NBA: Lakers hold off Grizzlies’ charge for 4th straight win
LEBRON James scored a game-high 32 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 117-105 on Friday night.
Anthony Davis sustained a bruised calf in the first quarter but remained in to contribute 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven of the Lakers' 14 blocked shots.
Avery Bradley added 14 points and three steals as the Lakers won their fourth in a row. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in 12 points.
Josh Jackson scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Grizzlies, who lost for the second time in as many nights.
Rookie Ja Morant had 17 points, and Brandon Clarke and Gorgui Dieng each amassed 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dieng hit all six of his field-goal attempts.
Williamson nets 25 as Pelicans sweep Blazers Zion Williamson scored 25 points and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a four-game season sweep of Portland with a solid 128-115 road victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Jrue Holiday recorded 20 points, nine assists and four steals and Brandon Ingram added 16 points and six assists for the Pelicans, who have won seven of their past 10 games.
Lonzo Ball had 15 points and seven assists, Josh Hart added 13 points and 13 rebounds and Nicolo Melli also scored 13 for New Orleans.
CJ McCollum registered 27 points, matched his career high of 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who played without All-Star shooting guard Damian Lillard (groin).
Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points and Hassan Whiteside added 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots for Portland, which lost its third straight game.
Gary Trent Jr. had 15 points and Trevor Ariza added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Hayward scores 29 as Celtics get past T-Wolves
Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 29 points and the visiting Boston Celtics played strong defense down the stretch to hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117 on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum scored 28 points and Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis chipped in with 25 apiece as the Celtics came out of the All-Star break to win their fourth road game in the last five. Boston has won 12 of 14 overall.
Malik Beasley had 27 points to pace the Timberwolves, who were without star center Karl-Anthony Towns, out with a sprained left wrist.
Boston led most of the way, including by as many as 13 points in the second quarter and 12 in the third period.
Tatum’s 3-pointer put the Celtics up 98-88 with 10:50 remaining, before the Timberwolves made a late push. Minnesota got within 100-98 on Jordan McLaughlin’s trey and subsequently within one on three occasions, the last time at 108-107 on two Naz Reid free throws with 6:20 to go.
But Hayward countered with a 3-pointer and the Celtics held the Timberwolves to just four points in the next 4:20 while gradually pulling away.
Hayward shot 12 of 17 and the Celtics outshot the Timberwolves 46.3 percent
to 40.4 percent.
Tatum (11 rebounds), Theis (game-high 16 rebounds) and Marcus Smart (10 points, 10 assists) all recorded double-doubles for Boston, which went without injured point guard Kemba Walker.
Beasley connected on 4 of 8 from behind the arc for Minnesota, which lost for the 16th time in its last 17 games.
D’Angelo Russell had 18 points and a game-high 13 assists for the Timberwolves. Reid finished with 19 points, Juan Hernangomez 17, McLaughlin 11 and Josh Okogie 10.
Paul, Thunder pull away, defeat Nuggets
Chris Paul made four 3-pointers as part of a 29-point outing to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 113-101 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Steven Adams recorded 19 points, 17 rebounds and matched his season best of four steals as Oklahoma City won for the 11th time in the past 14 games.
Danilo Gallinari added 15 points, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Thunder halted a sevengame losing streak when facing the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokic scored 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting as Denver lost its second straight contest following a four-game winning streak. Jamal Murray added 21 points, and Will Barton registered 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Nuggets were hurt by 19 turnovers and 6 of 27 shooting from behind the arc. Denver shot 48.1 percent overall.
Luguentz Dort and Dennis Schroder also scored 11 points apiece, and Nerlens Noel added 10 for Oklahoma City, which shot 46 percent from the field, including 9 of 26 from 3-point range.
Paul scored 20 of his points in the second half when the Thunder rolled up 65 points. Doncic pours in 33 as Mavs dump Magic
Luka Doncic scored 33 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists, Maxi Kleber scored a career-high 26 points off the bench, and the Dallas Mavericks held off host Orlando Magic 122-106 on Friday.
Kleber did much of his damage in the fourth quarter, hitting 3 of 4 3-point attempts and scoring 12 points in the frame. His effort ignited a critical final 12 minutes for the Mavericks, book-ending their road win with dominant opening and closing periods.
Dallas held a 34-18 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Orlando chipped away at the deficit in the middle periods. The Magic forced a 78-78 tie late in the third quarter when Nikola Vucevic (27 points) knocked down a 3 -pointer.
Orlando trailed by one point with 2:18 remaining in the third after Evan Fournier scored two of his
team-high 28 points, but Dallas closed the period on a run that extended into the fourth.
The 13-2 Mavericks burst included a Kleber dunk off an alley-oop pass from Doncic plus a Kleber 3-pointer.
Dallas rode the run to hold a double-digit-point advantage for the remainder of the game.
Kristaps Porzingis recorded 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks. In Dallas’ previous game, Doncic had 33 points and Porzingis added 27 in a win
over the Sacramento Kings before the All-Star break.
Vucevic and Aaron Gordon both registered double-doubles for Orlando, with Vucevic grabbing 12 rebounds. He also registered a game-high four steals. Gordon finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the loss.
Markelle Fultz finished with 14 points and nine assists for the Magic. Terrence Ross scored 19 points, and Michael Carter-Williams grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench.