Griffin’s career night enough to edge Sixers
Detroit star pours in career-best 50, sinks Philadelphia in OT
DETROIT — Blake Griffin scored a career-high 50 points and had the game-winning three-point play after he was fouled on a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left as Detroit topped Philadelphia 133-132 in a wild overtime thriller Tuesday.
The Pistons are 3-0 for the first time since 2015-16.
“The past two or three years, all I hear about is how bad I am,” Griffin said. “It’s a big win, but we’ve got to move on. This is game three, and now we’ve got to move on to game four.”
JJ Redick’s four-point play with 5.6 seconds left in overtime set up Griffin’s dramatics, while Joel Embiid, who had 33 points and 11 rebounds, missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Redick had 30 points and scored a 3-pointer while being fouled by Reggie Jackson after the Pistons point guard made two free throws to take a 130-128 lead.
The 76ers were without Ben Simmons because of back tightness.
Griffin faked a handoff on the final play and drove the lane for the basket, getting fouled by Robert Covington. He made the ensuing free throw for the win.
Griffin was 20-for-35 from the field, going 5-for-10 on 3-pointers.
At Denver, Jamal Murray scored 14 of his 19 points in the third quarter, and Nikola Jokic had 14 points and
Nuggets 126, Kings 112 —
12 rebounds to help the Nuggets go 4-0, their best start since opening 5-0 in 2009-10.
The Nuggets remained unbeaten despite allowing a team to break the century mark in points for the first time this season. The Nuggets held opponents to an Nba-best 95.7 points in the first three games but simply outscored Sacramento.
Gary Harris scored 18 points, and Paul Millsap added 15 for Denver.
Also, Nuggets forward Will Barton underwent surgery to fix core and hip muscle injuries and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
At New Orleans, Anthony Davis highlighted a 34-point and 13-rebound performance with a clutch left-wing 3 with less than two minutes remaining, and the Pelicans remained unbeaten.
Pelicans 116, Clippers 109 —