NBA roundup: With LeBron resting, Davis, Hachimura help Lakers rout Jazz 138-122
Anthony Davis had 37 points and 15 rebounds, Rui Hachimura scored a career-high 36 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 138-122 on Wednesday night while resting LeBron James.
The team cited an ankle injury for James, who sat out the second game of a back-to-back in the final game before the All-Star break. He is set to play in his 20th All-Star Game on Sunday in Indianapolis.
Hachimura made a career-best six 3-pointers and topped his previous high of 30 points, which he had reached four times in his five-year career. The Lakers have won six of seven, including four straight on the road.
Collin Sexton scored 18 points for Utah. The Jazz have lost nine of 13 to fall out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
CLIPPERS 130, WARRIORS 125
Norman Powell made four 3-pointers over the final 7:03 to score 21 points and outduel Stephen Curry down the stretch, and Los Angeles Clippers rallied from 12 down in the fourth quarter to beat Golden State.
James Harden had 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Paul George scored 24 points before fouling out on a night the Clippers were missing leading scorer Kawhi Leonard because of a left leg injury.
Curry scored 41 points and became the first player in NBA history to make seven or more 3-pointers in four straight games, shooting 9 for 19 from deep and 15 of 31 overall.
CELTICS 136, NETS 86
Payton Pritchard scored 28 points and NBA-leading Boston routed Brooklyn to give Joe Mazzulla his 100th victory as head coach.
Derrick White finished with 27 points. Jayson Tatum added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who beat the Nets on back-to-back nights and for the fourth time this season in both teams’ final game before the All-Star break.
Boston is 43-12. The Celtics went 57-25 in Mazzulla’s first season as coach. Wednesday marked the fifth 50-point win in team history.
Trendon Watford had 15 points for the Nets, losers of five of their last six. They trailed by 56 points in the fourth quarter.
SUNS 116, PISTONS 100
Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Phoenix overcame fellow All-Star Devin Booker’s early ejection to rout Detroit in Pistons coach Monty Williams first game in Phoenix since being fired by the Suns.
Williams coached the Suns from 2019 through last season, leading them to the NBA Finals in 2021. He received a video tribute and a loud ovation from the sellout crowd before the game.
Booker was ejected 5:24 into the game after his second technical foul. He received the first technical for arguing with officials about a foul call against him. During a subsequent timeout and, after the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham shot free throws, Booker received the second one and an automatic ejection. Booker finished with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting.
Simone Fontecchio led Detroit with 18 points.
KINGS 102, NUGGETS 98
De’Aaron Fox had 30 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, Domantas Sabonis had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Sacramento overcame a 16-point, second-half deficit to beat Denver.
The win was the Kings’ second in a five-day stretch against the Nuggets, who they also beat 135-106 on Friday night in Sacramento.
Coming off a 40-point effort in a loss the previous night against the Phoenix Suns, Fox ignited his team’s comeback. He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Gordon had 25 points and season-high 15 rebounds for Denver. Nikola Jokic had an uncharacteristically poor night, missing 11 of his 17 shots and finishing with 15 points, his lowest scoring output since Jan. 7.
MAVERICKS 116, SPURS 93
Kyrie Irving scored 34 points, Luka Doncic had 27 before leaving early in the fourth period and Dallas overcame an early 15-point deficit to beat San Antonio.
Doncic left three minutes into the fourth quarter holding his neck. He also had nine rebounds and eight assists in 31 minutes.
The game was the last for both teams before the NBA All-Star break, with the Mavericks winning a season-best sixth straight and Spurs falling for the eighth time in nine contests.
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama had 26 points — 20 in the first half — and nine rebounds in his belated Dallas debut.
CAVALIERS 108, BULLS 105
All-Star Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 44 seconds left, and Cleveland overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Chicago.
Coby White had a chance to force overtime as time expired, but his 3-pointer from the top of the key rimmed out.
Isaac Okoro scored 16 points and Jarrett Allen had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which has won 18 of its last 20 and is an NBA-best 23-5 since Dec. 16.
White scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half. DeMar DeRozan added 24 points for Chicago.
MAGIC 118, KNICKS 100
Paolo Banchero scored 36 points, Franz Wagner added 21 and Orlando beat injury-riddled New York.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 33 points and six assists. Precious Achiuwa added 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Alec Burks had 13 points in his first start since coming back to the Knicks in a deadline trade last week.
Brunson scored 20 points in the first quarter, and the Knicks led 39-27 when Burks opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer. But with Brunson on the bench, the Magic ran off 17 straight points — 12 of them by Franz and Moritz Wagner — and moved ahead for the rest of the game.
The Knicks played their final game before the All-Star break without six players, including All-Star forward Julius Randle, who missed a ninth game with a shoulder injury. Donte DiVincenzo (sore hamstring), Bojan Bogdanovic (sore calf) and Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles tendon) were all ruled out just before the game.
HEAT 109, 76ERS 104
Bam Adebayo had 23 points and 14 rebounds to help Miami beat Philadelphia.
Adbebayo’s thundering dunk capped a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter that gave Miami a lead it never relinquished.
Tyler Herro also had 23 points, and Duncan Robinson added 20 in the Heat’s fourth victory in five games.
Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points for Philadelphia. Buddy Heild had 22 points and 10 assists, and Paul Reed, filling in for the injured Joel Embiid (left knee meniscus procedure), added 18 points and 12 rebounds.
PACERS 127, RAPTORS 125
Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 12 assists, Pascal Siakam scored 23 against his former team and Indiana beat Toronto.
Isaiah Jackson added 15 points and 11 rebounds, Obi Toppin had 15 and Andrew Nembhard 14 to help Indiana rebound from a loss at Charlotte on Monday night.
Scottie Barnes had 29 points and 12 rebounds for Toronto.
HORNETS 122, HAWKS 99
Brandon Miller scored 26 points, Tre Mann added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Charlotte beat Atlanta for its first three-game winning streak of the season.
Charlotte is 3-0 since adding Mann, Grant Williams, Vasilije Macic, Seth Curry and Davis Bertans at the trade deadline.
De’Andre Hunter had 21 points for Atlanta.
GRIZZLIES 121, ROCKETS 113
GG Jackson scored 20 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 18 and Memphis beat Houston to end a nine-game losing streak.
Luke Kennard finished with 17 points, including a pair of free throws in the closing minute, and Lamar Stevens had 14 points.
Dillon Brooks, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Aaron Holiday each scored 19 points in Houston’s fifth loss in six games.
PELICANS 133, WIZARDS 126
Zion Williamson scored 36 points, CJ McCollum added 26 and New Orleans beat Washington, overcoming Deni Avdija’s career-best 43 points for the Wizards.
Avdija, a fourth-year player from Israel, blew past his previous high of 25 points before the midpoint of the third quarter, finishing with 20 points in that period. He also matched a season high with 14 rebounds.