 21 points, Donovan Mitchell scored 18 and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who have dropped five straight. Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson added 16 each for Utah, which blew a nine-point lead in the last seven minutes.
Denver had just seven players available due to injury and a pending trade. Will Barton (right knee), Jerami Grant (back tightness), Michael Porter Jr (right ankle), Paul Millsap (left knee) and Mason Plumlee (right foot) were sidelined. Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez didn't play, and they were dealt to Minnesota in a four-team trade that was finalized late on Wednesday night. The four players Denver acquired in the deal were not with the team.
Clarkson sank a three-pointer and fed Mitchell for an alley-oop, Gobert had two dunks, and Bogdanovic hit a runner in an 11-1 run that gave Utah an 88-79 lead with 7:08 left.
The Nuggets chipped away to get within two. Torrey Craig, who finished with eight points and 12 rebounds, hit a three-pointer, Morris scored on a short jumper, and Jokic drained a 17-footer to make it 93-91 with 3:58 remaining. Jokic hit a fadeaway jumper with 59.9 seconds left to put the Nuggets ahead 96-95.
After Conley missed a 13-footer with 8.2 seconds left, Gary Harris got the rebound and hit two free throws. Bogdanovic missed a desperation three-point attempt at the horn.
Memphis Grizzlies 121-107 Dallas Mavericks
Ja Morant scored 21 points, while Jaren Jackson Jr and Tyus Jones added 19 each, as the Memphis Grizzlies capped a busy Wednesday with a 121-107 victory on the road against the Dallas Mavericks.
Brandon Clarke had 18 points as the Grizzlies won the game shortly after the team reportedly agreed to trade Andre Iguodala to the Miami Heat. Iguodala was acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the offseason but declined to report to Memphis.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 32 points for the Mavericks, who were playing without leading scorer, rebounder and assist man Luka Doncic for the fourth consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle.
Memphis won for the sixth time in their last seven games and now has 12 victories over their last 15 contests. The Mavericks' two-game winning streak without Doncic came to an end, Dallas have now lost three of their past five games.
The Mavericks led by as many as seven points early before the Grizzlies moved out in front by 11 points in the second quarter and led 59-56 at half-time. Memphis went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter to take an 81-71 lead with Porzingis leaving the game briefly with 4:06 remaining in the period after taking an inadvertent elbow to the nose from Josh Jackson.
The Mavericks missed nine consecutive shots from the field in the third quarter as Memphis extended their overall run to 24-3. The Grizzlies led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Orlando Magic 100-116 Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points as the host Boston Celtics shot a blistering 56.5 per cent from behind the three-point line to outlast the Orlando Magic, 116-100.
Ahead of his first-career All-Star Game appearance, Tatum carried the scoring with fellow All-Star selection Kemba Walker sidelined with a sore left knee. Boston were also without Marcus Smart due to a quadriceps contusion and Daniel Theis due to an ankle sprain.
Yet, despite playing short-handed, the Celtics charged ahead in the first quarter and led for the majority of the game.
Tatum shot 5-of-11 from three-point range and added eight rebounds and five assists. Gordon Hayward finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Grant Williams recorded 13 points for a second straight outing, providing energy off the bench for the depleted Celtics en route to their fifth straight win.
News was not all good for Boston in the win, however. Jaylen Brown, who scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds, appeared to turn his ankle in the closing minutes of Wednesday's win. He was taken to the locker room for further evaluation.
Evan Fournier led Orlando with 26 points. Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic both recorded double-doubles, with Gordon posting 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Vucevic finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland Cavaliers 103-109 Oklahoma City Thunder
Dennis Schroder scored 30 points off the bench to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-103 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Schroder played a big role at the end of a tight game. His corner three-pointer with 28.3 seconds remaining - immediately following the Cavaliers' 19th turnover of the game - put the Thunder up by six. Schroder scored six consecutive Oklahoma City points during the stretch in which the Thunder put the game away in the final 1:03.
With 3:42 left and the Thunder up 95-94, Schroder was called for an offensive foul as he started a drive toward the basket. Reacting to the foul, Schroder stood up off the floor and sprinted to the opposite basket. Schroder was called for a technical foul for his reaction, though replay showed Collin Sexton bumped him from behind to cause the contact.
