Jrue Holiday recorded 29 points, six assists and five rebounds to help the Milwaukee Bucks post a 135-134 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Bucks won their fourth consecutive game. Milwaukee, which played without Khris Middleton (knee), has defeated the Wizards eight straight times.
Bradley Beal scored 42 points for Washington, which lost for just the fourth time in the past 17 games. Russell Westbrook contributed 29 points, 17 assists and 12 rebounds for his 179th career triple-double, two shy of the all-time record held by Oscar Robertson.
Beal hit a 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds to go to get Washington within one. After a Bucks turnover, Washington’s Garrison Mathews saw his 55-foot heave hit the backboard and carom off the rim as time expired.
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76ers 135, Rockets 115
Joel Embiid posted his 29th double-double as visiting Philadelphia extended its winning streak to six games by routing short-handed Houston.
Embiid paired 34 points with 12 rebounds to pace an efficient offensive effort for the 76ers, who shot 53.2 percent from the floor, including 15 of 35 from 3-point range.
Shake Milton scored 19 points off the Philadelphia bench. Kelly Olynyk led the Rockets, who used just seven players, with 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Kenyon Martin Jr. paired a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds and six assists.
Jazz 126, Spurs 94
Jordan Clarkson scored 30 points and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in with 24 as Utah crushed San Antonio in Salt Lake City for its third consecutive win.
Combined with the Phoenix Suns’ loss, Utah regained first place in the Western Conference and the top record in the NBA. The Jazz are up a game on the Suns with six games remaining. San Antonio remains in the No. 10 spot in the West, in the final position to make the NBA’s new play-in tournament.
Luka Samanic scored a team-high 15 points for the Spurs, who only shot 40.2 percent from the floor. The Jazz shot a blistering 55.7 percent of their field-goal attempts and hit 18 of 41 (43.9 percent) from 3-point range.
Celtics 132, Magic 96
Kemba Walker led all scorers with 32 points in his return from injury to help Boston strengthen its playoff positioning by beating host Orlando.
Walker, who missed four games because of a left oblique strain, scored 18 of his points in the first half. Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, and Evan Fournier had 18 in his first game back in Orlando after the Magic dealt him to Boston prior to the trade deadline.
Dwyane Bacon and former Celtics big man Moritz Wagner had 20 points apiece and R.J. Hampton added 18 and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Mo Bamba scored 19 points and grabbed 15 boards.
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Trail Blazers 141, Cavaliers 105
Damian Lillard scored seven of his game-high 32 points in a game-breaking run in the final 2:10 of the third quarter as Portland routed host Cleveland.
Enes Kanter (18 points) and Carmelo Anthony (16) came off the bench as part of an offensive attack that featured six players with 10 or more points. The Trail Blazers moved within a half-game of the idle Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers in their three-team duel for the fifth and sixth playoff spots in the Western Conference.
Portland native Kevin Love paced the Cavaliers with 18 points. Dean Wade had 16 points off the bench for Cleveland, which lost its eighth straight.
Hawks 135, Suns 103
The Atlanta reserves, sparked by 16 points apiece from Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari, overpowered visiting Phoenix in the fourth quarter of a blowout win.
The Hawks, with the second unit on the floor, scored the first 16 points of the fourth quarter. Atlanta’s backups, who totaled 74 points, didn’t allow Phoenix to score its first field goal in the fourth quarter until 2:33 was left in the game.
The Hawks’ starting unit was led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from Clint Capela plus 16 points and 12 assists from Trae Young. Devin Booker scored 30 points for the Suns, whose five-game winning streak ended.
Nuggets 113, Knicks 97
Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds, Austin Rivers tied his season high with 25 points against his former team, and host Denver beat New York.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points and Facundo Campazzo had 16 points, nine rebounds and, for the second straight game, five steals for Denver. The Nuggets tied the Los Angeles Clippers for third in the Western Conference.
Immanuel Quickly scored 18 points and Julius Randle, Derrick Rose, RJ Barrett and Reggie Bullock scored 14 each for New York. The Knicks lost for just the second time in 14 games.
Grizzlies 139, Timberwolves 135
Ja Morant scored 37 points, Desmond Bane hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final minute and Memphis weathered 42 points from Anthony Edwards to hold off Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Memphis scored 73 first-half points and took a 10-point lead into halftime, but Minnesota battled back on the strength of 8-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in the third quarter. Bane wound up with 22 points and Kyle Anderson added 20 for the Grizzlies.
Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell netted 22 points apiece for Minnesota, and Russell added 14 assists.
Kings 104, Pacers 93
Marvin Bagley III finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds to help Sacramento cap a perfect four-game road trip with a victory over Indiana in Indianapolis.
Delon Wright had 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Kings, and Buddy Hield added 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Pacers.
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–Field Level Media