Zion’s 28 points see Pelicans past Suns; Fox sparks Kings upset against Celtics; Sky Sports coverage of the NBA continues on Thursday night when the Golden State Warriors travel to Dallas, join us from 12.30am on Sky Sports Arena
Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined to score 73 points Wednesday night to help the visiting Dallas Mavericks end their six-game losing streak with a 122-116 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Wednesday night’s NBA results
| Philadelphia 76ers 118 – 111 Charlotte Hornets |
| Indiana Pacers 110 – 130 Milwaukee Bucks |
| Dallas Mavericks 122 – 116 Atlanta Hawks |
| New York Knicks 107 – 103 Chicago Bulls |
| Los Angeles Clippers 121 – 99 Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Washington Wizards 103 – 100 Miami Heat |
| Houston Rockets 87 – 104 Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Minnesota Timberwolves 108 – 111 San Antonio Spurs |
| Phoenix Suns 101 – 123 New Orleans Pelicans |
| Boston Celtics 111 – 116 Sacramento Kings |
Doncic scored 27 points, his eighth straight game with 25-plus points, and posted his 11th double-double with eight rebounds and 14 assists. Porzingis earned his fourth double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Hardaway came off the bench to make five 3-pointers and score 22.
The Mavericks nearly blew a big fourth-quarter lead. Dallas were on top 111-96 with 3:47 left, but Atlanta went on a 16-4 run and cut the margin to 115-112 on Trae Young’s 3-pointer with 42.3 seconds remaining.
However, the Hawks never got any closer, as Porzingis tipped in a Doncic miss and the Mavs made five of six free throws down the stretch.
The win also ended the Mavs’ seven-game losing streak in Atlanta, thanks in part to a constant double-team on Young which limited him to 21 points.
Atlanta was led by John Collins, who matched his career-high with 35 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds. Kevin Huerter added 21 points and 10 assists and Danilo Gallinari came off the bench to score 19. Clint Capela contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds.
New Orleans Pelicans 123 – 101 Phoenix Suns
Zion Williamson scored 28 points as the Pelicans defeated the Phoenix Suns 123-101 in New Orleans.
Williamson made 12 of 14 field-goal attempts while contributing seven rebounds and six assists.
New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram scored 23, Lonzo Ball added 18 and Steven Adams returned from a one-game absence caused by a sore calf to score 11 points and grab 13 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe scored 11, JJ Redick came off the bench after three games as a healthy scratch to score 10 and reserve Josh Hart also had 10 as the Pelicans ended a two-game skid.
Devin Booker scored 25, Deandre Ayton added 13 points and 11 rebounds, Abdel Nadar had 11 points and Chris Paul scored 10 to lead Phoenix. The Suns saw their three-game winning streak end as they head back to the desert for a seven-game homestand.
Boston Celtics 111 – 116 Sacramento Kings
De’Aaron Fox scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and also had 11 assists to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 116-111 victory over the visiting Boston Celtics.
Harrison Barnes added 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton matched his season-best of five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points off the bench for the Kings. Buddy Hield contributed 15 points and a season-high 11 rebounds as Sacramento won for the fifth time in the past six games.
Jayson Tatum recorded 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 21 for the Celtics, who have lost six of their past nine games. Tristan Thompson scored a season-high 17 points and collected 10 rebounds and Daniel Theis had 11 points.
Boston’s Kemba Walker (knee) was held out for rest on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Celtics shot 45.3 percent from the field and were 11 of 33 from 3-point range.
A three-point play by Richaun Holmes and a layup by Fox gave the Kings a 110-105 lead with 1:32 left. But just 26 seconds later, it was a one-point game after Tatum converted a three-point play to move Boston within 112-111.
Fox drilled a free-throw line jumper to make it a three-point margin with 52.8 seconds remaining and Boston didn’t score again. Tatum missed a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left before Hield put the game away with two free throws with 0.6 seconds left.
Houston Rockets 87 – 104 Oklahoma City Thunder
Kenrich Williams scored a season-high 19 points off the bench to help the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-87 home win over the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets had their six-game winning streak snapped while the Thunder won at home for just the second time this season.
In their meeting two days earlier, the Rockets scored 48 first-quarter points en route to a season-high 136 points in a 30-point win over the Thunder. This time round, Houston didn’t reach 48 points until Eric Gordon’s 3-pointer more than three minutes into the third quarter.
Houston was coming off a game where it hit a franchise-record 28 3-pointers. Wednesday night, the Rockets were just 12 of 46 (26.1 percent) from behind the arc, missing 12 consecutive 3-point tries in the first half.
Houston’s scoring total and 3-point shooting percentages were both season lows. The Rockets’ 38.4 percent shooting from the floor was their second-worst of the season.
The Thunder were without a pair of starters, including leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and lost a third in the first half as Luguentz Dort left in the first quarter and didn’t return due to knee soreness. John Wall was out for the Rockets, who were playing the first half of a back-to-back.
Minnesota Timberwolves 108 – 111 San Antonio Spurs
DeMar DeRozan poured in 30 points, 16 of those in the fourth quarter, as the San Antonio Spurs roared back from a 16-point deficit in fourth quarter to defeat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 111-108.
The Spurs trailed 97-81 with just over 10 minutes remaining when they mounted a 20-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 101-99 on a driving layup by Jakob Poeltl with 4:16 to play.
From that point on San Antonio never trailed, as DeRozan converted three free throws and contested jumper – and grabbed two rebounds – in the final three minutes to help cement the game.
Poeltl scored a season-high 19 point for the Spurs, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Dejounte Murray scored 15 points and took 11 rebounds, and Derrick White hit for 10 points.
Malik Beasley led Minnesota with 29 points while D’Angelo Russell had 20 and Anthony Edwards 14 for the Timberwolves, who have lost nine straight road games.
