Kris Dunn, Bulls survive frantic rally to beat Mavs
By The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — Kris Dunn scored a career-high 32 points, Justin Holiday added 23 and the Chicago Bulls held off a frantic Dallas rally in a 127-124 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night.
Rookie Lauri Markkanen had 16 with an emphatic follow-up dunk during a surge that put the Bulls up 10 with 1:08 to play.
The Mavericks slowly trimmed the deficit with full-court pressure and fouls in the final minute. Dallas actually had a shot to tie, but Yogi Ferrell's 3-pointer at the buzzer was short. The teams combined for 35 points in the final 68 seconds.
Wesley Matthews led Dallas with 24 points and Harrison Barnes had 23 in a fitting matchup of teams having nearly identical seasons — miserable starts followed by respectable recoveries that pulled each out of last place in its conference.
76ERS 114, PISTONS 78
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid sparked Philadelphia to a mammoth lead in a romp over Detroit.
Embiid had 23 points and nine rebounds. Simmons had 19 points and nine assists to lead the Sixers to their fourth straight win, which moved them back to .500.
With 2 minutes left in the first half, Embiid and Simmons had combined for 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting. The Pistons had 26 points on 11-of-38 shooting.
The 76ers have a bad habit of blowing double-digit leads that crushed their push toward a more respectable spot in the standings. They wasted an 18-point lead in a loss to Portland. The Sixers turned a 22-point edge into a loss against Toronto. And they led by 16 points before Sacramento beat them.
The Sixers opened the game on a 15-2 run and, unlike their December collapses, they never let this one get close. They led 97-61 through three.
CELTICS 91, TIMBERWOLVES 84
BOSTON (AP) — Marcus Smart scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, Kyrie Irving had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Boston pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Minnesota.
Terry Rozier had 14 points and nine rebounds, Aron Baynes had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Jaylen Brown also scored 11 for Boston, which has won five straight and six of seven.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 25 points and a career-high 23 rebounds. Jimmy Butler scored 14, Jamal Crawford had 13 points and Andrew Wiggins scored 10 for Minnesota, which lost back-to-back games for the first time since November.
Towns pulled down more than half of the Timberwolves' 43 rebounds, and no other Minnesota player had more than four as Boston dominated the glass 56-43.
RAPTORS 129, BUCKS 110
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jonas Valanciunas scored all of his 20 points in the decisive third quarter and Toronto beat Milwaukee for the second time this week.
Toronto outscored Milwaukee 43-19 in the third quarter to win its fourth consecutive game, including a 131-127 overtime victory over the Bucks on Monday. The Raptors have won 10 of 12.
Valanciunas played the entire third quarter, going 8 of 9 and grabbing nine of his 13 rebounds, as the Raptors extended a two-point halftime lead to 104-78.
Serge Ibaka scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the first half, and DeMar DeRozan, who scored 52 points in the Raptors' win over Milwaukee on Monday, had 14 of his 20 in the third.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points for the Bucks. Malcolm Brogdon had 19 and Eric Bledsoe added 17.
HEAT 107, KNICKS 103, OT
MIAMI (AP) — Wayne Ellington scored 24 points, Goran Dragic added 19 and Miami survived a back-and-forth flurry in the final minutes to beat New York in overtime.
Josh Richardson scored 18 and Tyler Johnson added 16 for Miami, which went 19 for 20 from the foul line — 13 for 13 after halftime. The Heat set a franchise record by taking 42 3-pointers, and Ellington had another team all-time mark by attempting 16.
Doug McDermott's 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime, and the Knicks led twice in the extra session. Miami finished the game on a 7-2 spurt, started by a 3 from Ellington with 2:22 remaining.
Courtney Lee scored 24 for New York, which got 20 from Michael Beasley and 15 from Kristaps Porzingis. The Knicks lost despite shooting 49 percent and holding the Heat to 40 percent.
SPURS 103, SUNS 89
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili each scored 21 points, and San Antonio got its ninth straight home win over Phoenix.
Ginobili joined Vince Carter as the only 40-year-old players to score 20 points off the bench. He shot 7 for 10 from the field in setting a season high for points.
The Spurs were without starters LaMarcus Aldridge, who sat out for rest, and an injured Danny Green, but had 15 steals and six blocks against the Suns while shooting 47 percent.
Devin Booker had 21 points and Marquese Chriss added 12 for Phoenix.
NUGGETS 99, JAZZ 91
DENVER (AP) — Trey Lyles scored a career-high 26 points, Jamal Murray also had 26 points and Denver beat Utah.
Lyles also grabbed seven rebounds. He averaged 21 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two home games against his former team to help the Nuggets split the season series with the Jazz. Denver outscored the Jazz 38-16 in the third quarter after trailing by three at halftime.
Donovan Mitchell had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Ricky Rubio also scored 15 points and Derrick Favors had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Utah. The Jazz have lost 12 of 15 since starting the season 13-11.
The game was tied at 56 when Murray hit a 3-pointer, was fouled and made the free throw to start a 20-5 Denver run.
TRAIL BLAZERS 110, HAWKS 89
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — CJ McCollum had 20 points and Portland beat Atlanta.
Damian Lillard added 14 points before sitting for the fourth quarter and the Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Hawks at the Moda Center. Seven of Portland's players were in double figures.
Dennis Schroder had 14 points to lead the Hawks. They trailed by 25 points in fourth quarter en route to their third loss in four games.
It was not known whether Lillard would play against the Hawks because of a calf injury, but he started. Lillard was averaging just over 25 points heading into the game.
WIZARDS 102, GRIZZLIES 100
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 34 points, John Wall added 25 points and nine assists, and Washington survived a late Memphis rally.
Markieff Morris, who had 12 points and matched his career high with 17 rebounds, converted a pair of free throws with 3 seconds left to provide the winning margin. Washington has won four straight.
Tyreke Evans led Memphis with 26 points, while Marc Gasol finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Grizzlies lost their second straight.
HORNETS 108, LAKERS 94
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kemba Walker had 19 points and seven assists, and Charlotte wrapped up a solid road trip with its first back-to-back victories since Thanksgiving, beating spiraling Los Angeles.
Jeremy Lamb scored 17 points and Marvin Williams added 16 for the Hornets, who won three of four in California and avenged their home loss to the Lakers last month. Six players scored in double figures for Charlotte, which has won four of six overall.
Lonzo Ball had 11 points and five assists in his first game since Dec. 23 for the Lakers, who have lost nine straight since Dec. 20. The rookie point guard missed six games with a sprained left shoulder, and he returned in limited minutes while rebuilding his strength.
Brandon Ingram had 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but Los Angeles dropped to 1-12 since winning at Charlotte on Dec. 9. The Lakers (11-27) are in last place in the Western Conference.