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

NBA: Mirotic comes off the bench to power Bulls over Bucks

Chicago forward Nikola Mirotic came off the bench to score 24 points and spark the visiting Bulls over Milwaukee, 115-106, in an NBA matchup Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Montenegro-born Spaniard made 9-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and grabbed eight rebounds to spark the Bulls to their 11th win in 33 games.

"Great game by us. We really stepped up," Mirotic said. "We're moving in the right direction."

Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks (17-15) with 28 points.

"We executed really good against Giannis," Mirotic said. "Offensively they really found me. We were pumped up. Defensively we rebounded really well. Offensively we need to keep improving."

   
Meanwhile, J.J. Barea led Dallas with 20 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 18 as the Mavericks upset visiting Toronto, 98-93.

The Mavericks took only their third win in 11 games to stand 10-25, still the worst record in the Western Conference.

The Raptors, led by Kirk Lowry's 23 points, saw their six-game win streak snapped and fell to 23-9 with just their second loss in 14 games.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey lamented his club shooting only 33.7 percent from the floor.

"None of us came out in the right disposition, ready to compete," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Any time you shoot 33 percent you're not going to beat too many people in the league.

"Defensively, I thought we tried to lock it down the stretch. But again, the way they started the game going coast-to-coast, we were still on Christmas break."

In another game, Tobias Harris scored 30 points, 26 of them in the first half, and the Detroit Pistons routed visiting Indiana, 107-83.

Andre Drummond added 21 points and 18 rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson sprained his right ankle during the third quarter and had to be helped to the locker room by team medical staff. Jackson had eight points and a season-high 13 assists.

Indiana's Victor Oladipo, who averaged 25.3 points, scored a season-low 13.

Miami's Josh Richardson scored 20 points while Kelly Olynyk added 15 points and 12 rebounds to power the Heat over visiting Orlando 107-89. Elfrid Payton led the Magic with 19 points.

Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 to lead six double-figure scorers as the San Antonio Spurs ripped visiting Brooklyn, 109-97.

Spanish big man Pau Gasol added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs while reserve Caris LeVert led the Nets with 18 points.

Jamal Murray had team highs of 22 points and eight rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over visiting Utah, 107-83. Derrick Favors had 20 points for the Jazz in a losing cause.

Chandler dunk wins for Suns

Tyson Chandler made an alley oop dunk shot at the final buzzer off a pass from Dragan Bender to give the Phoenix Suns a 99-97 victory over visiting Memphis.

A James Ennis 3-point play pulled the Grizzlies within 94-93 with 56 seconds remaining. After an exchange of turnovers, Phoenix's Isaiah Canaan sank two free throws to stretch the Suns' lead but Tyreke Evans made a layup to pull Memphis within 96-95 with six seconds to play.

T.J. Warren made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Suns a 97-95 edge but the Grizzlies had four seconds to set up a final shot. Evans missed a layup but Jarell Martin dunked in the rebound to level the score at 97-97.

Devin Booker scored 32 points to lead Phoenix while Warren finished with 17. Evans led the Grizzlies with 25 points.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bulls rally to shock Rockets, boost NBA playoff bid

The Chicago Bulls rallied from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to shock the Houston Rockets 103-100 and boost their NBA playoff hopes.

Nikola Mirotic drained a go-ahead three-pointer with less than three minutes to play and Houston's Trevor Ariza saw an attempted game-tying three-pointer fail at the buzzer.

Mirotic scored a game-high 28 points. His three-pointer from the corner with 2:56 remaining put the Bulls up 92-91 and was followed by a dunk from Jimmy Butler and a three-pointer from E'Twaun Moore that stretched Chicago's lead to 97-91 with 1:30 remaining.

"We're fighting for our lives," said Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg of the crucial win in a game between two teams jockeying for the final playoff spots in their respective conferences.

The Bulls were without Taj Gibson, who has a broken rib, and Derrick Rose didn't play the second half because of his bruised left elbow.

But the Bulls reserves scored 67 points and Chicago out-scored the Rockets 32-20 in the fourth quarter to come up with the win.

The Bulls now trail Indiana by one game for the eighth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers fell 114-94 to the Orlando Magic in Indianapolis on Thursday, and Chicago hold the tiebreaker over Indiana.

James Harden led the Rockets with 24 points. Houston are half a game behind Utah and Dallas, who with matching records of 37-38 occupy the last two spots in the West.

- Portland turn tables on Boston -

Al-Farouq Aminu scored a career-high 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Trail Blazers rallied for a 116-109 victory over the Boston Celtics in Portland.

CJ McCollum added 17 points and eight assists and Gerald Henderson came off the bench to score 15 points for a Portland team that had fallen 116-93 to the Celtics in Boston on March 2.

The win moved the Trail Blazers to within 1 1/2 games of the Western Conference's fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies with six games to play in the regular season.

The defeat dropped Boston from fourth to sixth in the East, half a game behind Miami and Charlotte.

- Thunder edge Clippers -

Kevin Durant scored 31 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a narrow 119-117 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Durant connected on 10-for-22 from the field and notched his 60th straight game with at least 20 points.

Russell Westbrook added 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

Playing without their five regular starters, the Clippers got a career-high 32 points from Austin Rivers and 32 from Jamal Crawford.

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