The call was overturned on review but Schroder's technical stood, as the Cavaliers tied the game on Kevin Love's subsequent free throw. But the Thunder quickly regained the lead on Chris Paul's pull-up jumper seconds later.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. Cavaliers' second-year point guard Sexton was hot early, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, and finishing with a team-high 23 points. Love added 20 points as Cleveland's losing streak stretched to five games. The Cavaliers have dropped 12 of their last 13.
Phoenix Suns 108-116 Detroit Pistons
Andre Drummond powered his way to 31 points and 19 rebounds as the host Detroit Pistons pulled away from the Phoenix Suns for a 116-108 win.
Reggie Jackson had 25 points and nine assists for Detroit while Christian Wood contributed 21 points and eight rebounds. Langston Galloway added 15 points off the bench, and Bruce Brown chipped in nine points and seven assists.
The Pistons earned their second win in three games immediately after a five-game losing streak. Derrick Rose (adductor) and Svi Mykhailiuk (hip) were among the players out of action for Detroit. Aron Baynes (hip) missed the game for Phoenix.
Kelly Oubre Jr's 30 points led the Suns, who have lost four straight. Deandre Ayton contributed 26 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while Devin Booker tossed in 22 points with seven assists. Mikal Bridges added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Suns led later in the third quarter, but Detroit regained the advantage at 89-86 entering the fourth. A tip-in by Drummond and a three-pointer by Wood gave the Pistons a 101-94 lead with 7:11 remaining.
The Suns crept within one twice, including on an Ayton basket with 4:43 to go. Detroit responded with a 7-0 run sparked by Jackson, who made a three-pointer and had an assist. A Tony Snell steal and dunk put Detroit on top 112-104 with just over two minutes to go.
Atlanta Hawks 127-120 Minnesota Timberwolves
Trae Young and John Collins each produced a double-double to lead the Atlanta Hawks a 127-120 win over Minnesota on Wednesday in Minneapolis, handing the Timberwolves their 13th consecutive loss.
Young scored 38 points, hitting six three-pointers, and had 11 assists for his 19th double-double this season. It was the 26th time Young has scored 30-plus points. Colins had 27 points, making 11-of-19 shots from the floor, and grabbed 12 rebounds. It was his fifth straight double-double and 14th of the season.
Minnesota made a late run at the Hawks and cut their deficit to 122-117 when Josh Okogie drove for a dunk with 48.4 seconds remaining. However, Atlanta veteran Vince Carter hit a three-pointer out of the ensuing timeout with 34.5 seconds left to restore an eight-point lead.
Atlanta's Damian Jones added 14 points and eight rebounds, and De'Andre Hunter returned from missing two games due to an ankle sprain to score 12.
Minnesota had three players score 20-plus points, led by Andrew Wiggins with 25 points and seven rebounds. Okogie added 23 points, making 8-of-11 from the floor, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Atlanta led 64-56 at half-time, with Young scoring 20 first-half points. The Hawks led by as many as 21 in the third quarter and took a 96-77 lead into the final quarter.
Golden State Warriors 88-129 Brooklyn Nets
Caris LeVert scored 23 points as the Brooklyn Nets started quickly and cruised to a 129-88 rout of the Golden State Warriors in New York.
The Nets snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Warriors and also won for the fifth time in seven games overall. Brooklyn never trailed, led by as many as 44 and posted their most lopsided win in team history over Golden State, surpassing a 28-point win on December 18, 2005.
Joe Harris added 17 and tied a season-high with nine rebounds while reserve Garrett Temple contributed 16. Rodions Kurucs and Taurean Prince chipped in 12 apiece as Brooklyn shot 51 per cent. Jarrett Allen grabbed 13 rebounds as the Nets held a commanding 65-34 rebounding edge and outscored Golden State by a whopping 68-38 margin in the paint.
D'Angelo Russell received a tribute video after the first quarter and the former Brooklyn guard scored 17 on 7-of-20 shooting. Russell missed all eight of his three-point tries as the Warriors shot 36.5 per cent from the field and 12.8 per cent (5-of-39) on three-point tries.
The Nets raced out to a 20-4 lead less than six minutes into the game and held a 40-25 lead after hitting seven three-pointers in the first quarter and held a 68-47 lead at half-time.
Brooklyn scored the first 10 points of the third quarter, took a lead 78-47 on a hoop by LeVert with 9:17 remaining. The Nets took their first 40-point lead at 113-73 on a lay-up by Dzanan Musa with about seven minutes left in the final period.
