basketball
Heat ease past Knicks, lead wire-to-wire in 129-114 win
PHILADELPHIA, Dec 21, (AP): Kristaps Porzingis had 22 points and a careerhigh 18 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr added 27 points and the Dallas Mavericks handed the Philadelphia 76ers their second straight home loss, 117-98.
The Mavericks improved to 11-2 on the road despite playing without second-year star guard Luka Doncic. The 20-year-old missed his third straight game with a right ankle sprain. Doncic, one of the league leaders in minutes, points, rebounds and assists, is averaging 29.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
Joel Embiid had 33 points and 17 rebounds for Philadelphia, which lost its third in a row overall. The 76ers were booed for much of the night while falling to 14-2 at home. The 76ers suffered their first home loss on Wednesday, 108-104 to Miami in a contest in which the Heat stifled Philadelphia with a 2-3 zone.
Philadelphia couldn’t solve Dallas’ matchup 2-3 zone, either. Dallas held the 76ers to 29.4% shooting from long range; Philadelphia missed 24 of 34 3-pointers.
Dallas took control in the second quarter, going up by as many as 17. The Mavericks held an 88-77 lead entering the fourth.
Heat 129, Knicks 114 In Miami, Bam Adebayo scored 20 points, Miami’s starters got the fourth quarter off and the Heat easily beat New York.
Duncan Robinson scored 18 for Miami on 6-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. Goran Dragic scored 18 in his return after missing nine games with a groin strain - also had 18.
Kendrick Nunn scored 15, Derrick Jones Jr. had 14, Tyler Herro finished with 12 and Kelly Olynyk added 10 for the Heat. Miami led by as many by 34 and posted its sixth wire-to-wire win of the season.
The Heat won easily and Jimmy Butler was called upon to take only three shots. Butler finished with nine points and eight assists in 28 minutes - his third-lightest night of the season.
Bobby Portis led the Knicks with 30 points on 12-for-17 shooting. Mitchell Robinson scored 18 points, Marcus Morris had 15, Julius Randle added 13 and Kevin Knox finished with 11.
Nuggets 109, Timberwolves 100
In Denver, Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season, and Denver completed a sweep of a five-game homestand with a win over Minnesota.
It was Jokic’s eighth straight
double-double and his second tripledouble in that span. He has 33 career triple-doubles.
Jamal Murray scored 28 points, including nine in the final minutes of the third quarter to stem a rally by the Timberwolves.
Warriors 106, Pelicans 102 In San Francisco, D’Angelo Russell made a tiebreaking 22-foot jumper with 32.9 seconds remaining, and the struggling Warriors won after blowing a 20-point lead.
Russell finished with 25 points and seven assists as the Warriors (6-24) snapped a five-game losing streak with their second win over the Pelicans (723) this season.
Damion Lee had 20 points and six rebounds for Golden State. Draymond Green added 10 points and eight assists.
Thunder 126, Suns 108 In Oklahoma City, Shai GilgeousAlexander scored a career-high 32 points and Oklahoma City rolled past Phoenix.
Dennis Schroder scored 24 points and Danilo Gallinari scored 22 for the Thunder, who shot 56.3% from the field. Oklahoma City has won three straight and eight of 11 to even its record at 14-14.
Ricky Rubio scored 24 points for the Suns. Devin Booker returned to Phoenix’s starting lineup after missing three games with a right forearm contusion. He finished with 18 points,
seven below his average.
Raptors 122, Wiazards 118 In Toronto, Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, Serge Ibaka had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and short-handed Toronto overcame the absence of three injured starters to beat struggling Washington.
Fred VanVleet returned from a fivegame absence with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and OG Anunoby scored 18 as Toronto won its sixth straight over the Wizards.
Celtics 114, Pistons 93 In Boston, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 26 points in three quarters as Boston routed Detroit.
Rookie Grant Williams added a career-high 18 points and Enes Kanter pulled down 18 rebounds for the Celtics, who finished with a 51-36 advantage on the boards.
Kemba Walker had a rough shooting night, going 0 for 6, but he finished with 11 assists and a pair of free throws. The Celtics made plenty of shots without the star point guard, finishing 45 for 86 from the floor while playing without Gordon Hayward (sore left foot) and Marcus Smart (left eye infection).
Cavaliers 114, Grizzlies 107 In Cleveland, Jordan Clarkson scored a season-high 33 points, Kevin Love hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with just over a minute to play and Cleveland beat Memphis.
Cleveland rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, and Love’s clutch shot gave the Cavaliers a 109-107 lead with 1:03 left. Collin Sexton made three free throws and rookie Darius Garland added two to put the game away.
Clarkson hit 12 of 17 shots, including 6 of 8 3-pointers. Love had 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and 13 rebounds.
Pacers 119, Kings 105 In Indianapolis, T.J. Warren scored 23 points and Indiana beat Sacramento for its fifth straight victory.
Myles Turner added 17 points, and Domantas Sabonis and T.J. McConnell each had 15, with Sabonis also grabbing nine rebounds to help the Pacers improve to 20-9.
Malcolm Brogdon and Doug McDermott had 13 points each, and Aaron Holiday had 11 in Indiana’s balanced attack.
Trail Blazers 118, Magic 103 In Portland, Oregon, Damian Lillard scored 36 points, CJ McCollum had 31 and Portland beat Orlando.
Portland earned its season-high third straight win despite losing Carmelo Anthony to a bruised left knee in the second quarter.
The Trail Blazers improved to 8-7 since Anthony joined the team a month ago.