By Field Level Media
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Victor Wembanyama amassed 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a rousing 144-118 win over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Friday to snap a four-game home losing streak.

Wembanyama didn’t flinch when going toe-to-toe with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, standing his ground when Antetokounmpo tried to get physical with him on a handful of occasions in the fourth quarter.

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It was easier for the second-year French phenom to stand his ground after the Spurs entered the final period with a 14-point lead and expanded it to 22 with 7:08 to play.

Keldon Johnson added 24 points for San Antonio, which won for just the second time in its past seven outings. Stephon Castle hit for 20 points, Harrison Barnes had 16, and Devin Vassell and Chris Paul scored 12 points each in the win.

Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 35 points and also took 14 rebounds. Damian Lillard added 22 points, Khris Middleton tallied 21 and Taurean Prince racked up 13 for the Bucks.

The Spurs led by as many as 11 points in the opening quarter before Milwaukee rode Middleton’s 10 points in the period, the final three on a jumper from beyond the arc with 3 seconds remaining, to pull into a 35-35 tie after 12 minutes.

The game went back and forth in the second quarter, with the Bucks eventually building a five-point lead when Middleton canned a pull-up jumper with 1:30 to play. Wembanyama poured in a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip down the floor before Castle hit a free throw with 37 second left to bring San Antonio to within 71-70 at the break.

Antetokounmpo led all players with 21 points and nine rebounds before halftime, with Middleton and Lillard adding 14 points each. Johnson paced the Spurs with 20 points off the bench and Wembanyama hit for 12 points.

San Antonio leapfrogged back to the front early in the third period and led 81-79 after a Castle 3-pointer at the 9:27 mark. The Spurs pushed their advantage to 100-89 on a pair of free throws by Castle with 4:15 to play in the quarter and to a then-game-high 17 points when Wembanyama tossed in a one-legged 3-pointer with 1:23 left.

Jayson Tatum’s last-second bucket lifts Celtics over Pelicans

Jaylen Brown scored 28 points and Jayson Tatum added 27, including a tie-breaking jumper with 0.2 seconds left, as the visiting Boston Celtics held off the New Orleans Pelicans 118-116 on Friday night.

Tatum added 10 assists, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White scored 16 points each and Luke Kornet had 11 off the bench for the Celtics.

Trey Murphy III scored a season-high 40 points, Jose Alvarado added 20, CJ McCollum had 17 and Brandon Boston Jr. 10 for New Orleans, which lost its fifth straight game. Pelicans starting point guard Dejounte Murray had to be helped to the locker room after injuring his lower right leg in the first quarter. He did not return.

New Orleans trailed by five after three quarters, but Alvarado hit a 3-pointer to open scoring in the fourth. The Pelicans got within two points four more times, with the Celtics answering on the first three. On the fourth occasion, Murphy made a short jumper to finally pull New Orleans even at 114 with 1:37 left.

Brown and McCollum exchanged baskets before Tatum dribbled down the clock and swished the game-winner from 21 feet.

Four Celtics scored during a 9-6 run to start the third quarter, increasing the Celtics’ lead to 68-59. Murphy made two 3-pointers, and Alvarado and Karlo Matkovic made one each as the Pelicans took a 77-75 lead.

Brown scored eight points and White and Payton Pritchard scored three each as Boston took a 91-86 lead going into the fourth.

Murphy scored 16 points to help New Orleans take a 34-31 lead at the end of the first quarter.

New Orleans led by five twice early in the second quarter, but Kornet made consecutive baskets to complete a 6-0 run and put Boston ahead by one point. The Pelicans regained the lead briefly, but Tatum made consecutive 3-pointers to start an 8-0 run that gave the Celtics a 47-42 lead.

New Orleans closed within one point twice, but White and Tatum each made a 3-pointer to help Boston extend the lead to nine. Murphy’s 3-pointer trimmed New Orleans’ deficit to 59-53 at halftime.

Nikola Jokic takes over late to help Nuggets clip 76ers

Nikola Jokic posted 28 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds to fuel the visiting Denver Nuggets to a 137-134 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

While Jokic made the key plays down the stretch, Jamal Murray led Denver with 31 points to go with 11 assists. Michael Porter Jr. chipped in 24 points to help the Nuggets snap a three-game skid.

Tyrese Maxey scored 42 points and Guerschon Yabusele had a career-high 28 for Philadelphia, which continued to play without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (finger). The Sixers had won their previous four games.

The Nuggets led 115-111 after Aaron Gordon calmly knocked down a 3-pointer with just over seven minutes left. Porter followed with a dunk as the visitors took a six-point lead.

Shortly thereafter, Eric Gordon and Maxey combined for 14 points in a span of less than three minutes as the Sixers went ahead 125-122 with about three minutes left.

That’s when Jokic took over.

