NBA: Julius Randle, Knicks knock off Pistons

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 on Thursday night.

Coming off a subpar 14-point performance in a loss to the Spurs on Tuesday, Randle shot 11-for-19 from the field and also 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 COVD-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 to go along with five assists and four rebounds.

The Pistons spread the points out even more, finishing with eight players in double figures. Wayne Ellington led with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

The Knicks welcomed back Elfrid Payton, who missed four games with a right hamstring injury. He finished with 20 points and six rebounds on 7-for-14 shooting. Taj Gibson remained out with a sprained left ankle.

Reggie Bullock and Nerlens Noel each added 12 points for the Knicks, and Noel contributed 11 rebounds.

Rookie Immanuel Quickley, though, who entered averaging just over 12 points per game, played only 13 minutes and was held scoreless.

The Knicks shot 54.2 percent from the field, outrebounded the Pistons, 47-29, and outscored them, 66-38, in the paint.

Saddiq Bey had 14 points for Detroit, while Mason Plumlee finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Rodney McGruder had 13 points off the Pistons bench, and Dennis Smith Jr. added 12 points. Reserves Isaiah Stewart and Sekou Doumbouya each had 10.

Jerami Grant (left quad), Josh Jackson (illness), Frank Jackson (illness), Killian Hayes (right hip strain), Delon Wright (right groin strain), Jahlil Okafor (left knee surgery) and Blake Griffin (not with the team) were out for Detroit.

The Knicks open the second half with a four-game road trip beginning March 11 at Milwaukee. The Pistons also resume on the road with back-to-back games at Charlotte and Brooklyn on March 11 and 13.

-reuters-

NBA: Knicks top Pistons for season-best 4th straight win

Julius Randle and Wayne Ellington had 17 points apiece and the visiting New York Knicks extended their season-best winning streak to four games by slipping past the Detroit Pistons 95-92 on Saturday.

Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis scored 11 points apiece and Elfrid Payton had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists for New York. The Knicks outrebounded Detroit 47-28, including a 16-3 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 20 points and nine assists. Christian Wood had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Tony Snell and John Henson contributed 12 points apiece. Henson was making his Detroit debut after being acquired from Cleveland on Thursday.

Henson made all five of his field-goal attempts in the first half as Detroit led 50-48 at halftime.

The Knicks tied it at 58-all just over five minutes into the second half. The Pistons scored the next seven points, capped by a Wood fast-break dunk.

New York knotted the game again at 67 before the quarter with a 6-0 spurt, including a pair of Portis baskets.

A 7-1 Detroit run gave it an 84-77 advantage. Jackson made a layup, Snell converted in the lane and Wood drained a corner 3-pointer off a Snell feed during that span.

New York came right back with nine unanswered points to regain the lead. Randle made a layup, then tossed an alley oop for a Mitchell Robinson dunk. Ellington knocked a 3-pointer and Payton converted a layup to put New York in front 86-84.

The game remained nip and tuck. Payton hit a floater with 1:29 to go for a 91-89 Knicks lead. Jackson missed a layup on Detroit's next possession.

New York missed its next two shots but retained possession with offensive rebounds. Randle then scored in the lane with 13.5 seconds left.

Wood heaved in a 3-pointer before New York's Reggie Bullock knocked down two free throws with 7.3 seconds left. Jackson's 3-point attempt on the Pistons' last possession bounced off the rim.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Davis scores 48 as Pelicans nip Mavs, end 5-game skid

Anthony Davis scored a season-high 48 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the host New Orleans Pelicans ended a five-game losing streak by beating the Dallas Mavericks 114-112 on Friday night.

Julius Randle added 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 18 for the Pelicans, who won for just the second time in their last nine games decided by five or fewer points.

Rookie Luka Doncic scored 34 points, Harrison Barnes added 21, Dennis Smith Jr. had 14, Dirk Nowitzki 11 and Dwight Powell 10 for the Mavericks, who ended a six-game losing streak by beating the Pelicans 122-119 on Wednesday in Dallas.

It was Smith's first game back after missing six because of a sprained right wrist.

The Mavericks took an 11-point halftime lead after they made 10 of 19 3-pointers in the first half while the Pelicans made 1 of 13.

Doncic made a 3-pointer to help Dallas extend the lead to 13 early in the third quarter before the Pelicans made a push.

Randle made four baskets as New Orleans climbed within three points.

After Barnes made a 3-pointer and Smith converted a three-point play, the Pelicans made another run.

