Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 51 points on 17-for-29 shooting from the field, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 130-121 win over the visiting Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 23 off the bench for Minnesota, which has won four of its past five games. Rudy Gobert collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 15 points.
The Timberwolves share lead the Western Conference lead with the Denver Nuggets.
Corey Kispert put up 25 points and Jordan Poole had 24 but the Wizards fell for a fourth straight time.
Bucks 104, Celtics 91
Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists before he left the game with a leg injury, but Milwaukee still ended a four-game losing streak by defeating visiting Boston.
Antetokounmpo fell to the floor and grabbed his left calf with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter. He walked to the locker room and did not return to the game. The Bucks called the injury a soleus strain, and the big man was headed for medical tests.
Patrick Beverley led the Bucks with 20 points, and he grabbed 10 rebounds. Boston’s Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 22 points.
76ers 120, Pistons 102
Joel Embiid had 37 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as host Philadelphia beat Detroit for its sixth win in a row.
Buddy Hield scored 18 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 17 and Tobias Harris added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who still sit one game behind the Pacers for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey sat out due to hip tightness.
Jaden Ivey scored 25 points as the Pistons lost for a fifth straight time. Evan Fournier scored 21, and Jalen Duren added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Mavericks 130, Hornets 104
Luka Doncic outscored Charlotte in the first quarter, putting up 21 of his 39 points as visiting Dallas won for the 15th time in 17 games.
Doncic also provided 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Daniel Gafford racked up 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting. Kyrie Irving added 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Dallas.
Miles Bridges scored 22 points and rookie Brandon Miller added 21 in the final home game for Hornets coach Steve Clifford, who will step down at the end of the season.
Pacers 140, Raptors 123
Tyrese Haliburton scored 30 points and visiting Indiana defeated Toronto to solidify its spot in sixth place of the Eastern Conference standings.
Obi Toppin added 23 points off the bench and former Raptor standout Pascal Siakam contributed 16 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who have won three in a row and five of six.
RJ Barrett scored 23 points for Toronto in the team’s final home game of the season. Kelly Olynyk added 22 points and Javon Freeman-Liberty had a season-best 20 points for the Raptors, who had won their two previous games after a 15-game losing streak.
Thunder 112, Kings 105
Chet Holmgren broke a tie with a free throw with 1:27 remaining, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped a 40-point performance with the game’s final six points Oklahoma City rallied from a 20-point deficit to overtake visiting Sacramento.
Luguentz Dort backed Gilgeous-Alexander with 18 points while Holmgren finished with 15 and a team-high nine rebounds for the Thunder, who formally clinched no worse than the third seed in the Western Conference.
De’Aaron Fox had a team-high 33 points and Keon Ellis supplied a career-best 26 for the Kings.
Pelicans 110, Trail Blazers 100
Trey Murphy III registered 31 points and eight rebounds and CJ McCollum added 29 points as New Orleans notched a pivotal victory over host Portland.
Zion Williamson had 22 points and seven rebounds as New Orleans moved into sixth place in the Western Conference. Murphy and McCollum — the latter a former Portland standout — each made five 3-pointers as the Pelicans defeated the Trail Blazers for the sixth straight time.
Deandre Ayton recorded 30 points and 13 rebounds and rookie Scoot Henderson added 19 points and a career-high 15 assists for Portland, which lost for the 12th time in the past 14 games. Henderson’s assist output was the most by a rookie in Trail Blazers history.
Heat 117, Hawks 111 (2OT)
Tyler Herro scored 33 points and Jimmy Butler registered 25 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals as Miami notched a double-overtime victory at Atlanta.
Nikola Jovic added 23 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, who remain in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind Philadelphia and 1 1/2 games behind Indiana.
Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray recorded 29 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists and four steals for his 19th career triple-double. De’Andre Hunter added 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks, who lost Jalen Johnson to a sprained right ankle.
Rockets 118, Magic 106
Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 37 points while Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 23 points as Houston completed the home portion of its schedule with a victory over Orlando.
The Rockets snapped a season-worst five-game skid while dealing the Magic a damaging loss relative to their playoff positioning. VanVleet made six 3-pointers and added eight rebounds and six assists to his ledger.
Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs scored 21 points apiece for the Magic, who were without Franz Wagner (ankle). Orlando fell two games behind Milwaukee for the second seed in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining.
Knicks 128, Bulls 117
Jalen Brunson scored 45 points, OG Anunoby added 24 and Josh Hart had a double-double to lift visiting New York to a win against Chicago.
New York took sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind Milwaukee, with three regular-season games remaining.
Chicago maintained a one-game lead on Atlanta for home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament game between the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds. The Bulls also hold the tiebreaker. DeMar DeRozan paced Chicago with 34 points.
Nuggets 111, Jazz 95
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic each scored 28 points as Denver kept pace in its pursuit for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a win over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Denver remained deadlocked with Minnesota for the West’s top record. Denver and Minnesota also maintained a one-game advantage over Oklahoma City.
Talen Horton-Tucker came off the bench to lead the Jazz with 24 points, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Utah took its 13th straight loss.
Warriors 134, Lakers 120
Klay Thompson scored 27 points and Stephen Curry added 23 as sharp-shooting Golden State inched closer to host Los Angeles in the battle for play-in tournament seeding with a victory.
Curry was 6-for-6 from long distance and Draymond Green went 5-for-7 as the Warriors hit a season-high 26 3-pointers on 41 attempts. Golden State notched the best 3-point shooting percentage in a game in NBA history (63.4 percent) with a minimum of 40 long-range attempts, per ESPN Stats & Info.
LeBron James scored 33 points and dished out 11 assists and Austin Reaves had 22 points for the Lakers. Golden State is now just a half-game back of Los Angeles for the ninth spot in the Western Conference.
Clippers 105, Suns 92
Russell Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of the season with 16 points, 15 assists and 15 rebounds, and Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat host Phoenix.
The Clippers’ Paul George finished with a game-high 23 points. With its fourth win in a row, Los Angeles remained two games ahead of Dallas for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
The loss for Phoenix, coupled with New Orleans’ win over Portland, dropped the Suns to seventh place in the West and out of the last guaranteed playoff spot. Kevin Durant scored 21 points and Bradley Beal finished with 19 points for Phoenix.
Spurs 102, Grizzlies 87
Victor Wembanyama scored 18 points and blocked seven shots to lead a balanced San Antonio attack as the visiting Spurs rolled to a win over short-handed Memphis.
The Spurs snapped a 13-game skid against Memphis that began in the 2020-21 season. Julian Champagnie added 17 points for San Antonio.
It was the third straight game in which the injury-shackled Grizzlies competed with just eight active players, the NBA minimum, and that took its toll. Scotty Pippen Jr., Brandon Clarke and Trey Jemison led Memphis with 14 points apiece.
–Field Level Media
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