Dame drops 51 on Sixers, Embiid hurt
Everything is back to normal for Damian Lillard. The All-Star point guard scored 51 points after a frustrating finish against the Clippers on Saturday night, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 124-121 on Sunday.
After a rough fourth quarter against L.A., Lillard bounced back and scored 18 in the fourth in Sunday’s win.
Portland bounced back and pulled within a half-game of Memphis for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers increased their chances of qualifying for the play-in series, which will start Saturday.
The 76ers lost much more than the game. All-Star center Joel Embiid left in the first quarter with what the team called a left ankle injury, and he did not return. He contested a shot, then backed up and stepped awkwardly into the stanchion. He had been averaging 30 points per game since the restart.
76ers coach Brett Brown wouldn’t say whether Embiid would miss time.
“I’m going to learn more physically,” Brown said. “I don’t know enough to comment on it.”
Spurs 122, Pelicans 113 — Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs helped their playoff chances. Zion Williamson will have to wait another year for his postseason debut.
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points, Rudy Gay added 19 off the bench and the Spurs wasted much of a 20-point, second-half lead before hanging on to beat New Orleans.
JJ Redick scored 31 points with a season-high eight 3-pointers for New Orleans, which got 25 from Williamson and 17 from Brandon Ingram. But with the loss and Portland’s win, the Pelicans are eliminated from playoff contention.
The Spurs — bidding to become the first team in NBA history to make 23 consecutive playoff appearances — moved past idle Phoenix into 10th place in the West.
Raptors 108, Grizzlies 99 — Pascal Siakam scored 26 points to help the Toronto Raptors beat Memphis, preventing the Grizzlies from clinching a spot in the Western Conference play-in series.
Norman Powell scored 16 points and Kyle Lowry added 15 for the Raptors, who clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and their fifth consecutive season with at least 50 wins.
The Grizzlies dropped to 1-5 in the restart.
Rockets 129, Kings 112 — Austin Rivers scored a careerhigh 41 points off the bench and Houston used a big third quarter to pull away and cruise to a victory over Sacramento.
Rivers made six 3-pointers as Houston improved to 4-1 at Disney on a night the Rockets played a second straight game without Russell Westbrook, who has a bruised right quadriceps.
James Harden added 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Houston.
Thunder 121, Wizards 103 — Rookie Darius Bazley scored a career-high 23 points off the bench, and Oklahoma City kept Washington the only winless team inside the NBA bubble.
Bazley was 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 18 as Oklahoma City led from the opening bucket and improved to 3-2 in the seeding games.