Holiday hits game-winner for Bucks, Beal pours in 33 to lead Wizards past Clippers, Tatum extends Celtics win streak; watch the 70th NBA All-Star Game, along with the Dunk Contest, 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge live from 11.30pm on Sky Sports Arena this Sunday
Damian Lillard matched season bests of 44 points and eight 3-pointers and added seven assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 123-119 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings.
Thursday night’s NBA results
| Sacramento Kings 119 – 123 Portland Trail Blazers |
| Milwaukee Bucks 112 – 111 Memphis Grizzlies |
| Toronto Raptors 125 – 132 Boston Celtics |
| Miami Heat 103 – 93 New Orleans Pelicans |
| Detroit Pistons 104 – 114 New York Knicks |
| Los Angeles Clippers 117 – 119 Washington Wizards |
| Golden State Warriors 98 – 120 Phoenix Suns |
| Oklahoma City Thunder 107 – 102 San Antonio Spurs |
| Denver Nuggets 113 – 103 Indiana Pacers |
Sacramento Kings 119 – 123 Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard scored 12 points over the final three minutes as Portland improved to 3-0 against the Kings this season. Enes Kanter contributed 22 points and 21 rebounds and Carmelo Anthony scored 16 points as the Trail Blazers won their third straight game.
De’Aaron Fox scored 18 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and added 12 assists for Sacramento. Buddy Hield scored 21 points as the Kings lost for the 11th time in the past 13 games.
Fox knocked down a shot and Hield followed with a 3-pointer to give the Kings a 108-103 edge with 3:49 left in the contest.
The Trail Blazers exploded with 12 straight points – the final 10 by Lillard – to take a seven-point lead with 1:15 remaining. Lillard ended the burst with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Fox later drilled a 3-pointer to pull Sacramento within 119-115 with 13.4 seconds left. Portland’s Robert Covington was called for an over-and-back violation with 10.9 seconds to play and Fox drained another trey to pull the Kings within one with 5.9 seconds to play.
Portland’s Gary Trent Jr. hit two free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining. Fox was fouled and made the first free throw with four seconds left but the Kings were unable to get the rebound after Fox intentionally missed the second. Lillard then hit two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to seal it.
Milwaukee Bucks 112 – 111 Memphis Grizzlies
Jrue Holiday’s step-back, baseline jumper with two seconds remaining powered the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, at the FedExForum in Memphis.
Holiday’s shot over the outstretched hand of Dillon Brooks capped a wild final 39.1 seconds in which the two teams exchanged the lead five times.
The raucous stretch included a goaltending call against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant scoring the last of his game-high 35 points on a layup in traffic, just seconds before Holiday’s game-winner.
Thursday was Morant’s second consecutive game with 35 points.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He dished the final of his eight assists out of a double-team in the paint, finding a wide-open Pat Connaughton for a corner 3-pointer that began the game-ending back-and-forth.
Connaughton scored 15 points off the bench, matching Holiday’s output. Khris Middleton scored 22 points for Milwaukee and notched a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Toronto Raptors 125 – 132 Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half and the host Boston Celtics downed the short-handed Toronto Raptors 132-125.
Grant Williams added a season-high 17 points off the bench, and Kemba Walker scored 15 for the Celtics, who extended their winning streak to four.
Chris Boucher scored a career-high 30 points, Norman Powell 25 and Terence Davis 22 as the Raptors lost for the second straight night. Kyle Lowry had 14 points and a career-high 19 assists.
Toronto played once again without three starters – Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby – and reserves Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw due to health and safety protocols. Head coach Nick Nurse and members of his staff were also unavailable.
Miami Heat 103 – 93 New Orleans Pelicans
Jimmy Butler returned from a two-game absence to score 29 points as the visiting Miami Heat defeated the Zion Williamson-less New Orleans Pelicans 103-93.
Butler, who had been sidelined by right knee inflammation, scored 10 points during the final six minutes as the Heat held off a Pelicans comeback.
Kelly Olynyk added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic scored 13 each and Andre Iguodala had 10 for Miami, which completed a season sweep against New Orleans.
Williamson, who has been selected to make his first All-Star Game appearance Sunday, did not play because of a toe injury.
Brandon Ingram scored 17 points, Steven Adams added 15, Nickeil Alexander-Walker netted 13, Josh Hart had 12, Kira Lewis Jr. 11 and Lonzo Ball 10 to lead the Pelicans.
Detroit Pistons 104 – 114 New York Knicks
Julius Randle regained his All-Star form, finishing with 27 points and 16 rebounds to help the host New York Knicks close out the season’s first half with a 114-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Coming off a subpar 14-point performance in a loss to the Spurs on Tuesday, Randle shot 11-for-19 from the field and had seven assists to help New York persevere despite playing without Derrick Rose for the second consecutive game due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Rose returned multiple negative tests for COVID-19 before the game, but the league ruled him ineligible to play against his former team.
All five Knicks starters scored in double figures. RJ Barrett scored 21 points and had five assists and four rebounds.
Los Angeles Clippers 117 – 119 Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal had 33 points and seven rebounds, and the Washington Wizards rallied to beat the visiting and short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 119-117.
Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds and four steals for the Wizards, who trailed by as many as 16 in the first half. Moritz Wagner scored 12 points with three steals and Davis Bertans and Raul Neto chipped in 11 points apiece.
Kawhi Leonard, who returned after missing Tuesday’s loss to the Boston Celtics with back spasms, led seven Clippers scoring in double figures with 22 points. Clippers All-Star forward Paul George was a late scratch with dizziness.
Beal’s two free throws with 11.7 seconds put the Wizards up 118-115. Zubac hit two foul shots with 8.5 seconds remaining to close the gap to one before Rui Hachimura missed one of two free throws with seven seconds left.
But Beal grabbed the offensive rebound to seal the win for Washington, which ended a two-game slide.
Golden State Warriors 98 – 120 Phoenix Suns
The host Phoenix Suns finished the NBA’s first half in second place in the Western Conference after shellacking the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors 120-98.
One year after tying for ninth in the West, the Suns used a 16th victory in their past 19 games to take a 24-11 record into the break. They sit one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (24-13) and 1 1/2 up on the Los Angeles Clippers (24-14).
The Suns trail only the Utah Jazz (27-9).
Facing a team that was resting Curry and Draymond Green after a rough loss at Portland the night before, the Suns were never seriously challenged by the Warriors.
Reserve Cameron Payne led seven Suns in double figures with 17 points to go with a game-high 10 assists. Fellow backups Abdel Nader and Dario Saric had 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Devin Booker scored 16 points, Jae Crowder 14, Deandre Ayton 11 and Chris Paul 10 for the Suns, who outshot the Warriors 51 percent to 43.2 percent. Ayton added a team-high 10 rebounds.
Oklahoma City Thunder 107 – 102 San Antonio Spurs
Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the visiting Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 113-103 in Indianapolis.
Jamal Murray scored 23 points and Will Barton had 16 for Denver, which improved to 4-0 on its road trip.
Myles Turner had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Domantas Sabonis had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Doug McDermott finished with 20 points, Justin Holiday scored 16 and Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. McConnell had 10 each for the Pacers.