He made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 125-125, then converted a three-point play with just under a minute left to put his team in front.

His 3-pointer with 39.8 ticks remaining snapped a 130-130 tie, and finally his floater in the lane created a 135-132 lead with 12.7 seconds left.

Down by three, the Sixers had two chances to tie in the final 10 seconds.

On their first possession, they ended up settling for a two-point attempt, and Kelly Oubre Jr. (27 points) tipped in the miss to slice the deficit to one. Then, after two Murray free throws, Yabusele attempted a tough heave from half court that fell short at the buzzer.

Denver led 38-36 after one quarter and by a 73-69 margin at intermission. The Nuggets were in front by as many as eight in the third quarter and still led by six in the waning seconds before Ricky Council IV’s 3-pointer at the buzzer drew the hosts within 103-100 heading into the final period.

Council hit another 3-point early in the fourth before a steal that led to Oubre’s transition layup to tie the game at 105.

Coby White puts up 25 as Bulls halt Raptors’ win streak

Coby White had 25 points and six assists and the visiting Chicago Bulls ended the Toronto Raptors’ five-game winning streak by romping to a 122-106 win on Friday.

The Bulls, who won for just the second time in five games overall, also prevailed 122-121 in Toronto on Dec. 16.

Bulls center Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and seven rebounds in the first quarter and finished with 21 and 12, respectively. Josh Giddey added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Chicago got good production from the bench with Jalen Smith contributing 17 points, Matas Buzelis scoring 12, Patrick Williams chipping in with 11 points and nine rebounds and Dalen Terry putting up 10 points.

Scottie Barnes had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, and RJ Barrett added 19 points and nine boards. Immanuel Quickley returned from injury to score 13 of his 14 points in the first half. Jacob Poeltl had eight points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Reserve Ja’Kobe Walter scored 14 points, and Gradey Dick logged 13.

The Bulls used the pick-and-roll effectively to take a 30-27 lead after one quarter. Toronto had four blocked shots in the quarter, three by Poeltl.

Chicago had its seven-point lead reduced to one with 6:16 to play in the second quarter on consecutive 3-pointers by Walter and Davion Mitchell. The Bulls recovered to lead by seven again before taking a 55-50 edge into halftime.

Toronto moved within one point with 7:37 left in the third quarter when Dick was set up for a cutting dunk by a nifty pass from Barnes, and the hosts took the lead on a layup by Barrett. White answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, starting an 18-4 run that helped the Bulls take an 88-74 lead into the fourth quarter.

Some of the early-game energy had left the Raptors when Williams made an empathic dunk against Poeltl with 8:01 left in the fourth. Ayo Dosunmu followed with a 3-pointer, White made a layup, and Chicago led by 19.

Jamal Shead (illness) did not play for Toronto.

Zach LaVine (personal) was out for Chicago.

The Raptors last produced a winning streak of longer than five games when they won eight in a row Jan. 29-Feb. 10, 2022.

Pistons’ Cade Cunningham drops 40 on Mavs in 15-point win

First-time All-Star Cade Cunningham poured in 40 points and the host Detroit Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak with a 117-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Tobias Harris had 17 points and Jalen Duren contributed 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Marcus Sasser chipped in 10 points.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 28 points. P.J. Washington scored 22 and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Daniel Gafford supplied 16 points 10 rebounds and five blocks. Klay Thompson added 13 points.

Detroit scored 27 points of 16 Dallas turnovers.

The Pistons played without Isaiah Stewart, who was suspended one game by the league for accruing his sixth flagrant foul point when he was ejected during Detroit’s loss at Indiana on Wednesday.

Cunningham, who was named an All-Star on Thursday, had 18 points and three assists as the Pistons took a 62-58 halftime lead.

Duren supplied 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Bench points played a big role, as the Pistons reserves outscored Dallas’ backups 21-4. The Pistons finished the half on a 12-5 run, with Duren contributing four points, an assist and a steal.

Detroit had a 7-0 spurt, which included a 3-pointer by Cunningham early in the third to take a 71-63 lead.

After Thompson’s trey pulled Dallas within three, the Pistons reeled off a 13-1 run. Cunningham scored the first four points and Harris had the next four. Tim Hardaway Jr. added a 3-pointer and an assist.

The Mavericks ended the quarter on a 14-7 run to pull within eight at 93-85 with Irving scoring seven of those points.

Dallas scored the first six points of the fourth, including Washington’s 3-pointer, to make it 93-91. However, the Mavs were unable to take the lead. Ron Holland made a steal and dunk to give the Pistons some breathing room. Sasser later scored three baskets in just over two minutes for a 105-96 lead.

Duren had a dunk and two free throws to stretch the Pistons’ lead to 111-96. Cunningham gave Detroit a 19-point lead on a layup after another steal by Hardaway.