Giddey scores 23 points, Thunder rout Suns
OKLAHOMA CITY >> Josh Giddey scored 23 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder roll past the Phoenix Suns 128-103 on Friday night, despite All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting out with a bruised right thigh.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA's No. 3 scorer at 30.4 points per game, the Thunder still shot 56.3% and made 16 of 30 3-pointers. It was a critical game for the Thunder — they entered the night a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets in the race for the best record in the Western Conference.
Giddey, who averages about 12 points, has averaged 26.3 in his past three games. He made 10 of 15 field goals against Phoenix and had nine assists and seven rebounds.
Chet Holmgren scored 20 points and Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace each added 16 for Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points for the Suns. Thunder fans still haven't forgiven him for leaving Oklahoma City to join the Golden State Warriors after the 2015-16 season. They booed him during pregame introductions and whenever he touched the ball once the game started.
Bradley Beal scored 15 points and Devin Booker added 14 for the Suns, who slipped as they try to avoid the Play-In Tournament. They started the night in seventh in the Western Conference, a half- game behind the Dallas Mavericks for sixth. The Suns need to finish sixth or better to stay out of the Play-In.
Oklahoma City shot 62% in the first half to lead 7059 at the break. Isaiah Joe scored all 14 of his points in the first half and made all four of his 3-pointers. The Thunder made 8 of 11 threes before the break.
The Thunder continued their blistering shooting in the third quarter. Oklahoma City's Aaron Wiggins stole an errant Durant pass, then made a layup on the other end to put the Thunder ahead 90-68. Oklahoma City led 101-80 at the end of the period.
Jalen Green scored 30 of his 34 points in the second half and had nine rebounds as Houston beat Utah for its 10th straight win.
Fred VanVleet had 22 points, Amen Thompson added 18 points and 14 rebounds while Jabari Smith, Jr. scored 14 points for the Rockets. Houston scored 27 points off 21 Utah turnovers and outscored the Jazz 2512 in second-chance points.
John Collins led Utah with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Collin Sexton added 29 points. for the Jazz who lost their eighth straight game. Kris Dunn finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Rockets trailed the entire first half but swung momentum their way during a third-quarter scoring outburst from Green.
Green had five of Houston's first six baskets of the second half to power a 20-7 run that put the Rockets up 61-54 midway through the third quarter. He scored 20 of his team's 28 points in the quarter.
111, NUGGETS Anthony Edwards scored 25 points and Mike Conley added 23 in Minnesota's rout of Denver that sent the Timberwolves into a first-place tie in the Western Conference — and the defending NBA champion Nuggets into third place.
The Nuggets (51-23) failed to reach 100 points for the second straight game and fell a-half game behind the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who easily handled Phoenix 125-108 on Friday night.
The Nuggets were without star point guard Jamal
Murray (ankle, knee) for a fourth consecutive game, and once again their lack of depth was exposed as their bench provided very little help in Denver's second straight loss at home.
Nobody missed Murray more than MVP favorite Nikola Jokic, who had consecutive cringing turnovers to end the third quarter and missed 11 of his first 17 shots against Minnesota's pestering double teams before rallying to finish with 32 points.
PISTONS 96, WIZARDS 87 Cade Cunningham scored 33 points, Jalen Duren had 20 points and 18 rebounds and Detroit snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over Washington.
The Pistons blew a 19-point halftime lead but recovered in the matchup of the NBA's bottom two teams. Washington (14-60) still leads Detroit (13-61) by a game in the standings after the teams completed a split of their four-game season series — with the road team winning each game.
Corey Kispert scored 23 points for the Wizards, who trailed 59-40 after an abysmal first half but came all the way back to lead by one after scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter. Detroit missed its first nine shots of the fourth but quickly went back ahead and led 89-83 after a threepoint play by Cunningham.
PACERS 104, LAKERS 90 >>
Pascal Siakam finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a pivotal game for both teams' playoff aspirations.
Indiana has won four of six to retain the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, with the latest victory giving Rick Carlisle career win No. 938 to tie Red Auerbach for 12th in NBA history.
Injured All-Stars LeBron James (left ankle) and Anthony Davis (left knee) both started and played like perennial All-Stars as the Lakers tried to improve their playoff positioning from the No. 9 seed in the West.
Davis finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while James had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Austin Reaves added 16 points and 13 rebounds on a night the Lakers went 5 of 29 on 3-pointers and committed 16 turnovers, five by James.
CLIPPERS 100, MAGIC 97
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George hit jump shots in the final seconds and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Orlando.
Leonard, who scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half, put the Clippers ahead with a mid-range jumper with 34 seconds left. George scored with five seconds to play before Orlando's
Franz Wagner missed a couple of 3-point attempts just before the buzzer to finish the Clippers' fourth straight road win.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 23 points and eight rebounds, but had two of his seven turnovers late in the game.
Jalen Suggs scored 15 for the Magic and Moritz Wagner came off the bench for 12 points and nine rebounds.
It was the third straight loss for the Magic.
Dennis Schroder and Mikal Bridges each made seven 3-pointers, and Brooklyn tied an NBA record by making 18 3s in the second half of their victory over Chicago.
Cam Thomas scored 28 points and Schroder added 27 for the Nets, who made 25 3s overall and finished 18 of 24 (75%) in the second half, when they outscored the Bulls 78-56. Bridges had 25 points.
Nic Claxton finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, who have won their last three games after losing six straight.
Brooklyn shot 47% from the field and nearly 57% behind the arc.
DeMar DeRozan had 31 points and Coby White scored 18 for the Bulls, who have lost four of their last five games.
Victor Wembanyama had a career-high 40 points and added 20 rebounds and seven assists, and San Antonio overcame Jalen Brunson's career-best 61 points to beat New York in overtime.
Brunson finished one point shy of Carmelo Anthony's franchise record of 62 points on Jan. 24, 2014, missing a 3-pointer that would have given the Knicks the lead with 5.4 seconds remaining in OT.
Brunson had the fifthhighest point total in the NBA this season.
Wembanyama made a 3-pointer to give San Antonio a four-point lead in OT. He also had a blocked shot and a steal while collecting his 39th double-double in 65 games.
Devin Vasell added 23 points for the Spurs, who won three straight for the first time this season.
142, TRAIL BLAZERS
Bam Adebayo had 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and Miami had the largest margin of victory in team history, routing Portland.
The Heat remained seventh in the East and extended the Trail Blazers' losing skid to nine.
Thomas Bryant had a season-high 26 points, Terry Rozier added 22 and Haywood Highsmith finished with 20, the second time in club history that four players had with 20 or more. The Heat were never threatened after a 21-4 run put them ahead 50-29 in the second quarter.
The Heat broke the team margin record of 43 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 29, 1994, also set a club record with 41 assists. They made 21 of 39 3-pointers, with Highsmith making 5 of 6 and Rozier 6 of 10. Adebayo also made two 3-pointers.
CAVALIERS 117, 76ERS 114
Evan Mobley drained a goahead 3-pointer with 28.2 seconds left and All-Star Donovan Mitchell — in his first game back from injury — made two late free throws as Cleveland edged Philadelphia.
Georges Niang scored 25 points against his former Philly teammates and Mobley had 18 of his 20 in the second half as the Cavs, who struggled without Mitchell and won for just the second time in six games.
Darius Garland added 14 points and 12 assists for Cleveland, currently holding the No. 4 seed in the East.
The back-and-forth game featured 27 lead changes, seven in the fourth quarter.