Porzingis’ 38 helps Knicks kick Nuggets
Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 38 points and Kyle O’Quinn added 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets, 116-110, last night in New York.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter after the Knicks had blown all of their 23-point third-quarter lead.
Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 28 points and Jamal Murray scored 20.
The Knicks had taken their biggest lead of the game, 69-46, on Courtney Lee’s layup with 10:38 left in the third quarter. However, the Nuggets responded by scoring the next 13 points to ignite a 27-2 run and they took their first lead, 73-71, on Wilson Chandler’s free throws with 4:42 left in the third quarter.
The Knicks committed 10 turnovers during that sixminute stretch.
The game was tied 77-77 when Doug McDermott’s 3-pointer put the Knicks back in front for good with 1:09 left in the third.
Timberwolves 125, Heat 122 — Jeff Teague scored 23 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 22 and visiting Minnesota scored the first six points of overtime before holding on to beat Miami.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who got 16 from Jimmy Butler and 13 from Jamal Crawford.
Dion Waiters tied a career-high by scoring 33 for Miami, 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter including a layup that sent the game to overtime. His 30-footer that would have tied the game as time expired bounced off the rim.
Kelly Olynyk scored 23 points and Goran Dragic added 18 for Miami — which was again without center Hassan Whiteside, out for a fifth consecutive game with a bruised left knee. Bam Adebayo started again in his place and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Sixers 115, Rockets 107 — Ben Simmons had 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and Joel Embiid added 22 points to lead visiting Philadelphia past Houston.
After losing 105-104 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Eric Gordon in Philadelphia on Oct. 18, the 76ers snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Rockets, winning in Houston for the first time since Feb. 16, 2011.
The Rockets missed nine of their last 10 shots, scoring just four points in the final 3:28 and dropped consecutive games for the first time this season.
Magic 115, Pelicans 99 — Marreese Speights highlighted an 18-point performance by hitting five of his career- high six 3-pointers during a decisive 22-6 run, and visiting Orlando soundly defeated New Orleans.
Anthony Davis had 39 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, but the Pelicans made only seven of their 28 3-point attempts, hitting only 3-of-18 from deep in the second half.
Hornets 104, Grizzlies 99 — Kemba Walker scored 27 points and keyed a fourthquarter rally to erase a double-digit deficit as Charlotte handed Memphis its first home loss of the season.
Jeremy Lamb added 17 points and rookie Malik Monk finished with 13.
Jazz 104, Mavericks 89 — In Salt Lake City, Rodney Hood scored 15 of his season-high 25 points in the third quarter to help Utah rally to beat Dallas.
The Mavs hit nine of 14 3-pointers in the first half and the Jazz struggled to defend their drive-and-kick action. But Utah came alive in the second half thanks to Hood and a 25-4 run to start the third quarter.
Raptors 99, Trail Blazers 85 — DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and shorthanded Toronto beat host Portland.
The Blazers were foiled at home by a cold second quarter with just six total points and Toronto _ playing without Serge Ibaka (knee) and Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) — went on to lead by as many as 26. The win extended the Raptors’ winning streak over Portland to five straight.
Warriors 141, Clippers 113 — Stephen Curry scored 31 points and Kevin Durant added 19 to help visiting Golden State rout Los Angeles for its 11th consecutive win in the series.
The Warriors (5-3) have not lost to the Clippers since Christmas Day in 2014.
The Clippers (4-2) were the last team in the NBA to lose a game, but have now dropped two consecutive. Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points and Lou Williams added 17.