NBA 2014-15: Anthony Davis pulls off one-man show with 38 points for New Orleans against Oklahoma City
ANTHONY Davis racked up 38 points for New Orleans, including the winning dunk, while former Perth Wildcats star James Ennis had a monster dunk for the Heat. FULL NBA WRAP.
ANTHONY Davis racked up 38 points for New Orleans, including the winning dunk, while former Perth Wildcats star James Ennis had a monster dunk plus 16 points for the Heat.
Check out the latest from all today’s NBA games in our daily wrap below.
HOW THE AUSSIES FARED
Matt Dellavedova did what was required in his 14 minutes on the court for Cleveland, distributing two assists, taking a couple of rebounds and scoring two points in his team’s 14-point win against Memphis.
Meanwhile, it looks like Andrew Bogut could be back in action for Golden State in January, with reports that his bone injury should be healed sufficiently by then.
Andrew Bogut is expected to return in early January, his agent confirmed that his injury is not "something serious". #WarriorsNation
— Warriors Nation (@WarriorsNtn) December 21, 2014CAVALIERS 105 — GRIZZLIES 91
Here’s something novel: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were able to step aside and let one of their Cleveland teammates polish off an opponent for a change.
Today it was Dion Waiters who finished off Memphis.
Waiters scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers handled one of the Western Conference’s best teams, beating the shorthanded Grizzlies 105-91.
Waiters, who has frequently been mentioned in trade rumours over the past two seasons, is showing signs of developing into a steady scorer off the bench.
“He’s learning every day,” said James, who had 25 points and 11 assists. “He’s a young guy. He hasn’t experienced much in this league, so for him to have a game like he had, we needed it.”
James scored 16 in the second half and the Cavs shot a season-best 61 per cent from the field to improve to just 3-6 against West teams. Anderson Varejao scored 18 and Irving had 17 points and 12 assists for the Cavs, who are 11-3 since their sluggish 5-7 start.
Marc Gasol scored 23 and added 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who played without forward Zach Randolph, who is nursing a sore and swollen right knee he injured in his team’s loss at Chicago.
76ERS 96 — MAGIC 88
Michael Carter-Williams scored 21 points and the Philadelphia 76ers rallied in the second half to claim a 96-88 victory over the Orlando Magic — their third win of the season.
The win, which ended a five-game losing streak, came as the Sixers began a seven-game road trip. All three of their victories this season have come away from home.
Philadelphia trailed by 11 in the third quarter but led by as many as 14 points in the fourth.
The Sixers also got a lift from their bench, which outscored the Magic reserves 37-20.
Victor Oladipo had 23 points for the Magic, while Nik Vucevic finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds and Tobias Harris added 17 points.
The Magic have lost four straight and six of their last seven.
Orlando looked to be in control as it inched out to its double-digit lead. But the Sixers closed the third quarter on a 22-7 spurt and took a four-point lead into the final period.
Philadelphia kept that momentum going, scoring seven straight to open the fourth.
Orlando tried to stage its own late rally, but was thwarted by late turnovers.
PELICANS 101 — THUNDER 99
Anthony Davis piled on 38 points to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 101-99 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was the third-highest point total of Davis’ career. He made 16 of 22 shots and had 12 rebounds.
Jrue Holiday scored 11 points and matched a career high with 15 assists for the Pelicans, while Russell Westbrook scored 29 points for the Thunder but missed a three-pointer that could have given Oklahoma City the lead in the closing seconds.
Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant missed his second straight game because of a sprained right ankle, which he hurt four days ago against the Golden State Warriors when he stepped on Marreese Speights’ foot.
With the score tied at 99, Holiday stole the ball from Westbrook, then found Davis for a breakaway dunk that put the Pelicans ahead with 2:58 to play.
With the Pelicans still up 101-99, Westbrook missed a three-pointer and New Orleans rebounded. The Pelicans’ Tyreke Evans missed everything on a mid-range jumper, and New Orleans was called for a shot clock violation with 10 seconds remaining.
Westbrook started to drive to the hoop, then dribbled back out and took a three-point attempt that bounced off the front of the rim. The Thunder couldn’t get the rebound, and the Pelicans ran out the clock.
SUNS 104 — WIZARDS 92
Phoenix ended the Washington Wizards’ winning streak at six, and they did it on the Wizards’ own court in a 12-point boilover.
Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris each scored 17 points Goran Dragic added 16 for the Suns, who won 104-92.
The Suns finished 3-0 on their road trip after losing six in a row. They opened the road swing in Charlotte on Thursday (AEDT) night and beat New York on Sunday.
Rasual Butler led the Wizards with 17 points and Kevin Seraphin had a season-high 16.
With the score tied at 50-50 at half-time, the Suns outplayed Washington in the third quarter, taking a 13-point lead with 1:30 to play.
