Suns roll to 11th straight victory
Warriors without stars edge Spurs
PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 35 points, Mikal Bridges added a seasonhigh 27 and the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns extended their winning streak to 11 games by beating the Brooklyn Nets 121-111 on Tuesday night.
The Suns (41-9) continued their best start to a season in franchise history and have two double-digit winning streaks this season. They won 18 games in a row from Oct. 30 to Dec. 2.
Bridges scored a season high for a second straight game. The lanky 6-foot-6 forward had 26 points against the Spurs on Sunday and was arguably even better against the Nets, shooting 10 of 14 from the field and adding eight rebounds and four assists.
The Suns took a 91-82 lead into the fourth quarter and never trailed. Chris Paul finished with 20 points and 14 assists. Cam Johnson had 16 points off the bench.
Brooklyn has lost five straight. Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 26 points while James Harden had 22. Blake Griffin scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting off the bench.
Irving was playing just his ninth game of the season and all of them have been on the road. The star guard remains one of the few unvaccinated players in the NBA and due to COVID-19 mandates in New York City concerning public arenas, he’s not permitted to play in home games.
WARRIORS 124, SPURS 120: In San Antonio, Jordan Poole had 31 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17.9 seconds remaining, and the short-handed Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs for their seventh straight victory.
Golden State rallied from a 17-point deficit despite being without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins on the second night of a back-to-back.
Damion Lee had 21 points for the Warriors and Damion Lee added 20.
Dejounte Murray led San Antonio with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Murray had a pair of baskets in the final minute, including a 15-footer that gave the Spurs a 120-119 lead with 40 seconds remaining.
RAPTORS 110, HEAT 106: In Toronto, Gary Trent Jr. scored 33 points, Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Toronto won its third straight game, beating Miami.
Trent matched DeMar DeRozan’s franchise record and extended his personal career best by reaching 30 points for the fifth consecutive game.
Fred VanVleet scored 21 points, OG Anunoby had 13, Precious Achiuwa 12 and Scottie Barnes 11 as the Raptors won their second straight meeting with Miami. Toronto beat the Heat 124-120 in triple overtime last Saturday.
Bam Adebayo had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Jimmy Butler had 16 points and 12 assists, and Tyler Herro scored 18 points for the Heat, who lost their third straight.
BUCKS 112, WIZARDS 98: In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth tripledouble of the season as Milwaukee handed Washington its sixth straight loss.
The Wizards were playing without star guard Bradley Beal due to a sprained left wrist. The Wizards had announced Monday that Beal would miss at least the rest of this trip, which ends Wednesday at Philadelphia.
Jrue Holiday scored 22 points, Bobby Portis 17, Khris Middleton 13 and Grayson Allen 10 for the Bucks. Kyle Kuzma scored 25, Montrezl Harrell had 20 and Kentavious CaldwellPope added 12 for the Wizards.
TIMBERWOLVES 130, NUGGETS 115: In Minneapolis, Jarred Vanderbilt scored 18 points against his former team, Taurean Prince had 23 and Minnesota’s bench led the way in a victory over Denver.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, but the Timberwolves’ reserves outscored Denver’s 68-49. Minnesota’s second unit took advantage when Denver star Nikola Jokic rested in the first half to take a commanding lead the Timberwolves wouldn’t relinquish.
Jokic finished with 21 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, but sat the entire fourth quarter with Minnesota’s lead ballooning to 30 and the Nuggets playing the first game of a back-to-back. Denver had its five-game winning streak snapped.
BULLS 126, MAGIC 115: In Chicago, DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, and Zach LaVine added 24, and Chicago beat Orlando.
DeRozan scored 20 of his points in the first half, and then the Bulls survived a frantic rally by the Magic midway through the fourth quarter.
PELICANS 111, PISTONS 101: In Detroit, Brandon Ingram scored 26 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and New Orleans overcame a 15-point deficit to beat Detroit.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 14 of New Orleans’ 54 bench points, as the Pelicans ended a four-game losing streak.
The Pistons, who overcame a 15-0 deficit to beat Cleveland on Sunday, led 76-61 with 7:38 left in the third quarter. But with Cade Cunningham sidelined by a hip pointer, they were outscored 50-25 the rest of the way.