Walker remains hot, scores 43 as Hornets upend Celtics
CHARLOTTE, N.C. >> Kemba Walker scored 43 points, giving him 103 in his last two games, and the Charlotte Hornets battled back to beat the Boston Celtics
117-112 Monday night. Walker followed up his NBA season-best 60-point effort in an overtime loss to the 76ers on Saturday night with another spectacular performance, scoring 21 in the fourth quarter and making 14 of 25 shots, including seven more
3-pointers.
Walker outdueled Boston’s Kyrie Irving, who finished with 27 points and 11 assists.
Jeremy Lamb had 18 points and Willy Hernangomez added 14 as the Hornets beat the Celtics for the first time in eight tries.
The Celtics entered the fourth quarter leading 8784 and quickly stretched the lead to double digits behind Irving, who scored and was fouled on a drive. PELICANS 140, SPURS 126 >> Anthony Davis had 29 points and nine rebounds, Julius Randle added 21 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 25 minutes, and New Orleans won its third straight.
Randle injected the Pelicans with the hustle and play-making they needed from their top reserve. He had six of New Orleans’ 14 offensive rebounds as New Orleans totaled 21 secondchance points. He also made nine of his 13 shots.
E’Twaun Moore scored
24 points and Jrue Holiday
21 for New Orleans, which shot nearly 58 percent (59 of 102). Nikola Mirotic hit three of four 3-point attempts and finished with
13 points, while second-year pro Frank Jackson, who because of injury did not make his debut until this season, scored 12 points. BUCKS 104, NUGGETS 98 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and Eric Bledsoe added 22, including two late 3-pointers, as Milwaukee overcame a
17-point first-half deficit to down Denver.
Antetokounmpo added
12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which came from 22 down in the first half to beat the Chicago Bulls Friday night.
The Bucks swept the twogame season series against the Nuggets for the first time since 2009-10. PISTONS 113, CAVALIERS 102 >> Andre Drummond had
23 points and 16 rebounds as Detroit cruised over Cleveland.
Blake Griffin added 21 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit, and Reggie Bullock scored 21 points. The Pistons led 66-46 at halftime, and the game was never close after that. The Cavaliers are now an NBA-worst
2-13 heading into their reunion with LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers play at Cleveland Wednesday night.
Drummond scored 13 points in the first quarter. The Pistons shot 74 percent from the field in that period and led 38-27. Detroit scored the first 11 points of the second, and Bullock’s
3-pointer in the final seconds made it a 20-point advantage at the half. GRIZZLIES 98, MAVERICKS
88 >> Mike Conley scored 28 points, Marc Gasol had 17 points and 15 rebounds and Memphis broke open a close game in the fourth quarter.
Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 13 points and Garrett Temple added 12 as Memphis won its fourth straight and sixth in the last seven.
Dennis Smith Jr. led the Mavericks with 19 points and five assists. DeAndre Jordan added 17 points and a season-high 20 rebounds. Luka Doncic had 15 points and 10 rebounds but was 6 of 20 from the field, part of Dallas shooting 34 percent. PACERS 121, JAZZ 94 >> Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points, Domantas Sabonis nearly had a triple-double and Indiana beat Utah.
Sabonis had 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as Indiana won its third straight — this one without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who sat out with a sore right knee.
Ricky Rubio matched his season high with 28 points to lead Utah, which has lost three of four and looked weary on the final night of a five-game trip. Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 11 rebounds in a game that wasn’t close after the first quarter.
CLIPPERS 127, HAWKS 119 >> Montrezl Harrell had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Lou Williams added 16 points and a season-high
11 assists, and Los Angeles rallied past struggling Atlanta to win its fifth straight game.
Tobias Harris scored
24 points and Mike Scott had a season-high 18 on six 3-pointers for the Clippers, who erased a
15-point deficit in the second half for the second consecutive game.
The Clippers, playing without second-leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, improved to 11-5. At this point last season after winning in Atlanta they were 5-11.