Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his second triple-double in as many games to help the Milwaukee Bucks hold off Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards, while James Harden fired the Brooklyn Nets to victory in New York on Saturday night.
Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while eight Bucks scored in double-figures as Milwaukee came good with a 125-119 victory against the Wizards in DC.
The hosts were without Bradley Beal, All-Star and the league’s leading scorer, who sat out the second leg of Washington’s weekend back-to-back due to a knee injury. But team-mate Russell Westbrook picked up the slack.
Westbrook matched Antetokounmpo with a triple-double, posting a sensational 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists as they became the sixth pair of opponents to drop 30-plus point triple-doubles in NBA history.
The teams play again on Monday.
Saturday night’s NBA results
| New York Knicks 119-97 Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Milwaukee Bucks 125-119 Washington Wizards |
| Detroit Pistons 95-100 Brooklyn Nets |
| Toronto Raptors 104-114 Charlotte Hornets |
| Sacramento Kings 106-121 Atlanta Hawks |
| Portland Trail Blazers 125-121 Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Indiana Pacers 122-111 Phoenix Suns |
| Dallas Mavericks 116-103 Denver Nuggets |
Detroit Pistons 95-100 Brooklyn Nets
James Harden hit a tie-breaking layup with 97 seconds remaining, while posting another triple-double of 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, as the Nets withstood a late challenge from the Pistons on Saturday night in New York.
Harden’s ninth triple-double for the Nets, and clutch plays in the final minutes, helped Brooklyn improve to 12-1.
Kyrie Irving added 18 points for the Nets, who shot 48.1 per cent from the field and overcame a 6-of-27 night from three-point range.
Landry Shamet chipped in 15 and DeAndre Jordan contributed 14 (all on dunks) to go along with nine rebounds for Brooklyn.
Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 22 points but was scoreless in the fourth. Delon Wright and Bey chipped in 13 points for the Pistons, who shot 40.4 per cent and missed 24 of 32 tries from three-point range, including 19 consecutive misses at one point.
New York Knicks 119-97 Oklahoma City Thunder
R.J. Barrett scored a career-high 32 points and Julius Randle had a triple-double to lead the visiting Knicks to victory over Thunder.
Randle helped the Knicks take control, scoring 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help New York extend a 10-point lead to as many as 26 points.
Randle also had 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his second triple-double of the season and eighth of his career.
Immanuel Quickley scored 21 of New York’s 45 points from the bench.
Al Horford led the Thunder with 16 points, going 7-of-9 from the field. Luguentz Dort added 14 points.
Sacramento Kings 106-121 Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young and Clint Capela combined for 52 points to lift the Hawks to victory over the visiting Kings, extending their winning streak to four games.
Young made five three-pointers and scored 28 points with nine assists. Capela had 24 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Atlanta also got 16 points from John Collins and 15 points off the bench from Danilo Gallinari.
Sacramento was led by De’Aaron Fox with 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Richaun Holmes added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Indiana Pacers 122-111 Phoenix Suns
Malcolm Brogdon scored 25 points while Doug McDermott and Domantas Sabonis added 22 apiece to lead the Indiana Pacers to just their second victory in eight games.
Sabonis added 13 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals while notching his fifth triple-double of the season while Myles Turner scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and contributed eight rebounds and four blocked shots for Indiana. Caris LeVert added 13 points in his Indiana debut and Justin Holiday scored 10 points.
Devin Booker registered 20 points and seven assists, and Dario Saric scored 17 points but the Suns saw their five-game winning streak come to an end as they lost for just the fourth time in 21 games.
Deandre Ayton added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges and Abdel Nader also scored 14 points apiece for Phoenix.
Portland Trail Blazers 125-121 Minnesota Timberwolves
Carmelo Anthony scored eight of his team-high 26 points in an early fourth-quarter run that allowed the Trail Blazers to rally past Minnesota.
Damian Lillard nearly matched his team-mate with 25 points while also completing a double-double with a game-high 10 assists for Portland.
Enes Kanter also had a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Gary Trent Jr. added 14 points and Derrick Jones Jr. 11 for the Trail Blazers.
Karl-Anthony Towns had a game-high 34 points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Anthony Edwards went for 21 points, Jaylen Nowell 17, Reid 11 and Juan Hernangomez 10 for Minnesota. Ricky Rubio also had 10 points to complement a team-high eight assists.
Dallas Mavericks 116-103 Denver Nuggets
Kristaps Porzingis scored 25 points with Luka Doncic sinking 21 points and 12 assists as the visiting Mavericks eased past the Nuggets.
Josh Richardson finished with 20 points, Jalen Brunson scored 12 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 11 for Dallas.
Nikola Jokic was a rebound shy of a triple-double, finishing with 26 points and 11 assists for Denver. Will Barton and Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 each and Jamal Murray had 10 points for the Nuggets, who saw their winning streak come to an end at five games.
Porter Jr. overcame early foul trouble to score 17 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Toronto Raptors 104-114 Charlotte Hornets
LaMelo Ball scored a game-high 23 points to help the Hornets set multiple franchise records for three-pointers in their victory over the visiting Raptors.
Ball shot 6-of-9 from three-point range and added nine rebounds and six assists.
The Hornets, who shot 21-for-49 from three-point range, scored 31 of the game’s first 40 points and hit nine three-pointers over the game’s first seven minutes and 45 seconds.
Charlotte set franchise records for most three-pointers in a half (16) and in a first quarter (11).
Toronto, who lost their sixth game in its past seven, were again missing Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols.
Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds while Chris Boucher totalled 16 points. Norman Powell had 13 points and Paul Watson 12. DeAndre’ Bembry scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds.
