NBA roundup: Nuggets get two triple-doubles, thrash Nets

Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-105 on Friday.

Jokic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double of the season and the 145th of his career after missing the previous two games due to an illness. It was the second time this season Jokic and Westbrook recorded triple-doubles in the same game.

Westbrook holds the NBA record with 202, with three of them coming this season.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points, Julian Strawther contributed 12, Christian Braun added 11 and Peyton Watson had 10 for Denver, which has won six its past eight games.

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray didn’t play in the second half due to left knee soreness.

Keon Johnson scored 22 points, Tyrese Martin had 19, Noah Clowney scored 14 and Tosan Evbuomwan, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton and Ziaire Williams had 10 each for the Nets, who have lost four in a row and seven of eight.

Simmons returned to the Brooklyn lineup after missing the four games because of calf and back soreness.

The Nuggets led by six at halftime and built on that throughout the third quarter. Jokic scored Denver’s first five points of the second half, fed Braun and Porter for 3-pointers, then assisted on Porter’s layup and Westbrook’s trey to make it 82-64.

The lead grew to 94-73 late in the third period, but the Nets mounted a comeback in the fourth.

Evbuomwan scored eight points in the first 2:27 of the final period to spark a 13-3 run. The lead was 101-95 after Johnson drained a 3-pointer, but the Nuggets started to pull away again.

Westbrook made four free throws, Braun sank two from the line and Braun hit a running dunk in a 16-5 run that made it 117-100, and Denver closed it out.

Brooklyn led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but the Nuggets used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to lead 56-48. Johnson hit a layup just before the end of the period to get the Nets within 65-59 at halftime.

Bucks hold off Magic in Paolo Banchero’s return

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points and 14 rebounds, helping lead the visiting Milwaukee Bucks to a 109-106 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Damian Lillard added 29 points, while Bobby Portis and Khris Middleton added 11 apiece off the bench, as the Bucks won their third straight.

In his first appearance since Oct. 30 due to an oblique injury, Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 34 points. Cole Anthony scored 18, while Tristan da Silva collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Black had 15 points off the bench, as the Magic lost their fourth game in six tries.

Orlando led by a point at halftime, and grew its advantage to 72-67 after Black’s five straight points.

After Antetokounmpo answered with a dunk, Black’s layup gave the Magic a 74-69 edge with 2:42 left in the third.

Da Silva’s triple put the Magic ahead 77-70, before Milwaukee cut its deficit to three entering the final quarter.

Portis scored the first six points of the fourth for Milwaukee, swinging the lead back to the Bucks with 9:08 remaining.

After Banchero’s 3-pointer gave Orlando an 85-84 edge, Lillard scored Milwaukee’s next eight points, including a triple that gave the Bucks a 92-87 lead at the 6:24 mark, forcing an Orlando timeout.

From there, Antetokounmpo made consecutive baskets to extend the Bucks’ lead to 96-87 with 5:29 remaining. Trailing 102-95 after another Antetokounmpo basket, the Magic cut its deficit to three after Anthony and Banchero’s baskets with 2:41 left.

Antetokounmpo’s layup put Milwaukee ahead 104-99, but two free throws by Banchero trimmed the Bucks’ lead to two with 1:20 remaining. Banchero then followed Brook Lopez’s free throws with a 3-pointer, cutting Orlando’s deficit to one with 23.7 seconds left. Lopez and Banchero each split a pair of free throws before Lillard iced the game with two foul shots with 5.7 seconds left.

After Taurean Prince and Lopez began the game with consecutive 3-pointers, Orlando answered with a 13-0 run, stamped with Banchero’s triple — his first points since his absence.

Antetokounmpo’s layup trimmed Milwaukee’s deficit to 15-14, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3-pointer began a 7-0 Magic run. Later in the first quarter, the Bucks grabbed a 27-26 lead on Antetokounmpo’s dunk before Orlando took a 31-29 advantage entering the second.

From there, da Silva’s layup capped an 8-3 Magic run to take a 39-32 lead. Trailing by three, Milwaukee pulled within one at halftime after Lillard’s buzzer-beating mid-range jumper.

Pacers outlast short-handed Warriors for 5th straight win

Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam combined for 50 points while missing just six shots and the Indiana Pacers held off the short-handed Golden State Warriors for a 108-96 victory Friday night in Indianapolis.

Haliburton and Siakam shared game-high scoring honors with 25 points apiece for the Pacers, who won a fifth straight game and completed a two-game season-series sweep of the Warriors.

Haliburton shot 8-for-10 while padding his point total with a 7-for-7 effort at the free-throw line, while Siakam went 12-for-16 from the floor.

Haliburton had a game-high 10 assists to go with three steals, while Siakam snatched nine rebounds.

