Hornets emerge from break reenergized, rout Raptors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre Jr. each scored 23 points and the Charlotte Hornets emerged from the All-star break looking reenergized with a 125-93 rout of the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
Montrezl Harrell added 20 points for the Hornets. They never trailed and led by 41 points near the end of the third quarter.
Scottie Barnes had a career-high 28 points for the Raptors.
Charlotte limped into the All-star break having lost nine of 10 games and looking like a tired team. But the Hornets raced to a 14-2 lead after holding the Raptors to 1-of-10 shooting. They extended the lead to 70-47 at halftime as P.J. Washington hit back-to-back 3-pointers and had a fast-break dunk off a steal.
Charlotte used a 19-0 run in the third quarter to push its lead to 41, which included 7-foot center Mason Plumlee bringing the crowd to its feet when used a behind-the-back dribble to shake his man, and drive down the lane for a rimrocking two-handed dunk.
Magic 119, Rockets 111
ORLANDO, Fla. — Chuma Okeke scored a careerhigh 26 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a win over the Houston Rockets in a game between the bottom teams in the NBA’S Eastern and Western Conferences.
Wendell Carter Jr. added 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who broke a four-game losing streak.
Jalen Green led Houston with 23 points and Christian Wood added 21 points and 11 rebounds in Houston’s eighth straight loss.
Okeke, who also had nine rebounds and four assists, scored seven straight points for Orlando after a shot by Eric Gordon had reduced the Magic’s lead to 104-102 with 4:18 remaining.
Thunder 129, Pacers 125, OT
INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-alexander scored 36 points and made the decisive 3-point play with 20.4 seconds left in overtime to lift Oklahoma City past Indiana.
Tre Mann finished added 22 points to help Oklahoma City snap a two-game losing streak and a five-game skid in the series. The Thunder lost at home to Nba-leading Phoenix the night before.
Buddy Hield led Indiana with 29 points. The Pacers lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Heat 115, Knicks 100
NEW YORK — Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Jimmy Butler had 23 and the Miami Heat overcame RJ Barrett’s career-high 46 points to beat the New York Knicks.
Kyle Lowry added 19 points in the Heat’s first game after the All-star break after they were tied with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference going into it. Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Miami started a little slowly in the resumption of its schedule, then shut down most of the Knicks beyond Barrett to run its road winning streak to a season-high six games.
Barrett made six 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds in his return from a four-game absence with a sprained left ankle, and his best game as a pro would have been even better if not for 14-for-22 shooting from the free throw line. Julius Randle had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, but shot just 2 for 15.
The Knicks dropped their fourth straight and fell to 2535.
Spurs 157, Wizards 153, 2OT
WASHINGTON — Dejounte Murray had 31 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Washington Wizards in the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season, in double overtime.
Keldon Johnson scored a career-high 32 points, and Jakob Poeltl added a careerhigh 28 points for the Spurs. They have won five of seven to get coach Gregg Popovich within one victory of Lenny Wilkens’ NBA record of 1,335.
Kyle Kuzma matched his season high with 36 points for the Wizards, who finally ran out of gas in the second extra period of this entertaining matchup between teams on the fringes of playoff contention.
Kentavious Caldwell-pope scored 24 points, and Raul Neto had season highs of 22 points and nine assists for Washington. The Wizards fell to 3-3 since losing star Bradley Beal to season-ending left wrist surgery.
76ers 133, Timberwolves 102
MINNEAPOLIS — James Harden had 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in his 76ers debut, Joel Embiid added 34 points and 10 rebounds and Philadelphia routed the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Philadelphia finally got to see how its star twosome worked together after Harden missed his first two games following the trade from Brooklyn with a hamstring injury. The results were promising, particularly where Embiid and Harden thrive – at the free-throw line.
Embiid, who had 21 free throws in a double-overtime loss to Minnesota in November, was 11 of 13 from the line. Harden was 8 of 9 as the 76ers went 30 of 36 overall.
Karl-anthony Towns led Minnesota with 25 points, and D’angelo Russell had 21. But the Timberwolves couldn’t replicate the dramatic win in Philadelphia earlier this season.