Dragic was five from six in the quarter, scoring 12 points.
Washington cut it to 95-89 on a Paul Pierce layup with 2:40 to play, but the Suns scored nine straight — seven by Bledsoe — to take a 104-89 lead with 1:01 to play.
HEAT 100 — CELTICS 84
The Miami Heat ended a five-game home losing streak with a 100-84 victory over the Boston Celtics. And it came without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the court.
Luol Deng scored 23 points and James Ennis, who was playing for the Wildcats in the NBL last season, scored 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter as the Heat raced away with the much-needed result on their home court.
Tyler Zeller scored 22 for Boston, which had won three straight. Jeff Green and Kelly Olynyk added 13.
It was the first time in 154 games that Miami didn’t have any of its former Big Three — Wade, Bosh or LeBron James. Wade sat with a bruised right knee, Bosh missed his fifth straight game with a left calf strain and James now plays for Cleveland.
Boston got the game’s first basket but never led again, as Miami scored the next nine points, led by 10 at the half and after Boston got within five early in the third, the Heat went on a 9-0 run to rebuild a 65-51 lead.
Boston was within eight with 5:54 left, but Ennis took care of that with a three-pointer, then a slam dunk on the next Miami possession and the Heat maintained control the rest of the way.
KINGS 108 — LAKERS 101
DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points and 14 rebounds in his second start since returning from a serious illness, as the Sacramento Kings snapped a five-game losing streak with a 108-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rudy Gay scored 24 points and Ben McLemore added 23 points and eight rebounds to help the Kings pull away late.
Sacramento had lost 10 of its last 12 games — going 2-8 while Cousins recovered from viral meningitis — and fired coach Michael Malone last week.
Tyrone Corbin won for the first time in three games as Sacramento’s interim coach.
Nick Young scored 26 points and Kobe Bryant had 25 for the Lakers, who have now lost six of their last eight. Bryant shot just eight from 30 and had five rebounds and three assists.
In what has been a trying time for both franchises, the Kings finally found a way to break through.
Cousins is still working his way back into shape but was as animated as ever, often talking to himself between plays and overpowering defenders during them. He shot nine from 19 and had three blocks, two assists and two steals.
NETS 110 — PISTONS 105
Mason Plumlee saved his best for last as the Brooklyn Nets held off a late rally for a 110-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Plumlee scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, while Joe Johnson added 16 points, including four crucial free throws in the final 12 seconds.
Mirza Teletovic’s layup with 5:31 remaining gave the Nets a 98-83 lead, their largest of the game. But Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who scored 20 points, completed a furious run by hitting a three pointer with nine seconds left to bring Detroit within a point.
After Johnson followed with two free throws, Caldwell-Pope missed on a long three-pointer and Andre Drummond committed a loose ball foul on the rebound.
Kevin Garnett missed the two ensuing free throws, Josh Smith grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by Sergey Karasev.
Smith also missed both free throws, Garnett grabbed another rebound and this time made both for the final score.
RAPTORS 118 — KNICKS 108
The Toronto Raptors have a habit of putting a winning punctuation mark on games against struggling opponents.
Their next six contests will provide a significantly greater challenge.
Lou Williams and Kyle Lowry each scored 22 points and Toronto beat the New York Knicks 118-108 on Sunday for their sixth consecutive win, all against Eastern Conference teams with losing records.
Toronto, which leads the East at 22-6, visits Chicago tomorrow, the first game of a six-game road trip that finishes with five against Western Conference opponents.
Greivis Vasquez had 21 points and Terrence Ross scored 18 for the Raptors, who never trailed in matching their longest winning streak of the season. Toronto also won six straight in the middle of November.
Carmelo Anthony scored 28 for the Knicks, who lost their fifth straight and slumped to a 5-25 record — the second worst in the NBA.
PACERS 100 — TIMBERWOLVES 96
C.J. Miles scored 28 points and David West bulled his way to the basket for two big points with 34 seconds to play to help the Indiana Pacers hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-96.
Miles hit 10 of 18 shots and Roy Hibbert had 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Pacers, who got 48 points from their bench.
They shot a season-high 50 per cent from the field on the second night of back-to-back games and forced 16 turnovers to win for just the second time this month.
Mo Williams had 24 points and 10 assists and Shabazz Muhammad added 21 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves (5-21), who have lost 11 of their last 12 games.
West finished with 14 points on seven of nine shooting and Donald Sloan scored eight straight points for Indiana to start the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves charged back into the game.
The Wolves missed 13 of their first 14 shots, but looked even worse on the defensive end where they allowed Indiana to shoot 55 per cent in the first half and build a 16-point lead.
Originally published as NBA 2014-15: Anthony Davis pulls off one-man show with 38 points for New Orleans against Oklahoma City
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