Nets roll past Pistons
James Harden scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and had his ninth triple-double with the Nets to help Brooklyn beat the Detroit Pistons 100-95 on Saturday night.
Harden also added 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his 55th triple-double as Brooklyn improved to 26-13 with its 12th win in its last 16 games.
Kyrie Irving added 18 points and Landry Shamet had 15 off the bench. DeAndre Jordan chipped in with 14 and Joe Harris contributed 10 points.
Whereas the Nets rolling, the Pistons are stuck in neutral. “We want to win these types of games,” said Delon Wright, who finished with 13. Jerami Grant scored 22 points as Detroit fell to 10-28. Saddiq Bey chipped in with 13. Mason Plumlee added 11 and Rodney McGruder had 10.
The Nets only had 61-60 lead after Grant’s layup with 4:31 left in the third, but then ended the quarter on a 17-6 run.
But the Pistons would not go away. Detroit outscored Brooklyn 25-12 over the first 9:01 of the fourth quarter to take a 91-90 lead on Plumlee’s putback dunk.
Harden made two free throws which allowed Brooklyn to regain the lead and after Plumlee tied the game with a made free throw of his own, Harden connected on a layup and a floater on consecutive possessions.
Bucks 125, Wizards 119 — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for his sixth triple-double of the season in Milwaukee’s victory over short-handed Washington.
Jrue Holiday added 10 of his 18 points during the fourth quarter for the third-place Bucks. They have won eight of nine.
Russell Westbrook scored 42 points — including 15 of Washington’s last 18 — and added 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his NBA-leading 11th triple-double.
Knicks 119, Thunder 97 — RJ Barrett scored a career-high 32 points, and Julius Randle had a triple-double to lead New York past the Oklahoma City.
Randle had 26 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to became the first Knicks player with two triple-doubles in a same season since Mark Jackson in 1988-89.
Al Horford had 16 points for Oklahoma City.
Hornets 114, Raptors 104 — LaMelo Ball had 23 points and nine rebounds and Charlotte beat short-handed Toronto in the Hornets’ first game of the seasons with the general public allowed to attend.
Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier each added 17 points for the Hornets, who seemed to feed off having fans — about 3,000 of them — in attendance for the first time in more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kyle Lowry finished with 19 points and eight assists for Toronto.
Hawks 121, Kings 106 — Trae Young scored 17 of 28 points in the third quarter, Clint Capela had 18 of his 24 in the first half and Atlanta beat Sacramento for its fourth straight victory.
Capela also had 14 rebounds to help the Hawks improve to 4-0 under interim coach Nate McMillan. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 32 points.
Trail Blazers 125, Timberwolves 121 — Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points and Damian Lillard added 25 points and 10 assists as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Enes Kanter had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Portland. Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 34 points and 10 rebounds, while rookie Anthony Edwards had 21 points and eight boards. The Timberwolves have lost 14 of 16 and are 1-6 under new coach Chris Finch.