NBA Wrap: Knicks lose again as Hornets soar, Clippers down Mavericks, Pistons beat Nets, Raptors roar
CHECK out all the action from the day’s games in the NBA.
A big day for Patty Mills, a forgettable outing for Dante Exum. It’s all here in today’s NBA wrap.
AUSSIES IN ACTION
Patty Mills scored a season high 19-points on seven-from-11 shooting to help San Antonio to a 108-93 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Mills also contributed three assists, two rebounds and a steal in 26:10 minutes court time. He shot two-from-four from three-point range.
.@Patty_Mills' shot chart (via @nbastats). 19 points in 26mins, 7-of-11 shooting (2-4 3PA). @spurs #PattyThrills pic.twitter.com/ZLjhew2Tce
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) January 11, 2015Dante Exum contributed three points and a rebound in 7:32 minutes during the Utah Jazz’s 97-82 loss to the Houston Rockets. Exum shot one-from-two from the field, but his outing was most notable for a free-throw air ball.
DANTE EXUM LOL @RTNBA https://t.co/kC9WBR05wv
— Adam Abramson (@Adam_VAVEL) January 11, 2015Joe Ingles started for the Jazz and collected two points, three rebounds four assists and two steals in 17:59 minutes.
Cameron Bairstow was not activated by the Chicago Bulls in their 95-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
ROCKETS 97 - JAZZ 82
James Harden had 30 points and five assists as Houston beat Utah for its third straight victory.
Harden made four of Houston’s 13 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter. Houston used 16 steals and forced 31 turnovers to overcome poor first-half shooting.
Trey Burke and Enes Kanter each scored 16 points for Utah.
SPURS 108 - TIMBERWOLVES 93
Austin Daye scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to help San Antonio hand Minnesota its 15th straight loss.
Patty Mills scored 19 points and Tim Duncan added 13 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes for the Spurs (23-15), who were missing Manu Ginobili and Marco Belinelli with injuries.
Minnesota (5-31) hasn’t won since Dec. 10 and is tied with New York for the longest active losing streak in the NBA.
Gorgui Dieng had 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Timberwolves. Andrew Wiggins also finished with 18 points. That snapped a streak of six 20-point games for the No. 1 overall pick.
PISTONS 98 — NETS 93
Brandon Jennings scored all 18 of his points in the second half as the Detroit Pistons beat the Brooklyn Nets 98-93 Saturday night.
Detroit, which has won eight of nine since releasing Josh Smith, also got 16 points and 17 rebounds from Greg Monroe and 14 points and nine boards from Andre Drummond.
The Nets have lost five straight with only one win in 2015. Joe Johnson led them with 17 points, while Brook Lopez had 11 points and 15 rebounds.
The teams combined to go 10-for-33 from outside the arc in the first half, which ended at 47-47. Johnson and Kyle Singler both went 3-for-4 on threes in the half, while the rest of their teammates struggled.
RAPTORS 109 — CELTICS 96
Kyle Lowry scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, James Johnson had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors won their fourth straight meeting with the Boston Celtics 109-96 Saturday night, snapping a season-high four-game losing streak.
Lou Williams scored 19 points and Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson each had 15 to help the Raptors improve to 6-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and avoid losing consecutive home games for the first time since March 2014. Toronto is 15-4 at home this season.
Kelly Olynyk scored 23 points and Avery Bradley had 17 for the Celtics, who wrapped up a three-game trip with their ninth loss in 11 games. Boston, which lost in overtime at Indiana on Friday night, was playing for the third time in four nights.
HORNETS 110 — KNICKS 82
Kemba Walker scored 28 points as Charlotte extended New York’s losing streak to 15 games.
Charlotte won its fifth in a row and did it so easily that Walker played only three quarters.
Walker has played a big role in the five-game winning streak. He had 30 points in a victory over Orlando, 33 against Boston, 31 against New Orleans - when he made the go-ahead basket with 1.4 seconds left - and 29 against Toronto on Thursday night.
Bismack Biyombo added 14 points, tying a career high, and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, the latest team to enjoy a laugher at the expense of the NBA’s worst team - and maybe the worst Knicks team ever.
The Knicks fell to 5-35 with their 25th loss in 26 games. Quincy Acy led them with 18 points.
New York reaches the midway point of its schedule Thursday when it plays Milwaukee in London. The Knicks are on their longest single-season skid ever and free-falling toward their worst finish, which is 23-59 in the 82-game schedule.
CLIPPERS 120 — MAVERICKS 100
The Clippers have been playing with big leads in their last two games and not blowing them.
They cruised past the Dallas Mavericks 120-100 Saturday for their sixth win in eight games and second in a row, getting a boost of confidence from their ability to impose their will, just as they did in beating the Lakers by 25 points.
Blake Griffin scored 22 points, Jamal Crawford added 19 points, Matt Barnes 18, J.J. Redick 16, and DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the Clippers’ eighth win in their last 11 games against the Mavericks.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and Monta Ellis had 15 of his 23 in the first half for Dallas, which had its three-game road winning streak snapped. Rajon Rondo was held to two points and eight assists in 27 minutes after going scoreless in the first half.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was ejected midway through the third after picking up his second technical for arguing a foul on Tyson Chandler.
76ERS 73 - PACERS 72
Michael Carter-Williams hit a running layup with 9.2 seconds left to lift Philadelphia past Indiana.
Tony Wroten had 20 points to lead Philadelphia, which won consecutive games for just the second time this season and earned its third victory in the last four. The 76ers are 7-13 since opening 0-17.
David West had 28 points for the Pacers, but came up short on a 13-footer at the buzzer that would’ve won it for Indiana. West had put the Pacers in front with a fadeaway 12-footer with 17.6 seconds left.
BULLS 95 - BUCKS 87
Pau Gasol had a career-high 46 points to go along with 18 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls bounced back from two ugly losses with a 95-87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Gasol was 17 for 30 from the field and 12 for 13 at the line. Kirk Hinrich added 16 points for Chicago, and Jimmy Butler had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the opener of a three-game homestand.
The Bulls were coming off a pair of bad losses to Utah and Washington, when they shot a combined 36 percent from the field. They weren’t much better against Milwaukee, finishing at 40 percent (35 for 88), but Gasol’s big performance was enough to hold off the Bucks.
Gasol helped the Bulls close it out in the final period. He had a driving layup that made it 87-75 with 4:01 remaining. He finished with four straight free throws, surpassing his previous career best of 44 points for Memphis against Seattle on March 28, 2006.
The Bulls played without starters Derrick Rose and Mike Dunleavy. Rose, who missed much of the last 2 1/2 seasons due to a series of injuries, was sidelined by left knee soreness, and Dunleavy missed his fifth straight game with a right ankle injury.
Brandon Knight scored 20 points for Milwaukee, which had won its last five road games. Jared Dudley had 15 points, and fellow reserve O.J. Mayo finished with 12.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103 - MAGIC 92
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points as Portland handed Orlando its sixth consecutive loss.
Aldridge hit 10 of 22 shots to help the Blazers (29-8) tie Golden State for most wins in the NBA this season. Wesley Matthews added 18 points.
Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Victor Oladipo had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Originally published as NBA Wrap: Knicks lose again as Hornets soar, Clippers down Mavericks, Pistons beat Nets, Raptors roar
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