Mavericks rally late to win 9th straight at home
DALLAS — Luka Doncic shrugged off a rough shooting night with 11 straight points to erase an eight-point deficit late in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks went on to their ninth consecutive home victory, 107-104 over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Doncic was 3 of 13 before hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to get Dallas within two. After Chris Paul missed two free throws, Doncic hit a floater in the lane for a tie, then followed an air-ball 3 by James Harden with another 3 for a 105-102 lead. It was the 26th lead change.
The Slovenian rookie had 21 points along with Wesley Matthews, who missed two free throws with a chance to put the game away in the final seconds. Eric Gordon missed a potential tying 3-pointer for Houston at the buzzer.
Harden overcame early foul trouble to finish with 35 points and Paul had 23. Both finished with eight assists, but the Rockets couldn’t hold a lead less than two weeks after losing to the Mavericks by 20 points at home.
Doncic’s flurry helped Dallas overcome a nearly six-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks extended their longest home winnings streak since having nine straight in 2011, the year they won their only championship.
LAKERS 111, GRIZZLIES 88: In Memphis, Tenn., LeBron James had 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Kyle Kuzma added 20 points and nine rebounds, and Los Angeles dominated Memphis.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart added 16 points apiece, and JaVale McGee had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
CELTICS 133, BULLS 77: In Chicago, Jaylen Brown scored 23 points, Daniel Theis added a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Boston routed Chicago for its fifth straight victory.
The 56-point loss was the worst in Bulls’ history, eclipsing a 53-point (127-74) defeat at Minnesota on Nov. 8, 2001.
The Celtics used a 17-0 start and a balanced attack to roll to their second straight lopsided win. Shaquille Harrison came off the bench to score a careerhigh 20 points for Chicago.
CAVALIERS 116, WIZARDS
101: In Cleveland, rookie Collin Sexton matched a career high with 29 points, and Tristan Thompson had 23 points and 19 rebounds as Cleveland beat Washington.
Wizards guard John Wall was held to a career low one point in 26 minutes — a free throw early in the third quarter. Wall returned after missing Washington’s victory Wednesday night over Atlanta because of personal reasons.
The five-time All-Star, who didn’t participate in the shootaround Saturday because he was under the weather, missed all five shots and had six assists.
HAWKS 106, NUGGETS
98: In Atlanta, John Collins scored a career-high 30 points and reserves Vince Carter and DeAndre’ Bembry fueled a thirdquarter rally to help Atlanta beat Denver.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Denver.
NETS 112, KNICKS 104: At Madison Square Garden, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 20 in Brooklyn’s victory over New York.
Allen Crabbe scored 17 points, and Jarrett Allen added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Enes Kanter led the Knicks with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
PACERS 107, KINGS 97: In Indianapolis, Thaddeus Young had a season-high 20 points and nine rebounds, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points as Indiana defeated Sacramento.
Buddy Hield scored 20 points and De’Aaron Fox added 18 points and six assists for the Kings.
TRAIL BLAZERS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 105: In Portland, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each hit 3-pointers in the final minute to give Portland a victory over Minnesota.
Lillard finished with 28 points and eight assists, while McCollum added 19 points. Jusuf Nurkic matched his season-high with 22 points and 11 rebounds.