Doncic, Mavs end Rockets’ win streak
Luka Doncic matched his career high with nine 3-pointers and finished with 47 points as the visiting Dallas Mavericks extended their winning streak to seven games, beating the Houston Rockets 125-107 on Sunday.
Doncic added 12 rebounds and seven assists for Dallas (45-29), which led by as many as 29 and snapped the Rockets’ 11-game winning streak. Doncic was 18of-30 shooting from the field and 9-of-16 from 3-point range.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, Dante Exum added 13 and P.J. Washington had 12 for Dallas, which has won 11 of its last 12 games. The Mavericks shot 24-of-47 (51.1 percent) from 3-point range.
Jabari Smith Jr. matched his career high with five 3-pointers and led Houston with 28 points. Aaron Holiday scored 16 points, Cam Whitmore put up 13, Jalen Green added 12, Jock Landale had 11 and Fred VanVleet chipped in 10 with seven assists.
Kings 127, Jazz 106
Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray combined for 49 points, DeAaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis registered double-doubles and the Sacramento Kings broke a third-quarter tie with a 15-0 flurry that produced a run-away victory over the Utah Jazz.
Murray finished with a game-high 25 points and Barnes had 24 points for the Kings (43-31), who were playing for the first time since learning that supersub Malik Monk would be lost for the rest of the regular season with a sprained right MCL.
Brice Sensabaugh had a season-high 22 points and Collin Sexton also totaled 22 for Utah (29-46), which lost its ninth straight.
Warriors 117, Spurs 113
Stephen Curry tallied 33 points and eight assists and Draymond Green added 21 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and six steals as the visiting Golden State Warriors defeated the short-handed San Antonio Spurs in a late-season Western Conference clash.
Golden State shrugged off a ragged start to claw to within eight points at halftime and then took the lead for good by scoring the first 14 points of the third quarter. San Antonio pulled to 113-111 with 59.4 seconds to play thanks to six points from Victor Wembanyama in a 9-0 run.
Klay Thompson hit for 13 points while Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody had 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Warriors played without Jonathan Kuminga (knee tendinitis) for the third straight game.
Wembanyama racked up 32 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs. Cedi Osman hit for 18 points, Zach Collins had 13, Malaki Branham and Tre Jones scored 12 points apiece and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Nuggets 130, Cavaliers 101
Nikola Jokic had 26 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored a season-high 22 points, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Reggie Jackson and Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points each and Christian Braun had 10 for Denver (52-23), which snapped a two-game home losing streak.
Jokic has 23 triple-doubles this season and 128 in his career.
Evan Mobley led Cleveland with 23 points, Jarrett Allen had 19, Caris LeVert 15 points and Donovan Mitchell 13 in his second game back after missing six in a row with a broken nose.
76ers 135, Raptors 120
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 32 points as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers hit a team-record 24 3-pointers and defeated the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors (23-51) have lost 13 in a row and were swept in the four-game season series.
Former Raptors stalwart Kyle Lowry had 11 points and 10 assists for the 76ers (40-35), who had lost their three previous games and five of six.
Cameron Payne added 24 points, Tobias Harris had 21, Nicolas Batum scored 19 and Buddy Hield chipped in 13.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 23 points for the Raptors. Jordan Nwora added 19 points, Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk each scored 18, Gradey Dick added 12 and Javon Freeman-Liberty had 11.
Heat 119, Wizards 107
Terry Rozier scored 20 of his gamehigh 27 points in the first half, Bam Adebayo added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and the visiting Miami
Heat sent the Washington Wizards another loss closer to their worst final record in franchise history.
Rozier shot 11-of-19 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from 3-point distance, en route to matching his highest-scoring output since his Miami debut on Jan. 24.
Jimmy Butler added 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Miami (4133), which moved a half-game within Indiana for sixth place and the last guaranteed playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Nikola Jovic added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, and Haywood Highsmith scored 10 points off the bench.
Washington (14-61) needs five wins to avoid besting the 1961-62 Chicago Packers for the organization’s worst-ever win percentage.
Jordan Poole led six Washington scorers in double figures with 22 points. Anthony Gill scored 18 points off the bench, and Deni Avdija went for 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Lakers 116, Nets 104
LeBron James tied a season high with 40 points and matched a career high by hitting nine 3-pointers as the Los Angeles Lakers raced out to a big lead and never trailed in a victory over the Brooklyn Nets in New York.
James notched his third 40-point game of the season by shooting 13-for-17 from the floor. He went 9-for-10 from 3point range.
Anthony Davis added 24 points and 14 rebounds as the ninth-place Lakers moved two games in front of the Warriors in the Western Conference. Golden State was playing the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Rui Hachimura supplied 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who shot 54.5 percent from the floor. D’Angelo Russell contributed 18 points and Austin Reaves chipped in 12 as the Lakers got 114 points from their starters.
Cam Thomas tried to keep pace with James by scoring 30 points, but the Nets (29-46) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
Clippers 130, Hornets 118
Paul George heated up from the perimeter for eight 3-point baskets on his way to a season-high 41 points and the Los Angeles Clippers won another road game, beating the Charlotte Hornets.
Ivica Zubac racked up 24 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 23 points to boost Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles, which shot 57.3 percent from the field. Norman Powell’s 16 points and Russell Westbrook’s 11 points led the Clippers’ production off the bench.
Miles Bridges poured in 33 points and Brandon Miller tallied 22 points for the Hornets (18-56), who lost for the seventh time in eight games. Grant Williams added 18 points and Davis Bertans posted 15 points off the bench.
Bulls 109, Timberwolves 101
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and dished out eight assists and the Chicago Bulls held on for a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Alex Caruso added 21 points on 7for-8 shooting from 3-point range for Chicago (36-39). Nikola Vucevic finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Anthony Edwards scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota (51-23). Rudy Gobert also registered a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards.
Thunder 113, Knicks 112
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drained the go-ahead fallaway jumper with 2.6 seconds left and then helped produce a defensive stop just before the buzzer for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who outlasted the host New York Knicks.
Jalen Brunson hit a contested layup with 4.1 seconds left to give the Knicks the lead. After a Thunder timeout, Josh Giddey sent an in-bounds pass to Gilgeous-Alexander, who dribbled once to shake Miles McBride before he turned and sank a shot from deep in the left corner.
Following a Knicks timeout, Donte DiVincenzo got the ball to Brunson, who was covered by Gilgeous-Alexander. Brunson’s turnaround jumper bounced off the top of the rim as time expired.
Giddey (16 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) had a triple-double while Jalen Williams scored a game-high 33 points for the Thunder (52-22), who won for the sixth time in eight games and moved into first place in the Western Conference by virtue of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 109-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Brunson scored 30 points but missed a potential game-winner in the waning seconds for the second straight game.