Giannis Antetokounmpo compiled 44 points, 15 rebounds and eight rebounds as the visiting Milwaukee Bucks extended their winning streak to four games with a 131-116 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Bobby Portis added 23 points for Milwaukee, which shot 54.2 percent and led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter. Khris Middleton scored 21 points, Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 10 assists and Grayson Allen added 12 points. Antetokounmpo made his first 11 shots and finished 17 of 20 on field-goal attempts.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 27 points and eight assists. Anthony Davis had 22 points and nine rebounds, Malik Monk scored 20 points and Stanley Johnson added 16. Russell Westbrook scored 10 and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Los Angeles lost for the fifth time in the past seven games, while Milwaukee moved a season-high 14 games over .500.
Magic 113, Trail Blazers 95
Cole Anthony produced 23 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as visiting Orlando snapped a string of 10 straight losses against Portland.
Wendell Carter Jr. contributed 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots for Orlando. Chuma Okeke also scored 18; Gary Harris scored 15; Franz Wagner added 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists; and Mo Bamba recorded 13 points and nine rebounds as Orlando defeated Portland for the first time since 2017.
Anfernee Simons scored 19 points for the Trail Blazers, who have lost six straight games and eight of their past nine. Greg Brown III registered 15 points and eight rebounds, Jusuf Nurkic added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Ben McLemore scored 13 points for Portland, which made just 35.2 percent of its shots.
Pelicans 110, Rockets 97
Brandon Ingram scored 26 points and host New Orleans won a fourth straight game by defeating Houston for the second time in three days.
Jaxson Hayes and Naji Marshall scored 14 each and Jonas Valanciunas added 13 before fouling out for the Pelicans, who were short-handed after starting guard Josh Hart and backup Nickeil Alexander-Walker were part of a seven-player trade earlier in the day. CJ McCollum and others are coming to the Pelicans.
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 27 points, Christian Wood had 19, Jalen Green had 12 and Alperen Sengun and Garrison Mathews 11 each for the Rockets, who lost for the seventh time in their last eight games.
Suns 114, 76ers 109
Devin Booker scored 35 points, Mikal Bridges added 23 and Phoenix claimed its league-best 22nd road win by beating host Philadelphia.
Chris Paul had 16 points and 12 assists, JaVale McGee contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Jae Crowder swept 14 rebounds for the Suns, who won their third in a row. DeAndre Ayton scored 10 points.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 34 points and 12 rebounds. It was Embiid’s 21st straight game with at least 25 points. Tobias Harris added 30 points and Tyrese Maxey had 14.
Celtics 126, Nets 91
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart scored 22 points apiece as Boston extended its season-high winning streak to six games in New York with a 35-point rout of skidding Brooklyn, whose losing streak reached nine games.
Brown scored eight points in Boston’s game-opening 14-0 run and had 12 in the opening quarter when the Celtics built a 28-2 lead with five minutes left in the quarter and held a 35-16 edge going into the second quarter.
Jayson Tatum added 19 points as Boston won for the eighth time in nine games and pushed the Nets into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Nets dropped to 2-10 since Kevin Durant sprained his medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Jan. 15. They also played without James Harden (left hamstring tightness).
Grizzlies 135, Clippers 109
Ja Morant scored 30 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. recorded 26 points and 11 rebounds, and host Memphis cruised to a season sweep of Los Angeles.
Morant shot 12 of 19 to pace the Grizzlies to a 51.5 percent shooting night (53 of 103), and he extended his run of 30-point games to nine in the last 10 outings. Six Grizzlies scored in double figures.
Isaiah Hartenstein shot 7 of 11 and led the Clippers with 19 points. Norman Powell scored 16 points, but he made just one field goal in the second half.
Timberwolves 134, Kings 114
Minnesota matched a season high with its sixth straight win, riding 25 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 21 from reserve Malik Beasley to a shellacking of host Sacramento.
The action was the first for the Kings since they dealt star second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton and long-distance-shooting standout Buddy Hield to the Indiana Pacers in a six-player deal focused on Sacramento acquiring Domantas Sabonis.
Returning from an eight-game absence caused by a sore left ankle, De’Aaron Fox paced Sacramento with a game-high 29 points. He also found time for seven rebounds and a team-high six assists. Harrison Barnes totaled 21 points for the Kings.
Nuggets 132, Knicks 115
Nikola Jokic logged 21 points and 11 rebounds, Bones Hyland scored 22 points and host Denver beat New York for the 14th straight time on its home court and ninth straight time overall.
Will Barton and JaMychal Green had 20 points each and Aaron Gordon contributed 19 for the Nuggets, who have won two in a row following a three-game losing streak.
Julius Randle had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 21 points and RJ Barrett had 18 for New York, which has lost four straight and seven of the past eight.
Mavericks 116, Pistons 86
Luka Doncic racked up 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in 33 minutes and host Dallas sent Detroit to its fifth straight loss and ninth in 10 games.
Doncic has reached the 10-assist mark in seven consecutive games. Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and Trey Burke supplied 18 off the bench as the Mavericks won their third straight. They shot 50.6 percent and made half of their 36 3-point attempts.
Hamidou Diallo led the Pistons with 18 points and five rebounds. Jerami Grant tossed in 15 points and Isaiah Stewart had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Hawks 133, Pacers 112
Trae Young and John Collins combined for 54 points to help host Atlanta break a two-game losing streak by beating short-handed Indiana.
Young had 34 points and 11 assists, his 26th double-double, and Collins put up 20 points — his third straight game with at least 20. Indiana was led by rookie Chris Duarte, who scored 25 points, and Lance Stephenson, who tallied 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The Pacers, who already were missing Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner with injuries, had just eight available players after an earlier trade sent Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Tristan Thompson and Buddy Hield.
–Field Level Media