Ian Clark made a 3-pointer and Davis and Solomon Hill each made a free throw as the Mavericks' lead shrunk to 88-86 after three quarters.

New Orleans finally caught up early in the fourth quarter and the score was tied at 94, 96, 99 and 101 before Randle's layup gave the Pelicans a 103-102 lead.

The score was tied three more times before Davis' jumper gave New Orleans a 111-109 lead with 2:12 left.

Doncic's 3-pointer gave Dallas a one-point lead, but Davis answered with a three-point play that gave the Pelicans a 114-112 lead with 43 seconds left.

Smith missed a jumper and Davis rebounded for New Orleans, which called a timeout.

Davis missed a step-back 3-pointer and the Mavericks rebounded with four seconds left.

After a time out, the Mavericks cleared out for Smith, who dribbled across the key and drove toward the rim but didn't get a shot off before time expired.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Davis scores 40 as Pelicans beat Nuggets

Anthony Davis had his second consecutive 40-point game as the host New Orleans Pelicans held on for a 125-115 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.

Davis, who had 43 points one night earlier, led five Pelicans in double figures as the team won for the fifth time in its last six games.

Julius Randle came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds, Nikola Mirotic had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Jrue Holiday overcame foul trouble to score 19 points and E'Twaun Moore added 13.

Nikola Jokic had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nuggets, who lost for the fifth time in their last six games. Gary Harris scored 24, Juan Hernangomez had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Monte Morris came off the bench to add 13 and Jamal Murray scored 11.

Davis made 20 of 21 free throws as New Orleans finished 31 of 34 at the line and Denver was 8 of 13.

New Orleans led by three at halftime, but Denver tied the score twice early in the third quarter and Holiday went to the bench after committing his fourth foul.

But Davis' basket started an 8-0 run that gave the Pelicans an 85-77 lead.

New Orleans led by as many as 13 points before finishing the third quarter with a 98-88 advantage.

Murray started the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer and the Nuggets got within seven points twice more, but four points each by Holiday and Davis gave the Pelicans a 110-95 lead with less than seven minutes remaining.

Jokic and Davis got into a shootout in the early going. The Nuggets led for most of the first quarter as Jokic scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting.

Davis led the way as the Pelicans finished strong to take a 37-35 lead after the first quarter.

Jokic didn't score in the second quarter, but Davis kept on scoring and finished the half with 22 points. New Orleans led by as many as eight points before settling for a 70-67 halftime lead as both teams had four double-figure scorers by halftime.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Holiday, Moore push Pelicans past Raptors

Jrue Holiday had 29 points and 14 assists, E'Twaun Moore scored 30 points and the visiting New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Toronto Raptors 126-110 Monday night.

Anthony Davis added 25 points and 20 rebounds for the Pelicans, who won their third game in a row by giving the Raptors their first home loss in eight games this season. Toronto is 12-2 overall.

Julius Randle chipped in with 17 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans.

Pascal Siakam scored 22 points for the Raptors. Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, Serge Ibaka had 19 points and 14 rebounds, OG Anunoby 17 points and Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright 10 points each.

The Pelicans took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, but it was down to six after one minute when the Raptors had a 7-2 surge.

The Pelicans regained the 11-point advantage on a 3-pointer by Darius Miller. When Moore scored on a layup with 8:39 to play, the lead was increased to 14.

The Raptors trimmed the deficit to nine before Davis made consecutive layups. Holiday hit a 3-pointer and assisted on a Moore basket to increase the lead to 17 with 4:24 to play.

Cheick Diallo's layup with 22 seconds left closed the first-quarter scoring and gave the Pelicans a 31-29 lead.

Randle made two free throws to put the Pelicans ahead by seven points with 6:23 to play in the second quarter.

Leonard's 3-pointer tied the game at 50 with 4:08 left in the half. The Pelicans nudged away again and led by six on Randle's layup with 59 seconds left.

The Pelicans led 66-61 at halftime, with Moore scoring 17 points and Randle adding 12.

Ibaka led Toronto with 17 first-half points and nine rebounds. Leonard added 15 points, and Siakam had 10.

Siakam's 3-pointer tied the score at 70 early in the third quarter. The Pelicans followed that with a 9-0 run on a 3-pointer by Davis, two consecutive layups by Randle and one by Holiday.

Davis made two free throws with 3:58 to play in the third to bump the Pelicans' lead to 11, and Diallo's cutting layup had the lead at 13.