Bennedict Mathurin paired 21 points with a team-high 10 rebounds for Indiana, which outshot Golden State 52.4 percent to 41.8 percent. Myles Turner (11 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and T.J. McConnell (10 points, six assists) rounded out the Pacers’ five double-digit scorers.

Pat Spencer had a career-high 17 points for the Warriors, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back without six regulars, including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga.

Buddy Hield also had 17 points for Golden State but missed 9 of his 12 3-point attempts. In the absence of Curry, who was resting sore knees, the Warriors shot just 10-for-38 from beyond the arc.

Former Indiana University standout Trayce Jackson-Davis chipped in nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Warriors. Dennis Schroder had 12 points, Gui Santos scored 11 and Kyle Anderson netted eight to complement seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.

Despite outscoring Golden State in each of the first three quarters, Indiana led just 80-76 after Warriors G League call-up Quinten Post buried his first NBA 3-pointer with 10:18 remaining in the game.

But Thomas Bryant and Siakam countered immediately with 3-pointers to create a double-digit cushion. A bucket from Spencer got Golden State within 98-89, but Mathurin responded with a 3-pointer to replenish Indiana’s double-digit lead for the final 3:36.

Spencer, a second-year Warrior, took advantage of increased playing time to hit 7 of his 12 shots. His previous career-high had been six points, set on Nov. 27 against Oklahoma City.

Zach LaVine goes off again as Bulls blast Wizards

Zach LaVine scored 33 points and Nikola Vucevic added 23 points with 13 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls extended their home winning streak to four games with a 138-105 victory Friday over the Washington Wizards.

Coby White and Jalen Smith each scored 15 points and Josh Giddey added 12 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists for Chicago. Lonzo Ball and Talen Horton-Tucker also had 12 points each as the Bulls won for the fifth time in the past seven games overall and avenged a 125-107 loss at Washington on New Year’s Day.

Chicago shot 55.8 percent from the floor and went 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) from 3-point range, while LaVine reached 30 points for a career-high fifth consecutive game and for the 11th time this season. It was LaVine’s ninth 30-point game since the start of December.

Jordan Poole scored 22 points for the Wizards and went 6-of-9 from 3-point range after missing the past three games and five of the last seven contests with a left hip contusion.

Jared Butler scored 18 points, Kyshawn George added 12 and Alexandre Sarr had 11 points with 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who lost their fifth consecutive game.

The Bulls dictated the game early, taking their first double-digit lead at 31-21 with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter and going up 36-26 through one period. The Wizards fought back and were within 43-41 with 7:40 remaining in the first half.

Chicago went on a 15-4 run to take a 58-45 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the half and led 68-58 at the break. LaVine scored 18 points during the first half and Poole had 17 for Washington.

The Bulls took complete control in the third quarter, outscoring the Wizards 41-24 by shooting 55.6 percent in the period and getting 13 points from Vucevic. Chicago pushed its lead to 31 at 121-90 with 7:48 remaining on a 3-pointer from LaVine and cruised to its largest margin of victory this season.

The Bulls were without Torrey Craig (leg) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Marvin Bagley III (knee) was out for the Wizards along with Malcolm Brogdon (foot).

Thunder bounce back with blowout of Knicks

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points and Isaiah Joe had a season-high 31 points off the bench Friday night for the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, who routed the New York Knicks 126-101.

The Western Conference-leading Thunder, whose franchise-record 15-game winning streak was snapped in a 129-122 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, led by as many as 30 points in the second half as they completed a season sweep of the Knicks. Oklahoma City earned a 117-107 home win over New York on Jan. 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 30 points for the 22nd time this season. Joe finished two points shy of his career high and logged the most points by a Thunder reserve since Dennis Schroder had 31 points against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 22, 2020.

Jalen Williams added 19 points for the Thunder.

Karl-Anthony Towns (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Josh Hart (16 points, 13 rebounds) each had a double-double for the Knicks, who have lost four of five since a nine-game winning streak. Jalen Brunson scored 27 points while going 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, and Cameron Payne added 11 points.

The teams got off to an ice-cold start by combining to miss 14 of their first 15 shots while scoring two points apiece over the first 4 1/2 minutes. The teams then scored 32 points combined over a five-minute span before the Thunder began taking control by scoring 12 unanswered points in the final 2:07 to expand their lead to 31-17.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Joe combined for nine points in the surge.

Williams opened the second with a floater for the Thunder, who went ahead by 20 points for the first time at 44-24 on Joe’s three-point play.

Joe’s 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining gave Oklahoma City its biggest first-half lead at 65-37 before the visitors entered the locker room with a 70-43 lead.

The Knicks got no closer than 22 in the second half.

The Thunder opened a 28-point lead seven times in the third before leading by 30 twice in the fourth.