Beal, Wiz home in on Sixers
Bradley Beal scored 14 straight points in the fourth quarter and finished with 34 to help the Wizards beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-106 last night in Washington for a split of the home-and-home set.
Otto Porter Jr. added 23 points, his most since returning from a quadriceps injury this month, and Trevor Ariza had 17.
Joel Embiid had 35 points and 14 rebounds for the 76ers. They committed 23 turnovers, and had a four-game winning streak end.
Jimmy Butler added 23 points, and Ben Simmons had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia. A night after hitting more than half of its 31 attempts from beyond the arc, Philadelphia shot 8-of-27 from 3-point range, going 3-of20 in the first three quarters.
After Washington’s 26-point third-quarter lead was cut to 12 in the fourth, Beal outscored Philadelphia 14-5 to make it 116-95 with 4:22 left. Beal was 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 13-of-21 overall from the field.
The Wizards used first-half runs of 9-0 and 18-3 to build their lead as large as 20 before the break, then led by 26 after outscoring the 76ers 11-0 during a stretch of the third quarter.
Nets 116, Hawks 100 — D’Angelo Russell scored 23 points, Ed Davis grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds, and host Brooklyn climbed out of an early 19-point hole to beat Atlanta.
DeMarre Carroll added 17 points to help the Nets improve to 21-22 with their eighth victory in their last nine home games. They managed only 20 wins for the entire season just two years ago, but have engineered a big turnaround after a slow start to this season.
Bucks 116, Rockets 109 — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points and grabbed a season-high 21 rebounds to help visiting Milwaukee withstand a 42-point performance from James Harden and get a win over Houstont.
In a matchup of the two early front-runners for MVP, Harden and his teammates were done in by a shooting slump late in the third quarter that spilled into the fourth and left them down by 15 points.
Pelicans 140, Cavaliers 124 — Anthony Davis had 38 points and 13 rebounds, and host New Orleans overcame a slow start to pull away from Cleveland.
The Pelicans have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 16-19. Cleveland lost its 11th in a row.
New Orleans rookie Frank Jackson had 19 points to set a season high for a second straight game off the bench. He had 17 in a win over Memphis on Monday.
Grizzlies 96, Spurs 86 — Marc Gasol had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and host Memphis snapped a six-game slide with a victory over San Antonio.
Marco Belinelli and Bryn Forbes scored 14 points apiece for the Spurs, who ended a five-game winning streak. LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills had 13 points each for San Antonio.
Elsewhere in the NBA —The Thunder’s Nerlens Noel has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol after he collided with Andrew Wiggins and hit the floor Tuesday night during Oklahoma City’s game with Minnesota . . . . .
Grizzlies guard/forward Dillon Brooks will have surgery on a ruptured ligament in his right big toe hurt during a loss in San Antonio.