By Field Level Media
Share this story

P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford had double-doubles, four of their Dallas teammates scored in double figures and the visiting Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 137-136 on Wednesday night.

Washington finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Gafford had 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. Kyrie Irving logged 25 points, nine boards and six assists. Klay Thompson added 20 points, Quentin Grimes had 17 and Spencer Dinwiddie put up 11 as Dallas won for the third time in four games.

ADVERTISING


Trey Murphy III scored 32, Zion Williamson added 29 points and seven assists, Dejounte Murray scored 27 points, and CJ McCollum amassed 23 points and eight assists for New Orleans, which lost its fourth straight game. Brandon Boston Jr. had 12 points and Jose Alvarado 11.

The Pelicans, down by 10 in the fourth quarter, closed within three with 15.9 seconds left on a 3-pointer from Murray, but Dinwiddie responded by making 1 of 2 free throws. McCollum sank a 3-pointer in the final second for the final margin.

The Mavericks scored nine straight points to take a 66-65 lead early in the third quarter. Baskets by McCollum, Murphy and Boston helped New Orleans open an 84-78 lead.

Grimes scored nine points and Dinwiddie added five as Dallas closed the third quarter with a 19-9 run to take a 97-93 lead.

Murphy and Alvarado each made a 3-pointer as the Pelicans regained the lead at 101-100. Thompson’s 3-pointer put the Mavs back on top, Gafford converted a three-point play, and Washington sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around another trey by Thompson as Dallas expanded the lead to 115-105.

Murphy made a jumper, a layup and a dunk to cut the gap to six, but Gafford answered with a three-point play for a 120-111 edge with 5:18 to go. New Orleans got within three before Washington and Grimes made consecutive 3-pointers.

The Mavericks took their biggest lead of the first quarter at six points before Alvarado made a 3-pointer to trim the difference to 35-32 at the end of the period.

Dallas took its largest lead of the half at 48-41 when Jaden Hardy made consecutive 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by seven points on another occasion before McCollum and Boston each made a 3-pointer during an 8-0 run that gave the Pelicans a one-point lead.

The score was tied twice before Williamson sank a layup and Murphy made consecutive dunks that gave New Orleans a 63-57 halftime lead.

Jalen Brunson helps Knicks get past Nuggets for 5th win

Jalen Brunson posted his second double-double in three games on Wednesday night for the host New York Knicks, who continued their surge with a 122-112 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Brunson, who finished with 30 points and 15 assists, had 15 points during a decisive third-period run for the Knicks, who have won five straight following a 3-6 skid.

Brunson is just the fourth player in team history to finish with at least 30 points and 15 assists in a game and the first since Nate Robinson had 33 and 15 in a 128-124 overtime win over the host Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 11, 2009.

Karl-Anthony Towns supplied 14 points and 10 rebounds, while OG Anunoby netted 23 points. Josh Hart scored 15 points and Mikal Bridges added 13 points, while Miles McBride contributed 12 off the bench.

Jamal Murray scored 33 points for the Nuggets, who set a season-worst with their third straight loss. Denver superstar Nikola Jokic, who has 21 triple-doubles this season, finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists while playing just 33 minutes due to early foul trouble.

Russell Westbrook chipped in 14 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, while Aaron Gordon scored 15 points and reserve Christian Braun added 13.

Jokic picked up two fouls in an eight-second span and exited with 9:48 left in the first and the Nuggets ahead 6-5. The Knicks scored the next 13 points and opened up two more 12-point leads before the Nuggets ended the quarter on a 17-9 run to pull within 31-27.

The Nuggets tied the score twice in the second — both times before Jokic re-entered with 7:14 left — and the Knicks led by as many as nine before entering the half with a 60-54 cushion.

Balanced attack lifts Clippers over slumping Spurs

Kawhi Leonard poured in a season-high 27 points and Ivica Zubac amassed 21 points and 22 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers dominated the final five minutes on the way to a 128-116 win over the host San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The Clippers led by two points after three back-and-forth quarters. After briefly surrendering the front on a Victor Wembanyama 3-pointer with 5:38 to play, Los Angeles reeled off 17 of the next 19 points, with Leonard punctuating the run with a jumper with 2:20 left to make it 119-107. The Clippers cruised home from there, winning for the third time in their past four outings and for the seventh of their past 10.

Norman Powell also had 27 points for Los Angeles while James Harden racked up 21 points and 12 assists. Nicolas Batum added 12 points.

Wembanyama scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds — both team highs — to lead the Spurs, who have lost five of their past six games and four in a row on their home court. Stephon Castle added 20 points, with Devin Vassell hitting for 19 and Harrison Barnes tallying 15.

Two free throws by Wembanyama with 5.6 seconds to go in the first quarter were quickly answered by Batum’s 3-pointer at the buzzer that allowed the Clippers to draw to within 32-30 after 12 minutes of play.

Los Angeles took charge midway through the second period, using a 10-2 run capped by Harden’s 3-pointer at the 3:18 mark to turn a two-point lead into a 59-49 advantage. The Spurs trimmed the margin to five points on a pair of free throws by Vassell with 13 seconds remaining and went to the break down 65-60.