Paul George converted a four-point play with 5.1 seconds left on Saturday, sending Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-115 victory over Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
George capped a wild finish that included another memorable exchange between Westbrook and Embiid. Westbrook hit the floor out of bounds under the basket after a foul by Embiid late in the game, and Westbrook fouled out with 14.9 seconds on Embiid’s three-point try.
Embiid made all three foul shots, tying it at 113, and Jimmy Butler’s layup put Philadelphia in front with 6.9 seconds to go, but George hit a three-pointer while being fouled by Butler and made the foul shot.
The 76ers had one last chance, but Butler missed a three-point attempt in the final seconds.
George finished with 31 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Westbrook had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Embiid had 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
RAPTORS 119, GRIZZLIES 90
Danny Green had a season-high 24 points and set a Toronto Raptors record for three-pointers in a quarter with seven in the third to help Toronto beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies.
Green had 21 points in the third quarter, one shy of Kyle Lowry’s franchise record for a quarter. He matched a career high with eight three-pointers for the game.
The Raptors extended their home winning streak to nine. Toronto are 20-4 at home.
Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard missed his second straight game for rest.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 16 points for Memphis. The Grizzlies lost for the 11th time in 12 games.
BUCKS 118, MAGIC 108
Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat hosts the Orlando Magic for their fourth straight victory.
Malcolm Brogdon added 18 points and Khris Middleton had 15. The Bucks are 11-2 in their past 13 games. Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 27 points.
CELTICS 113, HAWKS 105
Kyrie Irving scored 32 points and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat hosts the Atlanta Hawks for their third straight victory.
Boston took the lead with a 9-0 fourth-quarter run, including a go-ahead three-pointer by Jaylen Brown, who had 14 points. A drive by Irving gave Boston the lead for good at 101-100. Al Horford made four free throws and a layup to help the Celtics increase their advantage to 109-100 with 1 minute, 11 seconds left.
Kevin Huerter led Atlanta with 18 points and fellow rookie Trae Young had 16.
KINGS 103, PISTONS 101
Buddy Hield made an off-balance, fadeaway three-pointer just before time expired and scored 35 points in the Sacramento Kings’ victory over hosts the Detroit Kings.
Hield fumbled an inbounds pass with 3.4 seconds left, scrambled to regain possession and put up the winning shot from the left wing. Blake Griffin scored 38 points for Detroit.
In Saturday’s other games, it was:
‧ Kings 103, Pistons 101
‧ Heat 117, Bulls 103
‧ Pacers 111, Mavericks 99
‧ Hornets 135, Suns 115
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Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier