Nets score another ‘W’ in Memphis
DeMarre Carroll scored a season-high 24 points, Trevor Booker added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets snapped a three-game losing streak last night with a 98-88 victory in Memphis against the Grizzlies.
Joe Harris finished with 13 points for the Nets, who used a third-quarter spurt to put away the Grizzlies, who have lost eight straight.
Marc Gasol and Tyreke Evans scored 18 points apiece for Memphis, although Gasol did not play at all in the fourth quarter as a smaller Grizzlies lineup made a dent in Brooklyn’s 19-point, second-half lead. Chandler Parsons scored 12, but did not play in the second half after tweaking his right knee.
The Nets opened the second half with a 22-6 run, looking much more fluid on offense than in the opening half. Brooklyn connected on nine of its first 15 shots to build the lead to as many as 19.
Meanwhile, the Memphis offense was stagnant with sloppy passes and one-on-one play. Memphis converted only two of its first 17 shots.
The Nets, who already were without D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin with long-term injuries, had more setbacks. Allen Crabbe, who was going to start, was a late scratch with a sore lower back. Then in the second quarter, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson went down with a right ankle sprain.
Heat 100, Bulls 93 — Goran Dragic scored 24 points and visiting Miami followed the lowest-scoring first quarter in team history with its highest-scoring one of the season to top Chicago.
After scoring seven points in the first quarter, Miami had 38 in the second to take a 45-42 lead.
Wayne Ellington added 19 points, James Johnson had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Hassan Whiteside had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Jerian Grant led Chicago with 24 points and Justin Holliday had 15. Denzel Valentine had 14 points and career highs of 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Ellington ignited the Heat after the 2-for-19 first-quarter from the field, scoring 10 points and hitting three 3-pointers as Miami shot 68.4 percent in the second quarter.
Tyler Johnson and Kelly Olynyk added 10 points apiece off the bench as four members of the Heat’s second unit reached double figures.
Timberwolves 119, Suns 108 — In Minneapolis, Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 12 rebounds and Minnesota beat Phoenix, taking advantage of high-scoring Suns guard Devin Booker’s absence.
Jimmy Butler had 25 points, and Andrew Wiggins added 21 for the Timberwolves.
The Suns announced shortly before the game that Booker — who scored 35 points in Phoenix’s home victory over Minnesota on Nov. 11 —would sit out because of an injured big right toe.
With Booker out, the Suns got another big game from their bench, led by Mike James with a career-high 26 points. T.J. Warren — who also had 35 points in the first meeting with the Timberwolves — had 18 points for the Suns, and Phoenix started its six-game trip with its third straight loss.