No positive tests in the last week for NBA
No additional NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week, the league said Wednesday, after nearly two dozen games had to be called off in the past month because of virusrelated issues.
That continued a good two-week trend: After 27 players were positive in results released between Jan. 6 and Jan. 19, only one player has been positive since.
“Baby steps,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said after the league announced Wednesday's weekly number of zero. “We want the world to not test positive for a week. That's what's we need. We all need it, not just NBA players, coaches, families. The planet needs it.”
The NBA has called off 23 games this season for virus issues, 22 since Jan. 10. But starting with the games on Jan. 26, the league has been able to play 68 of its last 70 games. All 10 of Wednesday's games started as scheduled.
Late Wednesday
CLIPPERS 121, CAVALIERS
99: Paul George missed the first two games of the Los Angeles Clippers' long road trip. He barely missed anything in the finale. George drained 8 of 9 3-pointers and scored 36 points, Kawhi Leonard added 24 and Los Angeles found enough energy on tired legs to end a six-game road swing with a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Just 24 hours after dropping a tight game in
Brooklyn that had an NBA Finals vibe, the Clippers bounced back by making 20 3-pointers to avoid losing two straight for the first time this season. They are the only team in the league not to drop two in a row. George said the 124-120 loss to the Nets — he scored 26, but missed 13 shots and took just one free throw — inspired his performance against the Cavs. “I had some good looks, and I just told myself that if I got the same open shots, I would knock them down,” George said. MAVERICKS 122, HAWKS 116:
Luka Doncic scored 27 points and dished out 14 assists as the Dallas Mavericks snapped a six-game losing streak, defeating Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, including a crucial tip-in of a miss by Doncic with 32 seconds remaining that helped Dallas hold off a furious Atlanta comeback. PELICANS 123, SUNS 101: Zion Williamson punctuated a 28-point performance with a soaring, one-handed alley-oop jam during a decisive fourthquarter surge, and the New Orleans Pelicans soundly defeated the Phoenix Suns. KINGS 116, CELTICS 111: De'Aaron Fox had 26 points and 11 assists, Buddy Hield made two free throws with six-tenths of a
second remaining and the Sacramento Kings held off the short-handed Boston Celtics. Hield, a former Oklahoma star, finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. SPURS 111, TIMBERWOLVES 108: DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and San Antonio rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Minnesota. KNICKS 107, BULLS 103:
Julius Randle scored 27
points and tied a career high
by hitting five 3-pointers,
and the New York Knicks
beat the Chicago Bulls. WIZARDS 103, HEAT 100: Bradley Beal scored 32 points and the Washington Wizards rallied from a 13-point, second-half deficit to beat the freefalling Miami. 76ERS 118, HORNETS
111: Joel Embiid had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets for their fourth straight win. BUCKS 130, PACERS
110: Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't play at all in the fourth quarter and still had a triple-double while helping the Milwaukee Bucks roll to a lopsided victory. The reigning two-time MVP had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in the Bucks' rout of the Indiana. Antetokounmpo shot 7 of 8 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line.