Banchero, Magic rally past Sixers
Paolo Banchero had 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Orlando Magic stormed back from a 21-point firstquarter deficit to beat the host Philadelphia 76ers 119109 on Monday night.
Mo Wagner scored 22 points and his younger brother Franz Wagner scored 19 for the Magic, who stopped a three-game skid and ended the Sixers' sevengame winning streak.
Joel Embiid had 30 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia, his 27th game this season scoring 30 or more and his ninth in the past 10.
The Magic methodically worked their way back from the early hole, trimming the Sixers' lead to 10 points at halftime. Orlando went ahead for the first time on a 3-pointer by Gary Harris in the third quarter.
NETS 121, LAKERS 104 >> Kyrie Irving had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead host Brooklyn over the Los Angeles Lakers, who played without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Patty Mills and Cam Thomas added 21 points apiece for the Nets, who won their second straight and are 4-6 since Kevin Durant sprained a ligament in his right knee. Lakers coach Darvin Ham said James was experiencing “really significant soreness” in his left foot and would be evaluated today to see if he could play at the New York Knicks tonight.
James is 117 points shy of passing Kareem AbdulJabbar for the NBA's career scoring record. It was a planned day off for Davis so he didn't play both ends of a back-to-back after returning last week from a 20game absence due to a right foot injury,
Thomas Bryant had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, while Russell Westbrook finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
WIZARDS 127, SPURS 106 >> Bradley Beal had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for visiting Washington, which saw all five starters score at least 14 points. Deni Avdija scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench. Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 26 points and Jeremy Sochan had 17.
KINGS 118, TIMBERWOLVES 111 (OT) >> De'Aaron Fox scored 32 points to lead visiting Sacramento. His two free throws with 17 seconds left in overtime for the game's final points all but sealed Minnesota's fate. Domantas Sabonis contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds. Anthony Edwards scored 33 points for the Timberwolves and Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 14 rebounds. CELTICS' MAZULLA TO COACH TEAM GIANNIS >> Joe Mazzulla started the season as an assistant coach. He then became interim head coach of the Boston Celtics, in a most unexpected way. And now, the NBA's youngest head coach is headed to the All-Star Game. The 34-yearold Mazzulla and his Celtics staff of assistants will coach Team Giannis — the team that will be captained by Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo — in the Feb. 19 game at Salt Lake City. They clinched that chance Monday night when Philadelphia lost to Orlando, an outcome that ensured Boston would have the leading record in the Eastern Conference at the close of play on Sunday.