Trail Blazers 113, Raptors 97
LaMarcus Aldridge recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists
leading Portland to a 113-97 win over Toronto.
Aldridge entered the contest averaging 25.9 points and 12.9 rebounds
in his last nine meetings with the Raptors and continued his
dominance against them.
Portland (44-20) have now won 12 of the last 13 meetings with
Toronto (39-27), who have now lost five of six overall.
- - -
Rockets 100, Clippers 98
James Harden scored 34 points as the Houston Rockets held on for a
100-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Chris Paul, who finished with 23 points, missed a shot at the buzzer
that would have forced overtime.
The win ended a two-game skid for the Rockets (44-22), who also got
19 points from Trevor Ariza and 16 from Terrence Jones.
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Blake Griffin returned for the Clippers after missing 15 games
following surgery on his right elbow. he had 11 points, 11 rebounds
and eight assists.
The Clippers (42-24) fell into a sixth-place tie in the Western
Conference with the Dallas Mavericks.
- - -
Thunder 109, Bulls 100
Russell Westbrook scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead
the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-100 victory over the Chicago
Bulls.
The Bulls (40-28) have dropped five of their last six games and are
tied in the loss column with the Washington Wizards for fourth in
the Eastern Conference Standings.
The Thunder (37-29) are now a half-game ahead of the New Orleans
Pelicans for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Thunder center Enes Kanter posted 18 points and 18 rebounds for his
sixth double-double since being traded to Oklahoma City.
Nikola Mirotic paced the Bulls with 27 points off the bench.
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Spurs 123, Timberwolves 97
Kawhi Leonard scored a team-high 15 points as the San Antonio Spurs
defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-97.
Leonard was one of seven San Antonio players to score in double
figures as the Spurs (41-24) completed a four-game season sweep of
Minnesota (14-51). The Spurs also earned their seventh win in eight
games.
- - -
Cavaliers 123, Magic 108
Kyrie Irving scored 33 points while hitting 12 of 15 shots, leading
the Cleveland Cavaliers to a dominating 123-108 victory over the
Orlando Magic.
Irving, who scored 57 points on Thursday in San Antonio, also made
five of six shots from three-point range. The Cavaliers (43-25) won
their fourth consecutive game and their 10th consecutive over the
Magic.
LeBron James had 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.
The Magic (21-47) were led by guard Victor Olidipo who had 25 points
and seven assists.
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[to top of second column] |
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Nuggets 118, Pelicans 111 (double overtime)
Danilo Gallinari scored five points in the second overtime,
including an open three-pointer, and Kenneth Faried added a layup to
lift the Denver Nuggets to a 118-111 victory over the New Orleans
Pelicans.
The game was tied 109-109 at the end of the first overtime, but the
Nuggets outscored the Pelicans 9-2 in the second period.
The loss for the Pelicans (36-30) wasted a monster game by forward
Anthony Davis, who had a game-high 36 points, 14 rebounds, nine
blocks and a career-high seven assists.
It also dropped New Orleans one game behind Oklahoma City in the
race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western
Conference.
- - -
Hawks 91, Lakers 86
Playing without three starters and losing another to injury, the
Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks overcame the Los Angeles
Lakers for a road win.
Dennis Schroder scored 24 points and handed out 10 assists and Al
Horford added 21 points for Atlanta (52-14), who rested point guard
Jeff Teague and forwards Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll.
Sharpshooter Kyle Korver started but sustained a broken nose in the
second quarter and did not return.
Still, the Hawks had enough to contain the Lakers (17-48).
- - -
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Suns 102, Knicks 89
Brandan Wright stepped up for injured center Alex Len and produced
18 points and 11 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns shook off a poor first
quarter to beat the New York Knicks.
Suns guard Eric Bledsoe added 21 points and 11 assists, and he just
missed his third triple-double of the season, finishing with eight
rebounds.
Phoenix (35-33) moved within two games of the ninth-place New
Orleans Pelicans. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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