Raptors beat Mavs, extend win streak
TAMPA, Fla. — Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and Pascal Siakam had a big second half Monday night, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 116-93 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Siakam scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as the Raptors pulled away for their third straight victory. Chris Boucher added 21 points and OG Anunoby contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and much of the defensive work against Dallas star Luka Doncic.
Doncic, who was coming off a 36-point, 16-rebound, 15-assist triple-double in Sunday’s 117-101 loss to Chicago, scored 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting and added seven rebounds and nine assists.
Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 23 points and nine rebounds. The Mavericks shot 37.8% with 23 turnovers and lost their third straight.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was ejected in the first quarter.
The game was tied 47-47 after a first half in which the Raptors shot 11.8% (2 for 17) from behind the arc and 19 for 32 (59.4%) from inside it.
Siakam’s short jumper midway through the third quarter broke a 59-all tie and launched a 16-2 run that put the Raptors up to stay.
Boucher and Norman Powell (17 points) led an early fourth-quarter rally that put the game away.
Carlisle’s ejection came with 58.4 seconds left in the first quarter, just after Powell had converted a running shot in the lane after a Dallas turnover.
Spurs 125, Trail Blazers 104
PORTLAND, Ore. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points, DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and 11 assists and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 125-104 on Monday.
Rudy Gay and Patty Mills came off the bench for 21 points apiece as the Spurs reserves outscored Portland backups 59-24. Reserve center Jakob Poeltl added 11 points and seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.
“Their bench hurt us,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “The shooting off the bench, the second-chance opportunities. They really hurt us. They had 10 second-chance points in the fourth quarter.”
Aldridge, playing against the team he spent nine years with, got things rolling for the Spurs.
“He set the tone early,” Gay said. “He got to his spots and he knocked down his shots. Him knocking down shots and pulling out the big men kind of opens things up. It opens up cracks and DeMar slips through those cracks.”
Aldridge scored eight points in the first quarter.
“He didn’t catch and think about it,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He was just determined to let it fly.”
Between DeRozan and point guard Dejounte Murray, the Spurs also had two players with 11 assists apiece while the Blazers had just 20 total assists as a team.
Nets 125, Bucks 123
NEW YORK — Kevin Durant made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, James Harden had 34 points and 12 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets edged the Milwaukee Bucks 125-123 on Monday night.
Durant finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists to give the Nets their fourth straight victory in a game in which two of the East’s best went toe-to-toe right down to a tense finish that ended when Khris Middleton missed a potential winning 3-pointer from the corner.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Middleton added 25 points and Jrue Holiday had 22.
Harden had 11 points at halftime following his 32-point Nets debut, when he added 14 assists and 12 rebounds. But he picked it up in the second half and contributed to the biggest play of the game even when he missed.
He swooped in to grab the rebound of his own 3-pointer that was off with the Nets trailing by two and fired it back out to Durant, who nailed the shot that made it 125-123.
Durant could have put it away but turned it over on the Nets’ next possession, but they held on when Middleton’s shot was just off from in front of his bench.
Kyrie Irving missed his seventh straight game after leaving the team for personal reasons, with coach Steve Nash saying he could return Wednesday in Cleveland.
Grizzlies 108, Suns 104
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ja Morant had 17 points and 10 assists and took a key charge late as the Memphis Grizzlies won their fifth straight, beating the Phoenix Suns 108-104 on Monday.
Morant assisted on Grayson Allen’s 3-pointer with 1:06 left to give Memphis a 101-98 lead, then scored on a drive with 30.8 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Morant took a charge against Chris Paul to help maintain the Memphis lead.
“Ja has a crazy good feel for the game,” said Brandon Clarke, who matched Morant’s 17 points. “I feel like those first three quarters, he’s just kind of like watching the defense, watching us, seeing what the defense gives him.
“By the fourth quarter, he’s just kind of like already figured out everything with that, and he’s able to get in the paint, get his shot off, get his teammates shots.”
Allen, who finished with 16 points, converted four free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
“We didn’t get stops. We didn’t execute,” said Paul, who finished with 16 points and seven assists. “I had six turnovers. This ain’t it. This ain’t it. … We shouldn’t be losing this many close games like that.”
Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 18 points and tied a season high with 16 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges had 17 points.
Devin Booker added 12 points but struggled from the field, converting only five of his 21 shots.
Hawks 108, Timberwolves 97
ATLANTA — Clint Capela had 23 points and 15 rebounds, De’Andre Hunter scored 25 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-97 on Monday.
The Hawks, wearing black, tan and white uniforms with “MLK” sewn across the chest to commemorate the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., snapped a twogame skid. They had dropped six of seven.
Trae Young had 20 points and 13 assists for Atlanta, which took its biggest lead, 15 points, on consecutive 3s from the right side by Kevin Huerter and Hunter with 5:59 remaining. The Timberwolves pulled within six before Young’s runner made it 100-92 with 2:01 left.
D’Angelo Russell finished with 31 points for Minnesota, which has lost nine of 10. The Timberwolves wiped out a 13-point lead to force a 58-all tie on Naz Reid’s basket underneath, but were soon back down by 10 on Hunter’s 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the third.
John Collins had 15 points and a career-high five blocks for the Hawks.
Knicks 91, Magic 84
NEW YORK — Elfrid Payton’s words at the podium Monday had to be sweet music to the ears of New York Knicks coaches and executives.
“We’re not satisfied,” Payton said after the Knicks’ 91-84 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday.
For a franchise that has spent the most of the last two decades trying to find its way, Payton’s outlook may have represented if not an organizational sea change, then certainly a noticeable difference. As did their play.
R.J. Barrett scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds, and Julius Randle added 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead the New York to its second straight win. Payton chipped in with 12 points and rookie guard Immanuel Quickley added 11 for the Knicks, who improved to 7-8.
“Our group is learning how to win,” Randle said. “I credit that to our coaches.”
While the Knicks are taking baby steps forward, the same can’t be said of the Magic. They have lost six in a row to drop to 6-8.
Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Orlando while Aaron Gordon had 18 points and 17 rebounds and Terrence Ross 19 points.
“We gave ourselves a chance but we kind of blew it at the same time,” Ross said.