(The Sports Xchange) – Bradley Beal scored 41 points and sank six 3-pointers as the surging Washington Wizards rallied past the Los Angeles Clippers for a 117-110 win on Sunday evening.
Markieff Morris scored 23 points and John Wall added 18 points and 11 assists for the Wizards, who set a season high with their third consecutive win. Washington made 12 of 15 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter and finished 53.1 percent from the field and sank 10 of 19 3-point attempts.
The Wizards overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half and trailed the Clippers 102-95 midway through the fourth quarter.
Blake Griffin topped Los Angeles with 26 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 17 boards, while Chris Paul finished with 13 points and 12 assists.
Spurs 113, Pelicans 100
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points in 26 minutes, and Manu Ginobili added a season-high 17 points as San Antonio earned its fourth consecutive win.
After the game, the Spurs retired the No. 21 jersey of former power forward Tim Duncan in a typically understated ceremony. Duncan’s 19-year career, all with San Antonio, featured five championships. The Spurs’ .710 winning percentage during Duncan’s tenure was the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over that time.
Kawhi Leonard added 13 points for San Antonio. Alexis Ajinca led the Pelicans with 16 points, while Buddy Hield added 14.
76ers 108, Nets 107
Rookie center Joel Embiid scored a career-high 33 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:43 left, and Philadelphia beat Brooklyn to snap an eight-game home losing streak.
Embiid, who shot 12 of 17 from the floor, also contributed 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Ersan Ilyasova added 22 points and Robert Covington had 15 for the Sixers, who won for just the third time in their last 13 games.
Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Brooklyn, which dropped its ninth straight road game. Joe Harris generated 19 points, matching his career high, and Jeremy Lin chipped in 16 for the Nets.
Magic 109, Raptors 79
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points in just 30 minutes as Toronto waltzed past Orlando.
It was the third consecutive game DeRozan scored at least 30 points. He made 13 of 21 shots and added five rebounds and four assists, doing as he pleased against the outmatched Magic. The Raptors won for the fifth time in the past six games, with Jonas Valanciunas scoring 16 points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds.
Evan Fournier led the Magic with 15 points. Elfrid Payton had 13 points, and Serge Ibaka scored 10.
Celtics 105, Heat 95
Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points before getting ejected, and Avery Bradley added 20 points to lead Boston past Miami.
With 3:02 left in the fourth quarter, Thomas inadvertently swung an elbow that bloodied the right cheek of Miami’s Justise Winslow. Thomas was ejected on the play due to a flagrant-2 foul.
The Heat lost their second game in a row. Miami’s Hassan Whiteside produced 23 points and 17 rebounds, while Goran Dragic posted 31 points and seven assists.
Jazz 82, Grizzlies 73
Gordon Heyward scored 22 points, Rudy Gobert added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Utah pulled away for a win over Memphis.
Three-pointers by Boris Diaw, Heyward and Shelvyn Mack broke open a 66-all tie midway through the fourth quarter. A couple of inside buckets by Gobert, who dominated the paint, helped seal the win for the Jazz.
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 14 points, and Zach Randolph added 12 points off the bench. Memphis lost for the third time in four games.
Mavericks 99, Kings 79
A balanced scoring attack and early feisty defense from Seth Curry led Dallas past Sacramento.
Curry, who played for the Kings last season, was a pest defensively in the first half, getting deflections and a couple of steals that helped set the tone for Dallas. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, five rebounds, four assists and the pair of steals in 28 minutes.
Outside of DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings, who beat the Mavs in Dallas by 31 points just 10 days earlier, had nothing going. Cousins finished with 33 points and scored 14 in the first quarter.