Scotty Pippen Jr.’s career night leads Grizzlies past Bulls

Scotty Pippen Jr. scored a career-high 30 points, helping lead the visiting Memphis Grizzlies to a wire-to-wire, 142-131 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Pippen added 10 assists while Jaylen Wells added a career-high 26 points for the Grizzlies, who won their second in a row. Jaren Jackson Jr. chipped in 23 points while Jay Huff added 14. Desmond Bane had 13, Brandon Clarke scored 12, and Luke Kennard and Santi Aldama each scored 10 off the bench. Aldama added 10 rebounds.

Zach LaVine led Chicago with 29 points, followed by Nikola Vucevic’s 26. Matas Buzelis scored 14 and Josh Giddey added 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Coby White added 11 points and Talen Horton-Tucker had 10 for Chicago, which has dropped four of six.

After Memphis took a 64-60 lead into halftime, Pippen’s three-point play extended the Grizzlies’ advantage to 70-63 with 10:15 left in the third quarter.

Later in the quarter, White’s stepback 3-pointer cut Chicago’s deficit to six before Clarke and Pippen layups pushed Memphis’ lead to 87-77 with 6:54 remaining in the quarter. After LaVine’s layup trimmed the Grizzlies’ lead to five, Huff and Kennard each knocked down triples, pushing Memphis’ advantage to 97-84 at the 4:50 mark.

White’s 3-pointer with six seconds left trimmed Chicago’s deficit to 109-98 entering the final quarter.

Memphis pulled away with a 22-11 start to the fourth quarter, capped with consecutive triples from Wells, giving Memphis a 131-109 lead with 6:13 left.

In the first quarter, Memphis jumped out to an 11-4 lead on Wells’ driving dunk at the 9:15 mark. Giddey’s floater then stamped an 8-2 Bulls run, cutting the deficit to 13-12 with 6:58 remaining.

After outscoring the Bulls 30-22 in the first quarter, Memphis went on a 6-0 run to put the Grizzlies ahead 62-47 with 3:31 left in the second. Chicago then answered with a 13-1 run stamped with Giddey’s triple to trim Memphis’ lead to 63-60 with 1:12 left before halftime.

Bane split a pair of free throws with seven seconds left, giving the Grizzlies a four-point halftime lead. Jackson led Memphis with 14 points in the first half, while Vucevic’s 19 paced Chicago.

Surging Bucks top Hornets despite LaMelo Ball’s 50 points

The Milwaukee Bucks survived a career-best 50-point night from LaMelo Ball to beat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 125-119 and extend their winning streak to four in a row.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee, while Damian Lillard scored 31 points.

Ball started slowly, going 1-of-8 from the floor in the first quarter, before flourishing after halftime. He topped his previous career best of 38 points set earlier this month at Philadelphia.

Ball, who also had 10 assists, scored three points in the first quarter and seven in the second, then scored 40 points in the second half. Brandon Miller had 32 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Miller and Ball combined to score all 34 of Charlotte’s points in the fourth quarter as the Hornets nearly erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit.

The Bucks hit 18 of 37 from 3-point range.

Milwaukee scored the first eight points of the game and Antetokounmpo hit all five of his shots in the first but the Hornets recovered to end the quarter tied at 28-28.

Lillard scored 11 points in the second quarter and assisted on Gary Trent Jr.’s 3-pointer just before halftime as the Bucks took a 59-51 lead into the break.

Ball caught fire in the third. He scored 22 of the Hornets’ 34 points in the quarter, shooting 8 of 12 from the floor and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

But the Bucks kept Charlotte at bay. Lillard converted a four-point play to push Milwakee’s lead to 73-66 with 7:26 left in the third. AJ Green knocked down a 3-pointer with 49.9 seconds left to push Milwaukee’s lead to 13 points.

The Bucks began the fourth quarter on a 14-5 run, giving them a 110-90 lead with 8:13 left before Ball and Miller helped the Hornets keep it close.

Castle headlines Spurs’ late rally in win over Warriors

Victor Wembanyama scored 25 points and rookie Stephon Castle added 19, including six during a decisive late run, as the San Antonio Spurs rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the visiting Golden State Warriors 104-94 on Saturday night.

The Warriors were playing the second game of a road back-to-back after downing the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday in NBA Cup action and looked worse for wear, especially in the final quarter, where they were outscored by 20 points.

San Antonio trailed by 17 late in the third but eventually tied the game at 90 when Castle canned a driving layup with 4:25 to play in the fourth. Castle then proceeded to knock down a 3-pointer on the Spurs’ ensuing possession.

Wembanyama, who had missed San Antonio’s previous three games due to a knee injury, added to the lead with a triple, then Castle sank a free throw with 2:28 remaining to cap an 11-0 run and stoke the Spurs’ lead to seven points at 97-90. A reverse layup by Harrison Barnes off a Wembanyama assist with 1:28 to play all but sealed San Antonio’s third consecutive win.

Barnes added 22 points for San Antonio, which was without Devin Vassell (knee) and Keldon Johnson (hamstring).

Andrew Wiggins finished with 20 points to lead Golden State. Stephen Curry added 14 points, Trayce Jackson-Davis had 12 and Buddy Hield and Lindy Waters III scored 11 apiece.

Golden State was up 29-17 after 12 minutes of play. The Spurs cut their deficit to as few as six points before the visitors swung back, as Wiggins drained a shot from beyond the arc with 23 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Warriors a 50-38 advantage at the break.

The visitors were up by as many as 17 in the third quarter before settling for an 81-71 edge heading into the fourth because of a 7-0 spurt by the Spurs to end the frame.

Blazers win second game of back-to-back with Rockets

Anfernee Simons hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds remaining and the Portland Trail Blazers claimed the second game of a back-to-back with the host Houston Rockets 104-98 on Saturday.

Simons finished with a team-high 25 points to help Portland survive a wild fourth quarter that included six ties and four lead changes. Simons answered a layup by Amen Thompson with one of his own to tie the game at 96-96 lead with 1:03 remaining.

After Deni Avdija rejected a shot by Rockets center Alperen Sengun on the ensuing Houston possession, Simons delivered his fourth 3-pointer to give Portland its final lead.

Shaedon Sharpe added 24 points, including two free throws that extended the lead to five with 4.3 seconds left.

Jerami Grant scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half while, Avdija added 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Rookie Donovan Clingan grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds as the Trail Blazers finished with a 53-43 advantage on the glass.

After beating Portland by 28 points on Friday, the Rockets shot just 35.6 percent in the rematch.

Sengun posted 22 points while Thompson added 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench. But the starting backcourt of Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green shot a combined 7 for 27, including 1 of 15 from behind the arc, while Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason totaled 17 points on 5-for-18 shooting after combining for 50 points on Friday.

The Trail Blazers fashioned another fast start into an early lead but, unlike Friday when Houston seized control later in the opening quarter, Portland fended off the Rockets’ rally.

After Houston pulled even at 12-12 on Thompson’s corner 3-pointer, Grant and Simons combined for seven points to help the Trail Blazers reclaim their edge.

Grant scored 10 points as Portland carried a 26-21 lead into the second and, when Reed Sheppard drilled consecutive treys to pull the Rockets to within two, Grant responded with a 3-pointer and Sharpe added a layup.

Grant hit a pair of free throws with 4:25 left in the half, giving Portland a 44-35 lead. With Brooks and VanVleet saddled with foul trouble, the Rockets turned to Sengun to slice the margin to 52-50 at the half, with Sengun recording three free throws, two assists and a three-point play over the final three-plus minutes.