Pacers rebound from in-season tourney final loss, send Pistons to 20th straight defeat with 131-123 win

Cade Cunningham scored 23 points and Ausar Thompson had 20 for the Pistons, who have dropped 44 of their last 48 games dating to last season’s trading deadline.

Elsewhere in the NBA on Monday:

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ROCKETS 93 SPURS 82

HOUSTON (AP) — Tari Eason had a season-high 18 points and 14 rebounds off the bench as Houston dealt San Antonio its franchise-record 17th consecutive loss.

Top overall pick Victor Wembanyama had 15 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks, along with an overpowering dunk over Houston’s Alperen Sengun in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to get the Spurs back in the win column.

San Antonio hasn’t won since a 132-121 victory over Phoenix on Nov. 2.

The Rockets won their 10th straight home game and third in a row overall.

Fred VanVleet added 16 points and Sengun had 15 for the Rockets.

San Antonio shot 5 of 41 (12%) from 3-point distance. Keldon Johnson missed all nine of his long distance shots and Devin Vassell went 1 for 9.

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76ERS 146 WIZARDS 101

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey made three 3-pointers in a game-opening 14-0 run that helped Philadelphia to a 29-point lead at halftime and Joel Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds in lopsided win over Washington.

The hapless Wizards (3-19) had seen this before. The 76ers led 75-46 at halftime Monday night, the second time this season they scored 75 points by the break. The other came on Nov. 6 against the Wizards.

Maxey made five 3s and scored 24 points. Kyle Kuzma led Washington with 21 points.

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HEAT 116 HORNETS 114

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Duncan Robinson had five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Kevin Love provided a big boost off the bench with a season-high 19 points and Miami overcame a huge game from Charlotte’s Terry Rozier for the win.

Jimmy Butler added 23 points and eight assists and Caleb Martin had 20 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which entered the game having lost five of its last seven. Jaime Jaquez chipped in with 18 points before fouling out late.

Rozier scored 34 points with eight 3-pointers for the Hornets, but his half court heave at the final buzzer hit the backboard and bounced away.

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BUCKS 133 BULLS 129 (OT)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 12 rebounds to lead Milwaukee past Chicago in overtime.

Brook Lopez and Malik Beasley each had 19 points and Bobby Portis scored 17 for the Bucks.

DeMar DeRozan had 41 points and Coby White scored 33 for Chicago, which had won four straight.

Torrey Craig hit the second of two free throws to put Chicago up 119-118 to open overtime, but the Bucks answered with seven straight points, capped by Antetokounmpo’s layup to make it 126-119 with two minutes remaining.

Milwaukee left the door open by missing three of six free throws. DeRozan scored on a dunk to pull Chicago within 131-129 with 12 seconds left. Damian Lillard hit two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining to make it 133-129.

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MAGIC 104 CAVALIERS 94

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 20 points and Franz Wagner added 19 for Orlando as Cleveland failed to recover from a dismal third quarter.

Darius Garland scored 36 points for the Cavaliers, who made only two of 17 shots in the third and scored 15 points. Donovan Mitchell added 22 points for the Cavaliers, who had won four straight on the road.

Goga Bitadze had 15 points for the Magic, who have won 11 of 13 with one of the losses coming at Cleveland last Wednesday, when they shot 2-for-23 from 3-point range. They shot 7-for-26 Monday night.

Cleveland 7-footer Evan Mobley missed a second straight game due to a sore left knee.

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KNICKS 136 RAPTORS 130

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle scored 34 points, Quentin Grimes had a season-high 19 and New York shook off some bad injury news to beat Toronto.

RJ Barrett added 27 points and Jalen Brunson had 21 points and nine assists for the Knicks, who had a new starting centre for the first time this season after Mitchell Robinson sustained a stress fracture in his left ankle. The injury will require surgery for the NBA leader in offensive rebounds and a recovery of at least two months.

OG Anunoby scored a season-high 29 points for the Raptors, who dropped their fourth straight, two of them against New York. Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and Dennis Schroder had 20 apiece.

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NUGGETS 129 HAWKS 122

ATLANTA (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 29 points, Nikola Jokic added 25 and Denver held off Atlanta to end a three-game skid.

Bogdan Bogdanovic set career highs with 40 points and 10 3-pointers in the Hawks’ fourth consecutive loss.

Bogdanovic sank three 3s in the final two minutes but the defending NBA champion Nuggets, who had a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter, held off Atlanta’s comeback.

Rookie Julian Strawther scored a career-high 22 points while making six 3-pointers for Denver. Aaron Gordon had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Hawks’ Trae Young scored 19 points before he was ejected when he picked up two technical fouls with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Young was upset no foul was called when Peyton Watson reached in on Young’s drive.

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PELICANS 121 TIMBERWOLVES 107

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson scored a season-high 36 points, CJ McCollum added nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter on three timely 3-pointers, and New Orleans beat NBA-leading Minnesota.

The game was a character test for the Pelicans, coming off their 133-89 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but he fouled out with 2:35 left and his team trailing by 14. Mike Conley and Naz Reid each scored 17 points for Minnesota, which had won nine of its previous 10 games. The Wolves played without leading scorer Anthony Edwards, who left Friday night’s win at Memphis with a right hip pointer.

Brandon Ingram scored 20 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds for New Orleans, which won for the first time in three games against Minnesota this season.

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MAVERICKS 120 GRIZZLIES 113

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 35 points, Dereck Lively II added 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Dallas beat Memphis to extend its winning streak to three games.

Jaden Hardy scored 19 points off the Dallas bench and Dante Exum had 16 points for the Mavericks.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored a season-high 41 points and Desmond Bane added 28 for Memphis. Vince Williams Jr. finished with 10 points, the only other Memphis player to score in double figures.

Dallas built a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks played without Kyrie Irving, who missed his first game since a right heel contusion suffered in Friday’s win over Portland. Tim Hardaway was a late scratch because of back spasms and Derrick Jones Jr. left the game in the first quarter with a left quad contusion.

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THUNDER 134 JAZZ 120

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in three quarters and Oklahoma City defeated Utah.

Ousmane Dieng had a season-high 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the bench. Josh Giddey added 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 24 minutes, and Chet Holmgren had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who have won four of five.

Keyonte George, a rookie from Baylor, scored a season-best 30 points for the Jazz. Collin Sexton had 20 and Simone Fontecchio added a season-high 19. Jordan Clarkson, Utah’s No. 2 scorer this season, had just eight points on 3-for-13 shooting.

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KINGS 131 NETS 118

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeAaron Fox had 28 points and nine assists, and Sacramento set a franchise record for 3-pointers with 25 in a victory over Brooklyn.

Domantas Sabonis added 15 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists for the Kings, who have won three straight against the Nets, including a season sweep last year. Keegan Murray scored 24 and Malik Monk had 21 points and nine assists.

Sacramento shot 25 of 45 from 3-point range (55.6%), breaking the previous Kings record of 23.

Mikal Bridges led the Nets with 22 points, five assists and five rebounds. Brooklyn was one of the hottest teams in the East going into the night with six wins in its previous seven games.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Pacers rebound from in-season tourney final loss, send Pistons to 20th straight defeat with 131-123 win

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