NBA Scores: The Mavs proceed to fall after Kyrie Irving commerce

• Who will get high spot within the East? No. 2 Boston is presently 1.5 video games again of No. 1 Milwaukee, and the 2 will face off on TNT on Thursday.
• Who’s caught within the West play-in? The West’s play-in image has been a multitude all season, and continues to nonetheless be now; 4.0 video games separate No. 4 Phoenix and No. 12 Utah and there’s simply 1.5 video games between No. 6 Golden State and No. 10 OKC.
• Does Brooklyn or Miami keep away from the East play-in? For essentially the most half, the East has sorted itself out already, however No. 6 Brooklyn and No. 7 Miami discover themselves tied at 40-35 with the Nets proudly owning the tiebreaker after sweeping the season sequence.

Hornets beat Mavs for the second time in a row, 110-104

To say Dallas is coping with a little bit of turmoil is completely an understatement. Per StatMuse, for the reason that Luka Doncic—Kyrie Irving combo made its debut a month and a half in the past, the Mavs have dropped from 4th to eleventh within the West standings, having gone 5-13 over that stretch.

Luka Doncic, who just lately cited frustration on and off the court docket, began chilly as ice, taking pictures 0-6 from the ground. He turned it round and was capable of end with 40 factors, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, albeit in a loss.

Sadly for the Mavs, Luka additionally earned his sixteenth technical foul of the season. If that’s not rescinded by the league places of work on Monday, he’ll need to miss the sport in opposition to Indiana since 16 tech’s means a one-game suspension.

Bulls spoil the King’s return, beat Lakers 118-108

After a weekend of arduous harm updates, LeBron James was lastly capable of make his return to motion after lacking the final 13 video games (Lakers had been 8-5 over that stretch). Coming off the bench for simply the second time in his profession, the King completed with 19 factors and eight rebounds in half-hour.

Pat Beverley should’ve been nicely conscious of the added consideration on this recreation, as a result of he made positive to steal the highlight, giving LeBron a “too small” after hitting a bizarre spinning floater with completely zero contact, utterly throwing away the principles of the “too small” celebration:

Grizzlies’ win streak as much as six after beating Hawks 123-119

Don’t look now however not solely has Memphis gained a league-high six video games in a row, however they’re additionally a league-best 9-1 over their final 10 video games. They appear to have put all of the Ja Morant shenanigans behind them; Morant had 27 factors and 6 assists to steer the Grizzlies in each.

Boston runs away with 137-93 win over Spurs

Cavs’ protection suffocates Rockets in fourth quarter of 108-91 win

Following a +12 third quarter, Houston was knocking on the door of finishing a comeback, down simply 80-85 going into the fourth. Cleveland’s protection hit one other gear, holding the Rockets to 11 factors within the last body, together with a four-minute scoreless stretch and just one made subject purpose over the ultimate two and a half minutes.

Brooklyn, Bridges fall 106-119 to Orlando

Mikal Bridges left Phoenix with a profession excessive of factors at 34. Since arriving in Brooklyn, he’s tied or beat that complete 5 completely different occasions, together with his first two profession 40-point nights. Over the 20 video games, he’s taking pictures 50/41/91 from the ground, a few of the finest marks of his profession.

It didn’t end in a win although, and Brooklyn has dropped six of their final seven. Orlando was the wrongdoer on Sunday, taking part in glorious protection in holding the non-Bridges Nets to 2-26 (7.7%) from three and profitable the help battle 30-17. Franz Wagner flirted with a triple double, ending his evening with 19/10/6.

Raptors use scorching begin to go wire-to-wire over Wizards, 114-104

OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet mixed for 29 of Toronto’s first quarter factors and the Raptors sprinted out to a 37-21 lead. Whereas the Wizards had been as shut as 79-80 late within the third quarter, they by no means took a lead all through the whole recreation, and Toronto practically prolonged the lead out to twenty within the fourth.

Thunder 118, Blazers 112

Each single time that he takes the court docket, Josh Giddey does one thing adrenalizing. Typically, it’s greater than as soon as in a single recreation. On an evening the place he completed with 17 factors, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, he threaded the needle for an adrenalizing dish for a Jaylin Williams end:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams mixed for 54 of the Thunder’s factors, whereas the premiere scoring on the alternative roster was nowhere to be discovered. Shams Charania reported over the weekend that Portland was “leaning towards shutting down” Damian Lillard for the ultimate couple weeks of the season, so Portland’s prized lottery rookie Shaedon Sharpe took care of the scoring duties with a career-high 29 factors (9-13 FG).

KAT “caaaaash” on clutch three to raise Wolves previous Warriors 99-96

This was a shenanigan-filled recreation. From Rudy Gobert’s flagrant foul on Draymond Inexperienced to a Jaden McDaniels technical, the sport was off the rails from the beginning. Minnesota constructed a double-digit lead halfway by means of the second, however Golden State swung the sport again the opposite method with an 18-1 run.

The Wolves received a pair completely different leads going within the fourth quarter, however couldn’t separate sufficient to maintain the Warriors off their tails. They traded go-ahead threes late, however Karl-Anthony Cities received the final snicker with this loopy sequence:

Though we will’t depart with out acknowledging the essential contributions of men like Mike Conley, who had the cease on the following Warriors possession, and Kyle Anderson, who made performs all through the evening together with the ultimate steal and help to KAT’s three.