Raptors, Nuggets grab narrow wins, Warriors cruise
THE Toronto Raptors kept the pressure on in the NBA East race on Tuesday as Serge Ibaka’s late dunk made the difference in a scrappy 104-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
There was late drama a lso for Western Conference leaders Denver in Miami, where Nuggets star Nikola Jok ic capped another tripledouble with a go-ahead floater in t he waning seconds in t he v isitors’ 103-99 v ictor y.
And it was close i n Oklahoma Cit y, where the Minnesota Timberwolves edged the Thunder 119-117 in Ryan Saunders’ first game as Minnesota’s interim coach af ter Tom Thibodeau was abruptly fired on Sunday.
Toronto coach Nick Nurse, whose Raptors improved to a leag ueleading 31-12 – one game in front of Milwaukee in the East – admitted it was tough going in a game in which the Raptors and Hawks combined for 46 turnovers.
“We pulled one out,” Nurse said. “We were tr y ing to get away from them and we never could. We were down late there and had to make a couple stops and a couple scores and we did both of those things – so, prett y good.”
Kawhi Leonard led Toronto with 31 points. His si xt h stea l of t he night led to Iba ka’s dunk wit h 17.1 seconds left, which put the Raptors up 102-101. A rebound by Ibaka on At lanta’s next possession led to a dunk by OG Anunoby for the final margin.
In Miami, the Heat led by si x with 5:27 to play, but Jok ic’s 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Denver were ultimately too much for the hosts to overcome.
He drove through traffic to swish in the basket that put the Nuggets up 101-99 with 2.4 seconds lef t and Jamal Murray added two free throws to complete the scoring.
“The floater is k ind of my ga me,” Jok ic sa id. “I love t hat shot because I ca nnot dunk. It was a litt le bit more t ig ht. [Bam] Adebayo was r ig ht t here, I got a heav y k nee in my cha rley horse. We won t he ga me – t hat’s t he most important t hi ng.”
Denver improved to 27-12 and remained one game in front of twotime defending champions Golden State, who cruised to a 122-95 v ictor y over the New York Knicks in Oakland, California.
Golden State star Klay Thompson’s 43 points included seven t hree-pointers. Stephen Curr y chipped in 14 points and 14 assists and Kevin Durant had 24 points, si x assists and si x rebounds as t he Warriors snapped a three-game home skid.
Noel hurt in Thunder loss
In Oklahoma Cit y, Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins scored a seasonhigh 40 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Timber wolves to v ictor y in a game marred by a frightening fa ll for Thunder centre Nerlens Noel.
Noel took an elbow to the face as he defended a driv ing Wiggins and crashed to the court, appearing to smack his head on the hardwood.
As he lay motionless, medical personnel were ca lled and his teammates watched i n worr y as he was strapped to a stretcher and wheeled away.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan said after the game that Noel had been hospita lised but gave no deta ils on t he player’s condition.
Amid the tension that followed Noel’s fa ll, Russell Westbrook gave the Thunder a 115-114 lead with 1:14 lef t to play.
But Josh Okogie’s three-pointer with 26.8 seconds remaining put Minnesota up 119-115 and Westbrook missed two three-point attempts in the waning seconds that would have put Oklahoma City in front.