Beal, Wizards get past shorthanded Clippers
Bradley Beal scored 33 points and the Washington Wizards pushed ahead with a late run to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-117 after All-Star Paul George was a late scratch Thursday night.
Russell Westbrook had 27 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Moe Wagner added 12 points as the Wizards snapped a two-game skid. Washington won eight of 11 heading into the AllStar break to move into the fringes of contention in the Eastern Conference.
NUGGETS 113, PACERS 103 >> Michael Porter Jr. scored 24 points and Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead Denver past Indiana.
KNICKS 114, PISTONS 104 >> Julius Randle capped his AllStar first half with 27 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, sending New York Knicks into the break with a winning record after the win over Detroit. RJ Barrett added 21 points to help the Knicks improve to 19-18 in their first season under Tom Thibodeau.
CELTICS 132, RAPTORS 125 >> Jayson Tatum had 27 points and 12 rebounds and Boston won its fourth straight game, outlasting shorthanded Toronto.
JAMES TO TEAM UP WITH ANTETOKOUNMPO >> LeBron James has faced Giannis Antetokounmpo as an opponent in the last three AllStar Games. The Los Angeles Lakers’ star got him as a teammate this year.
James used the No. 1 overall pick on Antetokounmpo — the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP from Milwaukee — in the draft for Sunday’s AllStar Game in Atlanta. Kevin Durant, who will not play in the All-Star Game because of injury but still is the captain for Team Durant, took
Brooklyn teammate Kyrie Irving with his first pick.
The other starters for Team LeBron will be Stephen Curry of Golden State, Luka Doncic of Dallas and Nikola Jokic of Denver. The other starters for Team Durant will be Joel Embiid of Philadelphia, 2020 All-Star MVP Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, Bradley Beal of Washington and Jayson Tatum of Boston.
This is the fourth year of the NBA’s playing captain format for the All-Star Game. James is 3-0, beating teams captained by Curry in 2018 and Antetokounmpo in the last two seasons.
PISTONS EXPECTED TO BUY OUT BLAKE GRIFFIN >> Unable to broker a trade, the Detroit Pistons are now expected to buy out Blake Griffin, The Athletic reported. The Pistons have been shopping their fading star ahead of the March 25 trade deadline. Griffin, 31, hasn’t played since Feb. 12 as the sides mutually agreed to part.
He has averaged 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 31.3 minutes in 20 starts this season.
PACERS’ LEVERT TO RETURN IN SECOND HALF >> Caris LeVert, whose trade to the Indiana Pacers led to the discovery of his kidney cancer, is on pace to return to action in the season’s second half, The Athletic reported. LeVert underwent surgery in January to treat renal cell carcinoma of his left kidney, discovered after the Pacers acquired him as part of the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn.
LeVert, 26, averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 12 games (four starts) this season with the Nets. The fifth-year pro had averages of 13.1 points, 3.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 225 career games (96 starts) with Brooklyn.