Bucks come from 20 down at halftime to beat Heat 113-98
MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to beat the Miami Heat 113-98 on Friday night.
Antetokounmpo also had 16 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks, who became the first team in NBA history to trail by at least 20 points at the half and win by more than 11. Khris Middleton scored 21 and Eric Bledsoe had 17 for the NBA-best Bucks, who improved to 52-17.
Milwaukee outscored Miami 71-36 in the second half.
Justise Winslow had all of his 20 points in the first half for Miami, which had its lead over Orlando and Charlotte for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference trimmed to just one game.
HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden had 41 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Houston outlasted Phoenix.
The Rockets had trouble putting away the Suns, who have won just 16 games this season, and trailed for much of the night as they struggled from long-range, making just 11 of 40 3-pointers.
It's Houston's franchise-record 10th straight win over the Suns, and the Rockets have won 10 of their last 11 games overall.
Devin Booker had 29 points for the Suns, who lost their second in a row.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, PELICANS 110
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 24 points and became the second-leading scorer in Trail Blazers history as Portland beat New Orleans.
Lillard passed LaMarcus Aldridge (12,562) on the team's list, giving him 12,584 and leaving only Clyde Drexler ahead of him with 18,040.
C.J. McCollum added 23 points, and Enes Kanter and Rodney Hood each had 17 points for the Trail Blazers, who improved to 8-3 since the All-Star break. Zach Collins scored 12 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 11 points and 12 rebounds as Portland handed New Orleans its fifth consecutive loss despite impressive performances by a couple of Pelicans.
New Orleans' Julius Randle had a career-high 45 points and 11 rebounds.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points, Montrezl Harrell added 26 and Los Angeles rallied in a third quarter that saw both coaches ejected for arguing to beat Chicago.
The Clippers trailed 63-57 at halftime, but took control in the third by scoring a season-high 45 points to go up 102-84 going into the fourth. Los Angeles shot 40.8 percent from the field in the first half but was 16 of 24 in the third quarter and 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. The Clippers also had six steals and forced seven turnovers.
Gallinari scored 12 points in the quarter and Landry Shamet made three 3s. Los Angeles opened the quarter with a 19-4 run and the lead reached 18 shortly before Clippers coach Doc Rivers and Bulls coach Jim Boylen were kicked out when they began arguing with 1:10 remaining after Boylen felt Harrell was too aggressive on an offensive foul.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 28 points and Charlotte beat Washington in a matchup of teams chasing the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
Jeremy Lamb added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Nicolas Batum and Tony Parker had 16 points apiece for Charlotte, which defeated Washington for the second time in eight days.
Bradley Beal, who had 15 points in a loss at Charlotte last Friday, had 23 by halftime Friday night and finished with 40 points on 15-of-29 shooting.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 21 points and 17 rebounds and made some big plays on both ends of the court late in the fourth quarter, Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and Philadelphia beat Sacramento.
Tobias Harris and JJ Redick each added 19 points and Ben Simmons contributed 18 for the 76ers, who won their third in a row to pull even with idle Indiana for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia holds the tiebreaker with the Pacers and is trying to maintain hold of home court in a first-round playoff series, something coach Brett Brown said he coveted before the contest. Fifth-seeded Boston is two games behind the 76ers and Pacers.
Harrison Barnes and De'Aaron Fox had 16 points apiece for Sacramento, which lost its third in a row and seventh in the last nine to further hurt its playoff push.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and San Antonio beat New York to extend its season-best winning streak to seven games.
DeMar DeRozan and Bryn Forbes each had 13 points for San Antonio, whose previous season high was five straight victories.
New York, which was without injured point guard Dennis Smith Jr., lost its eighth straight.
DETROIT (AP) — Andre Drummond had 19 points and 23 rebounds, and Detroit took advantage of LeBron James' absence, beating Los Angeles.
The Lakers, who have fallen well off the pace in the Western Conference playoff race, have been managing James' minutes, and he sat out this game entirely. Los Angeles played at Toronto the previous night.
The Lakers were also without Lonzo Ball (left ankle), Tyson Chandler (neck), Brandon Ingram (right arm) and Lance Stephenson (toe).