Drummond ejected as Detroit loses to Chicago
DETROIT — Zach LaVine scored 25 points and the Chicago Bulls held off the Detroit Pistons 108-99 on Saturday night to snap a six-game losing streak.
Already without injured Blake Griffin, the Pistons lost Andre Drummond when he was ejected early in the third quarter.
Drummond’s ejection came after he threw the ball off the back of Gafford’s head. The exchange also resulted in a technical foul on Gafford.
Luke Kornet scored 15 points for the Bulls, and Lauri Markkanen and Daniel Gafford added 14 each.
Derrick Rose led the Pistons with 20 points.
MAVERICKS 109, 76ERS 91
Luka Doncic had 19 points and 12 assists, Dwight Powell scored 10 of his 18 points in a decisive third quarter and host Dallas beat Philadelphia.
Powell was 5 of 6 from the field and had four of his season-high 12 rebounds in the third quarter, when the Mavericks outscored the 76ers 32-16 to turn a nine-point deficit into a 73-66 lead that grew to a 21-point margin in the fourth.
Tobias Harris had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers. Philadelphia played its second game without Joel Embiid. The star center is sidelined after surgery for a torn ligament in a finger on his left hand.
CAVALIERS 113 NUGGETS 103
Kevin Love had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead visiting Cleveland Cavaliers past Denver.
Collin Sexton finished with 25 points, Tristan Thompson had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Darius Garland added another with 18 points and eight assists for Cleveland, which held off a Denver rally to win its second straight.
Held in check for three quarters, Jamal Murray had 14 points in the period while Nikola Jokic scored 10 in the fourth and hit a 3-pointer that gave Denver its first lead of the game at 96-95. Murray finished with 24, while Jokic had 19.
LAKERS 125, THUNDER 110
Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 36 points and visiting Los Angeles rolled past Oklahoma City without stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Lakers coach Frank
Vogel said James had a chest cold. James is averaging 25.4 points, a leagueleading 10.7 assists and 8.7 rebounds and has helped the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference. Davis, who leads the Lakers with 27.1 points per game, missed his second straight game with a gluteus maximus contusion.
Kuzma, in just his third start of the season, made 15 of 24 shots.
Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers. Los Angeles shot 51.5 percent to win its eighth in a row.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari each scored 24 points for the Thunder.
CELTICS 140, PELICANS 105
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 41 points as host Boston cruised past short-handed New Orleans.
Tatum’s first career 40-point performance helped the Celtics snap a season-high three-game losing streak.
Enes Kanter added 22 points, Gordon Hayward had 19 and Kemba Walker finished with 17 points.
Frank Jackson scored 22 points for the Pelicans. Jaxson Hayes added 20.
BUCKS 122
TRAIL BLAZERS 101
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds, Khris Middleton had 30 points and visiting Milwaukee beat Portland.
Eric Bledsoe added 29 points for the Bucks.
Damian Lillard finished with 26 points while CJ McCollum scored 20 and Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 11 rebounds.