NBA roundup: AD drops 50, Lakers beat Wolves
Anthony Davis scored a season-high 50 points, sparking the Los Angeles Lakers to a 142-125 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
Davis connected on 20 of 29 shots from the floor and converted all 10 of his free throws in 39 minutes. It was his fourth career 50-plus scoring game. Davis also had seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.
LeBron James had 32 points and 13 assists for the Lakers, who won their fourth in a row and 14th in 15 games. Alex Caruso added 16 points, while Danny Green finished with 12.
Andrew Wiggins, who missed Friday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a left thumb sprain, and Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 19 points each. Josh Okogie added 18 points, while Robert Covington had 16 for the Timberwolves, who lost their fourth consecutive contest. Eight players scored in double figures for the Timberwolves.
Brooklyn Nets 105 - Denver
Nuggets 102
Spencer Dinwiddie scored the goahead layup with 26.3 seconds left, and Brooklyn came up with defensive stops on Denver’s final two possessions to win at home.
Dinwiddie led the Nets with 24 points and using a high screen set by Taurean Prince, he glided through the middle of the lane. He got by Gary Harris and gave the Nets a 103-102 lead just before Jerami Grant could provide help.
The Nuggets called their last timeout with the intention of getting the ball to Nikola Jokic, but the Nets immediately provided a double team with Prince and Jarrett Allen. The ball wound up in Will Barton’s hand, but he missed an off-balance jumper in the paint.
Philadelphia 76ers 110 Toronto Raptors 104
Tobias Harris scored 26 points, and host Philadelphia improved to 12-0 at home this season in a narrow win over Toronto.
Rookie Matisse Thybulle added five 3-pointers for a career-high 20 points, and Ben Simmons contributed 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Sixers. James Ennis III and Al Horford had 11 points each, and Joel Embiid had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists along with seven turnovers.
Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 26 points, while OG Anunoby added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Pascal Siakam chipped in with 16 points for the Raptors, who dropped their third in a row for the first time this season. Marc Gasol went scoreless on 0-for6 shooting.
Los Angeles Clippers 135 Washington Wizards 119
Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Paul George added 27 points, and Los Angeles pushed past host
Washington thanks to a dominant fourth quarter.
Leonard played an outstanding all-around game, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor and, in addition to his own scoring contributions, dishing five assists. George also distributed the ball well with six assists, matching Lou Williams and Washington’s Chris Chiozza for the game-high total.
Davis Bertans led the Wizards with 25 points, while Troy Brown Jr. added 22, both off the bench. Wizards leading scorer Bradley Beal, who came in averaging just below 29 points per game, finished with 20 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
Sacramento Kings 110 - Dallas
Mavericks 106
Nemanja Bjelica matched a career high with 30 points, and Buddy Hield added 26 as Sacramento snapped a three-game losing skid with a victory at Dallas.
Bjelica made 13 of 18 attempts from the field to finish with 30 points. Hield went 10 of 15 from the floor for the Kings, who swept the three-game season series against the Mavericks in 2018-19 and have won five in a row in Dallas.
Dallas’ Luka Doncic collected 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to mark the 19th consecutive contest in which he recorded at least 20, five and five in those categories. That snapped a tie with Michael Jordan (1988-89) for the longest such streak since the NBAABA merger, but Oscar Robertson holds the all-time record (29).
Oklahoma City Thunder 108 Portland Trail Blazers 96
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 21 points and nine rebounds, and Dennis Schroder also scored 21 points as Oklahoma City fended off host Portland.