Warriors beat Lakers 117-106 despite missing 3 All-Stars
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Kevin Durant scored 26 points and the injury-plagued Golden State Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-106 on Wednesday night while missing Stephen Curry on his 30th birthday and their two other All-Stars.
Zaza Pachulia returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the All-Star break and had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the banged-up defending champions, who already had clinched a sixth straight playoff berth this week without playing.
Coach Steve Kerr's non-traditional, late-season starting lineup of Durant, Quinn Cook, Nick Young, Kevon Looney and Pachulia worked as the Warriors won their eighth straight home game.
Julius Randle had 22 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late as the Lakers were without starting forward Kyle Kuzma because of a sprained right ankle. Los Angeles had won two straight and three of four. Isaiah Thomas added 20 points with five 3-poitners and seven assists, while Lonzo Ball dished out 11 assists.
WIZARDS 125, CELTICS 124, 2 OT
BOSTON (AP) - Bradley Beal scored 34 points, including a three-point play with 1:25 left in the second overtime, and Washington beat short-handed Boston.
Jayson Tatum missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer that could have won it for the Celtics, who were without six players and missed several opportunities to put away the Wizards.
Otto Porter Jr. finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Markieff Morris scored 20 points, Ian Mahinmi added 14 and Tomas Satoransky had 10 points for Washington, which played the night before but still had enough energy at the end to rally past the weary Celtics, who blew a 20-point lead.
Boston patched together a lineup without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving (knee) and center Al Horford (illness), two of the four regulars who were sidelined.
Marcus Morris led Boston with 31 points and pulled down 19 rebounds, but made a costly defensive error in the closing seconds of regulation. Terry Rozier added 21 points and nine assists, and Tatum scored 19 points for the Celtics.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Jonathon Simmons scored a career-high 35 points, D.J. Augustin added 32 and Orlando bounced back from an embarrassing defeat to beat Milwaukee.
Simmons was 7 of 12 from 3-point range and Augustin hit 6 of 9, three of them in the fourth quarter to help Orlando pull away.
Nikola Vucevic had 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Magic, who were routed 108-72 Tuesday night in San Antonio, their fifth straight loss.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 38 points for Milwaukee, which has lost seven of 10.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - De'Aaron Fox made a layup at the buzzer to force overtime, Zach Randolph scored the first three points of the extra period and finished with 22, and Sacramento recovered after blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat Miami.
Randolph added a key block on Justise Winslow with 1:19 remaining in OT as Sacramento swept Miami for the first time since 2001-02.
That overshadowed an impressive night by Miami's Goran Dragic, who scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter to fuel the Heat's comeback and matched his season high of 33 points. But Dragic missed a tying turnaround jumper with 20 seconds left in overtime, then stepped out of bounds with the ball with 12.3 remaining.
Randolph had the first three points in overtime with a free throw and 17-foot jumper. Fox made a short runner, Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a 28-foot 3-pointer and Buddy Hield added four free throws.
Hield finished with 24 points, Fox had 20 and Bogdanovic added 14 for Sacramento.