Doncic, Irving team to carry Mavs past Suns for 7th straight victory
DALLAS >> Luka Doncic scored 41 points, Kyrie Irving added 29 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 123-113 on Thursday night, extending their winning streak to seven games in the return from the All-star break for both teams.
Dallas pulled even with Phoenix in the standings at 33-23 and took the headto-head tiebreaker with a 2-1 record in a pairing of teams battling for a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.
Doncic had 11 assists and nine rebounds matched against fellow All-stars Devin Booker, who scored 35 points, and Kevin Durant, who had 23 on an ordinary shooting night for the 14-time All-star. The Suns had won five of six before the break.
Dallas extended its longest winning streak of the season in the first visit from new majority owner Miriam Adelson. The widow of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson was sitting courtside. Her company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., finalized the deal with Mark Cuban in December.
CELTICS 129, BULLS 112
Derrick White scored 28 points, Jayson Tatum added 25 and Nba-leading Boston beat Chicago for its season-high seventh straight victory.
White and Tatum each made five of Boston’s 23 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, and the Celtics came away with another convincing victory after pounding Brooklyn by 50 prior to the Allstar break.
Boston went from leading by 16 to trailing by three at halftime before regaining control in the third. The Celtics outscored the Bulls 37-21 in the quarter.
Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
THUNDER 129, CLIPPERS 107
Shai Gilgeous-alexander scored 31 points and Oklahoma City beat Los Angeles in a matchup of Western Conference contenders.
Lu Dort added 19 points, Jalen Williams had 18 and Chet Holmgren 17 for Oklahoma
City. The Thunder won the season series with Los Angeles and improved to 38-17 to move within a game of Western Conference-leading Minnesota.
Gordon Hayward played 14 minutes in his first game with the Thunder since being acquired in a trade with Charlotte. He missed both of his shots and had four rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and Nolan Powell added 19 points for Los Angeles. The third-place Clippers fell to 36-18.
KNICKS 110, 76ERS 96
Jalen Brunson had 21 points and 12 assists with Spike Lee cheering from courtside and New York spoiled former Villanova star Kyle Lowry’s 76ers debut.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points for New York. Josh Hart had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Precious Achiuwa added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
All-star Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 35 points. Maxey made 11 of 24 shots but had little other offensive help, a common theme for the Sixers in MVP Joel Embiid’s absence.
PACERS 129, PISTONS 115
All-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton had 25 points and 13 assists to help Indiana beat Nbaworst Detroit.
Coming off a 32-point night Sunday in the NBA All-star Game on his home floor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton had his 15th game of the season with at least 25 points and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam added 20 points for Indiana.
Cade Cunningham had 30 points and eight assists for Detroit. The Pistons have lost four straight to fall to 8-47.
MAGIC 116, CAVALIERS 109
Mortiz Wagner had 22 points, younger brother Franz added 14 and Orlando handed Cleveland just its third loss in 21 games.
The Cavs, who have been the NBA’S hottest team since mid-december, played without leading scorer and All-star Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell sat out with an unspecified illness.
Orlando played the final 22 minutes without starting guard Jalen Suggs, who went out midway through the third quarter with a head injury and didn’t return.
PELICANS 127, ROCKETS 105
Zion Williamson had 27 points and 10 assists and New Orleans beat struggling Houston for its eighth victory in nine games.
CJ Mccollum scored 28 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Herb Jones had 17 points and six steals for New Orleans.
Alperen Sengun had 20 points and nine rebounds for Houston. The Rockets have lost six of seven.
RAPTORS 121, NETS 93
Gary Trent Jr. scored 25 points, Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Toronto spoiled Brooklyn interim coach Kevin Ollie’s debut.
Immanuel Quickley had 24 points for Toronto. RJ Barrett added 12 points and matched a season high with seven assists.
Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 21 points. Ollie replaced Jacque Vaughn on Tuesday, a day after Vaughn was fired following a 21-33 start.