Leonard scores career best 45, Raptors beat Jazz 122-116
LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 45 points, Pascal Siakam had a career-best 28 points with
10 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Utah Jazz 122-116 on Tuesday night.
Norman Powell scored a season-high
14 points, and the Raptors won their fourth straight at home.
Jae Crowder scored a career-high
30 points, Derrick Favors had 21 and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 as the Jazz dropped to 10-12 on the road and 18-20 overall.
Utah’s Rudy Gobert scored 16 points, and Ricky Rubio had 14.
Leonard made all seven of his fieldgoal attempts in the third quarter and added five foul shots. His 19 points were the second most in any quarter by a Raptors player this season. Serge Ibaka scored 20 points in the first quarter of a Nov. 4 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Leonard shot 16 for 22 overall, missing all three attempts from 3-point range. He went 13 for 17 at the freethrow line.
Denver Nuggets 115, New York Knicks 108
DENVER — Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists, including a late no-look pass to wrap things up, as Denver picked up its ninth straight home victory.
Reserve Malik Beasley added a career-high 23 points for the Western Conference-leading Nuggets, who have now knocked off the Knicks 11 straight times at the Pepsi Center. It was far from easy, though, with the Nuggets needing a big 3-pointer from Jokic with
2:55 remaining to finally gain some separation. The struggling Knicks have lost eight in a row.
Luke Kornet led the Knicks with
19 points, while reserve Enes Kanter scored 17 points and grabbed 12 points. Kanter’s recently voiced his displeasure about his role with the Knicks.
Portland Trail Blazers 113, Sacramento Kings 108, OT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Damian Lillard shook off a sluggish night shooting to score five of his 25 points in overtime, and Portland rallied after blowing a 14-point halftime lead.
Jusuf Nurkic had 24 points and a career-high 23 rebounds to help Portland to its fourth straight win over Sacramento. CJ McCollum added 16 points, and Maurice Harkless had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Buddy Hield scored 27 points for Sacramento. Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 19 points.
Philadelphia 76ers 119, L.A. Clipper 113
LOS ANGELES — Joel Embiid notched his NBA-leading 32nd double-double of the season in his return and Philadelphia withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally by Los Angeles.
Embiid was a game-time decision after missing one game because of a sore left knee. He didn’t appear hindered while recording 28 points and
19 rebounds. He scored 15 points in the first quarter, including 10 of the Sixers’ final 16.
Former Clipper JJ Redick added 18 points and Jimmy Butler scored 16 before being ejected to help Philadelphia improve to 8-11 on the road. Ben Simmons just missed a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Lou Williams led the Clippers with
22 points off the bench. Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari finished with 21 points each and Montrezl Harrell had
20 points and 10 rebounds.
Milwaukee Bucks 121, Detroit Pistons 98
MILWAUKEE — Brook Lopez had 25 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down a spectacular one-handed dunk and Milwaukee cruised past Detroit.
Khris Middleton had 22 points and Eric Bledsoe had 18 for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo had just 15 points, but his slam over Jon Leuer was the highlight of the night. Antetokounmpo blew past Andre Drummond, jumped and reached his right arm over a leaping Leuer for the slam during the first quarter.
Milwaukee has won four straight and eight of nine. The Bucks are an NBAbest 26-10.
Blake Griffin had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Reggie Jackson scored 19 points for Detroit, which fell to 16-19.