The Pelicans led 94-83 after three quarters.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Lakers outlast Mavs in overtime, 107-101

Julius Randle recorded 23 points and 15 rebounds and Jordan Clarkson scored five of his 19 points in overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers stretched their season-best winning streak to four games with a 107-101 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

Kyle Kuzma scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tallied 17 for the Lakers. Kuzma also collected 10 rebounds as Los Angeles held a 59-39 edge on the boards.

Dennis Smith Jr. scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half for Dallas. Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews added 17 points apiece and Dwight Powell scored 13 on 6-of-7 shooting for the Mavericks, who had a modest two-game winning streak snapped.


Clarkson drained a 3-pointer for the first points of overtime. He later added a jumper to make it 104-99 with two minutes left, and Dallas managed only two free throws the rest of the way.

Los Angeles used a strong fourth-quarter push to force overtime. The Lakers posted a 7-0 run to hold a 92-87 edge with 1:25 remaining in regulation as Caldwell-Pope began the spurt with a go-ahead 3-pointer and Clarkson and Randle added baskets to make it 92-87.

Consecutive baskets by Barnes and Smith pushed Dallas within 94-93 with 14 seconds left. After Caldwell-Pope split two free throws, Barnes' hoop knotted the score at 95 with 5.9 seconds remaining, and Los Angeles' Lonzo Ball missed a jumper just prior to the buzzer.

Lakers forward Brandon Ingram exited in the second quarter due to a sprained left ankle.

Dallas began a 10-0 run in the final minute of the third quarter and took an 80-70 lead on Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 9:32 to play. The Lakers answered with a 15-3 burst and took the lead on a Kuzma shot with 4:40 remaining before a free throw by Randle made it 85-83 with 3:59 to play.

Randle scored 10 first-quarter points as the Lakers jumped out to a 31-20 lead.

Los Angeles led by six with just over five minutes left in the second quarter before the Mavericks erupted with 15 straight points. Smith scored seven points during the surge and Ferrell capped it with a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 52-43 lead with 2:13 to play.

The Mavericks took a 52-46 lead into the break.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Randle, Lakers cruise past Kings

Julius Randle contributed 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 99-86 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Brook Lopez scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 16 for the Lakers, who have won back-to-back games after losing nine straight. Brandon Ingram scored 15 points, and Lonzo Ball had 11 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals despite scoring only five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points for Sacramento, which has lost seven of its last nine games. De'Aaron Fox tallied 15 points and Buddy Hield had 13 for the Kings, who shot just 34.5 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers.

The Lakers (13-27) committed 26 turnovers but won with their defense by holding the Kings to 12 fourth-quarter points on 5-of-22 shooting. Los Angeles made 48.1 percent of its field-goal attempts.


The consecutive wins are the first for Los Angeles since Dec. 7-9.

The Kings (13-27) began the third quarter with a 12-3 run, taking a 64-56 advantage on Vince Carter's 3-pointer with 9:15 left. Los Angeles answered with nine consecutive points to regain the lead, and later scored 12 in a row to take an 82-69 advantage on a dunk by Larry Nance Jr. with 2:21 left.

The Lakers held an 84-74 lead entering the final quarter before Sacramento pulled within five on a 3-pointer by Hield with 9:16 to play. Los Angeles responded with an 11-3 burst and took a 97-84 edge on Kyle Kuzma's layup with 3:32 to go before closing it out.

The Lakers came out fast out of the gate and used a 19-0 surge to take a 24-6 lead just past the midway point of the first quarter. Ingram scored eight in a row at one point during the stretch.

Sacramento whittled the deficit to seven late in the quarter and used a 9-0 run that ended early in the second quarter to knot the score at 31. The Kings moved ahead at 36-35 on Bogdanovic's basket with 7:51 left in the half before the Lakers scored the next seven points.

Los Angeles led 53-52 at the break.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

WATCH: Highlights of Lakers' win over Golden State

The Los Angeles Lakers registered one of the biggest regular season upsets in NBA history on Sunday when they stunned the league-leading Golden State Warriors, 112-95, at the Staples Center.

Jordan Clarkson led the way for the Lakers with 25 points, while rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell added 21 points and five assists. Julius Randle had a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Kobe Bryant scored 12 points in his final game against the Warriors.

Marcelo Huertas came off the bench to give the Lakers a huge boost, tallying 10 points and nine assists in the shocking victory.

