Jamal Murray scores season-high 52 points, Nuggets hold off Pacers 135-120
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jamal Murray scored a season-high 52 points and Nikola Jokic fell just short of another triple-double to help the Denver Nuggets hold off the short-handed Indiana Pacers 135-120 on Wednesday night.
Murray was 19 of 25 from the field and even better from 3-point range, 10 of 11, despite being listed as questionable because of a sprained right ankle late in the afternoon. He fell three points short of matching his career high.
Jokic had 24 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists playing in front of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. He came up two rebounds short of starting December with back-to-back triple-doubles but he still holds the league lead with 11 this season.
Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr and Peyton Watson all finished in double figures as the Nuggets won for the third time in five games.
BUCKS 113, PISTONS 109
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. scored 26 points, Ryan Rollins added 22 and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame the loss of Giannis Antetokounmpo to an injury three minutes into the game to beat the Detroit Pistons.
AJ Green had 19 points and Jericho Sims finished with a career-high 15 points and tied a career best with 14 rebounds as Milwaukee won for just the second time in 10 games.
Antetokounmpo left with what the Bucks said was a right calf strain, not long after coach Doc Rivers said before the game there have been no talks between team officials and the two-time MVP about a potential exit from Milwaukee.
CLIPPERS 115, HAWKS 92
ATLANTA (AP) — James Harden had 27 points and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers ended a five-game losing streak with a win over the Atlanta Hawks in their first game after deciding to move on without Chris Paul.
Kawhi Leonard had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Ivica Zubac contributed 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers, who won for just the sixth time this season.
Earlier in the day, the Clippers sent home 12-time All-Star Paul, who was averaging 2.3 points in what is expected to be the final season of his 21-year NBA career. He played in 16 of the Clippers’ 21 games in his return to the franchise where he had some of the best years of his career.
KNICKS 119, HORNETS 104
NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and the New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets.
Mikal Bridges had 16 points, Deuce McBride scored 15 and Josh Hart had 15 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. New York (14-7) improved to 11-1 at Madison Square Garden this season.
LaMelo Ball had 34 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Tidjane Salaun and Kon Knueppel each had 13 points. Charlotte (6-16) fell to 1-10 on the road and dropped its ninth straight away from home.
MAVERICKS 118, HEAT 108
DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 22 points, Anthony Davis had 17 points and 17 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks extended their first winning streak of the season to three games with a victory over the Miami Heat.
Undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard had 15 points and a season-high 13 assists after scoring a career-high 28 points in the previous game, a 131-121 victory over Denver. Klay Thompson scored 17 points in his relatively new role off the bench.
Kel’el Ware had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, while Tyler Herro scored 20 points but was shut out after halftime in his fifth game of the season coming off surgery to repair an issue affecting his left ankle and foot.
NETS 113, BULLS 103
CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets won consecutive games for the first time this season, beating the depleted Chicago Bulls.
Noah Clowney scored 18 of his 20 points the second half to help the Nets improve to 5-16. Nic Claxton had 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Josh Giddey had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double this season for Chicago. The Bulls dropped to 9-12 with their fifth loss in a row.
ROCKETS 121, KINGS 85
HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 24 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings.
Amen Thompson finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who bounced back from a loss to Utah to avoid dropping consecutive games for the first time since their first two games of the season.
Thompson shot 8 of 16 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Sengun also had four steals and Durant finished with eight assists.
Maxime Raynaud finished with 25 points and six rebounds for the Kings. Malik Monk had 25 points, five assists and two steals.
SPURS 114, MAGIC 112
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Luke Kornet blocked Franz Wagner’s last-second layup, De’Aaron Fox scored 31 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic.
Fox scored the Spurs’ final 10 points, the last on two free throws with 1.4 seconds left after a foul on Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac. Orlando got the ball to Wagner under the basket, but Kornet swatted it out of bounds as the horn sounded, his third block of the game.
San Antonio has won seven of nine with Victor Wembanyama out with a strained left calf.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, CAVALIERS 110
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deni Avdija scored 27 points, Caleb Love and Shaedon Sharpe added 20 apiece off the bench and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 33 points, and Evan Mobley had 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Cavaliers have dropped four of five and this was their first loss this season against a team with a losing record.
The Trail Blazers had six players in double figures as they went 34 of 39 from the foul line. Avdija was 16 of 17.
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