Luka Doncic had his ninth triple-double of the season and the host Dallas Mavericks rode a dominant start to a 127-117 victory over the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
Doncic had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double in his last six games. Christian Wood scored 28 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 18, Jaden Hardy 15 and Spencer Dinwiddie 12 as the Mavericks raced to a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter and remained in control.
Jonas Valanciunas had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Naji Marshall added a career-high 24 points, Herbert Jones scored 16, Jose Alvarado 14 and Kira Lewis Jr. 12 to lead the Pelicans, who played without their top three scorers — Zion Williamson (hamstring), Brandon Ingram (toe) and CJ McCollum (rest) — who average a combined 67.2 points per game.
The Pelicans trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half, but Alvarado scored six quick points to get them within 14 early in the third quarter. The Mavericks rebuilt the lead to 18 before Alvarado made a 3-pointer and assisted on a basket by Jones to trim the lead to 78-67. Dallas took a 97-81 lead into the fourth quarter, and New Orleans got within six points with 32 seconds left but didn’t score again.
Lakers 136, Kings 134
Dennis Schroder made two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, LeBron James recorded 37 points and Los Angeles increased its season-best winning streak to five games with a high-octane victory over host Sacramento.
James added eight rebounds and seven assists, while Thomas Bryant scored a season-high 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting and collected 14 rebounds for Los Angeles. Schroder was 4 of 5 from 3-point range while scoring 27 points, and Russell Westbrook had 23 points and matched his season best of 15 assists for the Lakers.
De’Aaron Fox had 34 points and nine assists and Domantas Sabonis had 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out for the Kings. Harrison Barnes scored 18 points, Kevin Huerter added 17, Keegan Murray tallied 16 and Trey Lyles had 11 for Sacramento.
Celtics 121, Spurs 116
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points and had the game-winning jumper with 33.7 seconds to play as visiting Boston outlasted short-handed San Antonio.
After a timeout, Tatum’s step-back jumper in the lane on Derrick White’s 11th assist of the game gave the Celtics the lead. Jeremy Sochan then missed a 3-pointer and Tatum hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds remaining to push the advantage to three points. He missed the second attempt, but Al Horford grabbed the offensive rebound before Malcolm Brogdon was fouled and closed out the game with two free throws.
Jaylen Brown added 29 points for Boston, with Brogdon scoring 23. Zach Collins racked up a career-high-tying 18 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio. Josh Richardson and Tre Jones added 18 points apiece while Romeo Langford had 14 against his former team.
Bulls 126, Jazz 118
Zach LaVine scored 36 points and DeMar DeRozan added 35 as host Chicago tallied its third consecutive win by rallying past Utah.
LaVine hit three of his six 3-pointers during a pivotal stretch during the fourth quarter when the Bulls surged ahead of the Jazz for good. Chicago outscored Utah 42-29 in the final quarter despite playing for the second night in a row. Nikola Vucevic contributed 15 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.
Lauri Markkanen, who played the first four seasons of his NBA career with Chicago, scored 28 points for the Jazz. Rookie Ochai Agbaji picked up 19 points off the bench, Jordan Clarkson added 18 points and Jarred Vanderbilt totaled 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Magic 115, Warriors 101
Paolo Banchero scored 25 points in 31 minutes, Franz Wagner chipped in 24 points and Orlando ran its winning streak over last year’s NBA finalists to four with a defeat of Golden State in San Francisco.
Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony contributed 16 points apiece, while Wendell Carter Jr. added 13 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Magic complete a 2-0 season-series sweep of the defending champs after having swept a pair at Boston last month. In the opener of a nine-day, five-game trip, the Magic trailed only briefly early on, but led just 71-65 in the third minute of the third quarter before taking command.
Anthony Lamb put up a career-best 26 points for the Warriors, who got Andrew Wiggins back from injury and saw Andre Iguodala make his season debut, but were unexpectedly forced to go without Klay Thompson due to soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
—Field Level Media