Golden State entered the game with a 55-5 record and on track to better the 72-10 mark set by the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls, but suffered a rare setback against a Lakers team that entered the game with a 12-51 slate.

    Season lows of four three-point field goals on 13.3 percent from three-point range for the Warriors (4-of-30 3FG)

— GSWStats (@gswstats) March 6, 2016
 
The Warriors, however, did not play up to their usual standards. Reigning MVP Stephen Curry had 18 points but shot only 6-of-20 from the field, while Klay Thompson had 15 points on 7-of-20 shooting. The "Splash Brothers" made only one of their combined 18 attempts from beyond the arc.

The Warriors fall for the sixth time this season. Despite the loss, their 55-6 record is the best mark through 61 games in NBA history

— GSWStats (@gswstats) March 6, 2016

The loss dropped Golden State to 55-6, which is still the best record through 61 games in NBA history.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lakers sign fan battling brain cancer to 1-day contract

Sometimes, there are things that are just bigger than basketball.

In the middle of another lost season and suffering a 10th straight defeat, tied for the worst in franchise history, the Los Angeles Lakers signed 18-year-old Yitzi Teichman to a one-day contract prior to their home game against the Charlotte Hornets.

10 months prior, Teichman underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor and was granted the incredible opportunity via the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Lakers are ceremoniously signing Yitzi Teichman to a 1-day contract against the Hornets - a  Make-A-Wish moment - will shoot around w/Lakers

— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) January 31, 2016



Teichman got to be with the team before, during and after the Lakers game against the Hornet and signed the contract with general manaer Mitch Kupchak.

He also got to hang out with Julius Randle and of course, Kobe Bryant.

For more of this amazing story and selfless act by a multi-billion dollar NBA franchise, watch the short clip

This story was originally published on the ABS-CBN Sports website.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bryant inspires Lakers to first victory in 7 games

Forward Kobe Bryant scored 22 points in three quarters, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to snap a six-game losing streak by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 113-95 at Staples Center on Tuesday.

Rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell came off the bench to score 19 points and record seven assists as seven Lakers reached double figures in scoring.

Guard Lou Williams scored 16 points, forward Julius Randle finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and center Roy Hibbert added 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for Los Angeles (4-21), which won for only the second time at home this season.

Reserve guard Michael Carter-Williams had 19 points and guard Khris Middleton chipped in 16 to lead Milwaukee (10-16), which has dropped three of its last four games.

Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.


The Bucks did not play anything close to their performance in Saturday's 108-95 win over Golden State that ended the Warriors' perfect 24-0 start to the season. Against the Lakers, the Bucks fell into an early hole and never recovered.

Milwaukee also was hurt playing without center Greg Monroe, who was a late scratch with a sore left knee. Monroe apparently bumped knees with a team mate during the team's shoot-around on Tuesday morning. He will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.

The Lakers dictated the first half en route to a 55-46 lead at the break and continued their dominance in the second half.

Los Angeles opened the third quarter with a 10-2 surge, including a crowd-pleasing dunk by forward Larry Nance Jr over Bucks center John Henson, for a 17-point advantage after a Bryant fadeaway at 8:47.

Another Lakers run that featured a four-point play by Bryant pushed the lead to 75-53 after a reverse layup by Russell on an assist from Bryant. Los Angeles led 86-66 heading into the final quarter.

With the victory, the Lakers also ended a run of 14 straight opponents scoring at least 100 points.

The Bucks outshot the Lakers 47.1 percent to 46.1 percent but Los Angeles had an edge in three-pointers, making 10-of-27 (37 percent) to only 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) for Milwaukee.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lakers rookie Randle breaks leg in NBA debut

LOS ANGELES -- Injury woes mounted for the Los Angeles Lakers as rookie forward Julius Randle broke his leg in his first National Basketball Association game Tuesday night.

With just under seven minutes to play in a blowout 108-90 Houston Rockets win, Randle fell hard after a drive to the lane, breaking his tibia, the Lakers announced.

The Lakers, who lost Kobe Bryant to injury for all but six games of last season, had already been hit with injuries even before Randle got hurt. Future hall of famer Steve Nash is expected to miss the entire season, possibly ending his career with a back injury.

Randle, the number seven overall pick in the NBA entry draft, was stretchered off the court after being treated by doctors, who put his leg in an air cast.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Randle was one-for-three from the floor for two points in 13 minutes of playing time.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com