Paul George scored 45 points on Friday, including a floater with less than a second left in the second overtime, to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 148-147 win over the visiting Utah Jazz.
The Jazz led by one when George grabbed a rebound off a missed shot by Utah’s Joe Ingles with 10 seconds left. George kept the ball until he drove into the lane and released a high floater that went cleanly through the net.
Russell Westbrook’s NBA-record streak of 11 consecutive triple-doubles came to an end when he was called for his sixth foul on a charge with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining in the first extra session. Westbrook finished with 43 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. He hit a season-high six three-pointers.
Photo: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY
Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 38 points, going 14 of 35 from the field.
Raptors 120, Spurs 117
Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and scored the go-ahead dunk after a steal with 15.1 seconds remaining as hosts the Toronto Raptors defeated his former team, the San Antonio Spurs.
Former Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan had 23 points and eight assists in his first game in Toronto since his off-season trade to the Spurs. Marco Belinelli added 21 points on five three-pointers for San Antonio.
Pascal Siakam added 22 points and six assists for the Raptors, while Serge Ibaka contributed 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Timberwolves 115, Knicks 104
Reserve Derrick Rose scored 20 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame the absence of All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns to earn a victory over the New York Knicks, who had their team-record home losing streak reach 18 games.
Towns was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol before the game and missed the first game of his four-year career. He was involved in a traffic accident in the Minneapolis area on Thursday while headed to the airport.
Taj Gibson started for Towns and added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota.
New York, who got 20 points apiece from Allonzo Trier and Damyean Dotson, lost for the 19th time in their past 20 games.
Nuggets 114, Mavericks 104
The visiting Denver Nuggets shook off some rust before drilling the Dallas Mavericks with a third-quarter barrage en route to a victory.
The Nuggets trailed for much of the first half against the Mavericks, who played without Luka Doncic. The rookie sensation is day-to-day due to a sore right knee.
Nikola Jokic posted a team-high 19 points along with 13 rebounds and eight assists for Denver, while Paul Millsap had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Dallas rookie Jalen Brunson finished with a game-high and career-best 22 points.
Bulls 110, Magic 109
Lauri Markkanen hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining to give the Chicago Bulls a road victory that snapped the Orlando Magic’s five-game winning streak.
The Bulls were down by one when Markkanen was fouled on a three-point attempt. After missing the first attempt, Markkanen sank the next two free throws to put the Bulls ahead. The Magic could not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded at the other end.
Markkanen led Chicago with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Zach LaVine had 22 points and six assists.
Evan Fournier had 22 points for Orlando, while Nikola Vucevic added 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Pistons 125, Hawks 122
Thon Maker drilled a tiebreaking three-pointer with 17.1 seconds remaining, and the visiting Detroit Pistons held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
Maker took a pass from Reggie Jackson and calmly made the three-pointer, his third of the night, giving him nine points for the game. Jackson had 32 points, five rebounds and eight assists as the Pistons won for the fifth time in six games.
Atlanta, who have lost five of their past six games, got 30 points and 10 assists from Trae Young.
Pacers 126, Pelicans 111
Tyreke Evans gave hosts the Indiana Pacers the lead with a three-pointer late in the third quarter, while scoring the first eight points of the final quarter, allowed the Pacers to pull out the win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Evans hit his tiebreaking three-pointer with three seconds remaining in the third period for a 97-94 lead, which led to the Pacers’ seventh win in eight games. Wesley Matthews hit six three-pointers to account for a majority of his team-high 24 points for Indiana.
Pelicans big man Anthony Davis had 15 points and eight rebounds, but only 20 minutes of play.
In Friday’s other games, it was:
‧ Hornets 123, Wizards 110
‧ Clippers 112, Grizzlies 106
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and the Charlotte Hornets built a 47-point lead in the first half of a 150-95 rout against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. It was the second-biggest win in franchise history for the Hornets and their largest on the road. The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ most lopsided victory of the season. Tre
RSS