(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of Friday’s NBA games.
Thunder 111, Timberwolves 107
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s troublesome trend of letting second-half leads disappear looked like it was going to show itself again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves cut a double-digit Thunder lead to one possession with less than a minute to play, but Paul George hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds to play as the Thunder closed out a 111-107 win Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
George had 36 points and Oklahoma City center Steven Adams had 27.
Heat 105, Hornets 100
Josh Richardson scored a career-high 27 points to lead Miami over Charlotte.
Dion Waiters finished with 19 points and Wayne Ellington scored 14 points as the Heat overcame a 15-point first-quarter deficit.
Miami took the lead for good and secured the victory with nine unanswered points late in the fourth quarter. Goran Dragic’s short jumper with 2:23 remaining in the period began the surge putting the Heat ahead 97-96.
Jazz 114, Bucks 108
Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 41 points and Alec Burks added 24 to help Utah rally past New Orleans.
Derrick Favors chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds for Utah as the Jazz won their fifth straight.
New Orleans had no way to slow Mitchell down after Anthony Davis exited with an apparent leg injury in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Davis had to be helped off the court and did not return. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Kings 107, Bulls 106
Zach Randolph scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Garrett Temple finished with 13 as Sacramento was victorious on the road.
Willie Cauley-Stein also had 10 points for the Kings, who handed the Bulls their eighth straight loss.
Bogdanovic capped the victory by splitting a pair of free throws in the closing seconds before Jerian Grant hit a 3-point field goal at the buzzer as the Bulls suffered their second one-point loss in as many nights.
Spurs 95, Grizzlies 79
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and Rudy Guy added 18 to lead San Antonio. The Spurs extended the Grizzlies’ losing streak to 10 games, the longest in the NBA this season.
Marc Gasol had 16 points to lead the Grizzlies and Ben McLemore scored a season-high 14. Chandler Parsons added 12.
The Spurs (15-7), who beat Memphis 104-95 Wednesday night in San Antonio, pulled away from the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 28 points down the stretch.
Warriors 133, Magic 112
Klay Thompson scored 27 points and hot-shooting Golden State led from start to finish.
Kevin Durant scored 25 points and made 10 of 14 shots, but he was ejected with 4:52 remaining for cursing at an official following his final basket.
Steph Curry had 23 points and 10 assists. Jordan Bell had 16 points. Draymond Green scored 12 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the second period.
Wizards 109, Pistons 91
Washington outscored Detroit 35-15 in the third quarter and evened its record on the season without All-Star John Wall.
Markieff Morris scored a season-high 23 points and Otto Porter had 17 for the Wizards, who had lost five of seven games. That includes two of the last three without Wall. The point guard was shut down on Nov. 25 after receiving injections in his left knee to help relieve inflammation.
Tobias Harris scored 15 points for the Pistons. Detroit had won three in a row.
Raptors 120, Pacers 115
DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and added five assists and five rebounds to lead Toronto.
It was the third win in a row for the Raptors and the second straight loss for the Pacers who got 36 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Victor Oladipo.
The Raptors took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter and expanded it to 13 nearing the midway point of the period.
