Ja Morant scored 28 of his 39 points in the third quarter, had 10 assists and 10 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles 121-109 on Tuesday night in the Lakers’ first game since LeBron James injured his right foot.
Xavier Tillman finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis, while Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane scored 16 points apiece, AP reported.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 28 points and 19 rebounds. Lonnie Walker IV scored 21 points. Austin Reaves had 17, while matching his season high with four 3-pointers.
Morant took over in the third quarter, connecting on 10 of 12 shots. That broke open a close game and gave the Grizzlies a 93-84 advantage entering the fourth.
BUCKS 118, NETS 104
New York: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and 15 rebounds and Milwaukee beat Brooklyn for its 15th straight victory.
Jrue Holiday had 14 points and eight assists for the Bucks, who went 10-0 in February and have passed Boston for the best record in the NBA. They got Antetokounmpo back after he missed their home victory over Phoenix on Sunday with some bruised right quadriceps.
Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 31 points. Spencer Dinwiddie had 26 points and eight assists.
NUGGETS 133, ROCKETS 112
Houston: Nikola Jokic had his 100th career triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 32 points in Denver’s victory over Houston.
Jokic had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his NBA-leading 24th triple-double this season and 15th in the last 20 games.
Michael Porter Jr. added 17 points and Bruce Brown had 15 off the bench to help the Nuggets to their second consecutive victory and sixth in the last seven games.
Jalen Green and Tari Eason each scored 17 points for Houston. The Rockets dropped their 10th in a row.
SPURS 102, JAZZ 94
Salt Lake City: Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and San Antonio beat Utah to snap a 16-game losing streak.
Doug McDermott added 19 points for the Spurs, Jeremy Sochan had 13 and Devonte Graham 12. San Antonio improved to 15-47, winning for the first time this season after trailing to start the fourth quarter.
Lauri Markkanen had 28 points and nine rebounds for Utah.
PACERS 124, MAVERICKS 122
Dallas: Tyrese Haliburton scored 32 points and won a duel of birthday boys with Luka Doncic, leading Indiana past Dallas.
Doncic had 39 points and nine rebounds on his 24th birthday but fell to 1-4 in games with Kyrie Irving since the superstars were paired in a deal with Brooklyn before the trade deadline.
Irving scored 16 points, but his 3-pointer just before the buzzer was the last of five misses from deep in the final two minutes with Dallas trailing by two.
The 23-year-old Haliburton, born on Feb. 29, 2000, was 9 of 18 from the field and 12 of 15 on free throws while adding seven rebounds and six assists.
WARRIORS 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 105
San Francisco: Jordan Poole had 29 points, six assists and five rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Golden State rallied past Damian Lillard and Portland.
Lillard had 25 points and seven assists to follow up his franchise-record and career-best 71-point game against Houston on Sunday night, when his 13 3-pointers were one shy of Thompson’s NBA record.
The Warriors capitalized on every chance during their decisive 39-point third quarter, taking the lead for good on Thompson’s 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the period on the way to win a fourth straight at home and eighth in nine.
WIZARDS 119, HAWKS 116
Atlanta: Washington spoiled Quin Snyder’s Atlanta coaching debut, getting 37 points from Bradley Beal and 28 from Kyle Kuzma in a victory over the Hawks.
Trae Young led Atlanta with 31 points.
Snyder spent eight seasons as Utah’s coach before resigning last June after the Jazz were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs. The 56-year-old Snyder says he left coaching to spend more time with his family, but the chance to lead the talented but enigmatic Hawks lured him back to the sideline sooner than expected.
TIMBERWOLVES 108, CLIPPERS 101
Los Angeles: Jaden McDaniels scored 20 points, Anthony Edwards added 18 and Minnesota beat Los Angeles to snap a three-game losing streak.
McDaniels scored at least 20 points for the fourth time this season.
Paul George had 25 points and Kawhi Leonard 23 for the Clippers, who have dropped three straight. Los Angeles’ last two losses before Tuesday came in overtime, including a 176-175 double-overtime loss Friday night to Sacramento in the second highest-scoring game in NBA history.
KINGS 123, THUNDER 117
Oklahoma City: Harrison Barnes scored 29 points and Sacramento beat Oklahoma City for its fourth consecutive victory.
Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists and Kevin Huerter added 20 points for the Kings. They also beat the Thunder on Sunday night.
Thunder rookie Jalen Williams matched a season high with 27 points. Dario Saric, a reserve forward/center the Thunder acquired in a trade with Phoenix before the All-Star break, had a season-high 21 points. But Oklahoma City shot just 43.9% in its fourth straight loss.
RAPTORS 104, BULLS 98
Toronto: Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, Gary Trent Jr. had 19 and Toronto beat Chicago for its eighth victory in 10 games.
O.G. Anunoby added 17 points and Jakob Poeltl had 14 to help the Raptors win their fourth straight at home.
Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 23 points and Zach LaVine had 17. DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points against his former team.
Source: Bahrain News Agency