WOLVES 121, BULLS 117
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, USA (AP) – – Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Chicago Bulls 121-117 on Sunday.
Ricky Rubio made five of his six 3-point attempts and finished with 17 points. Rookie Anthony Edwards added 15 points for Minnesota, which held on to the win after allowing Boston to erase a 17-point deficit in the second half in Friday’s overtime loss.
Two days after his first 50-point game, Zach LaVine scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half as Chicago tried to come back. LaVine made 13 of 28 field attempts and 4 of 12 from 3-point shots.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 18 points and Daniel Theis had 13, but the Bulls fell for the sixth time in nine games since acquiring both players at the trade deadline.
The Timberwolves are off to a slow start this season, leading just 10 times into halftime in their 54 games. But they have led by 11 points at halftime in their last two games, this time they asserted their advantage.
Minnesota used a 21-8 attack in the first quarter to take control. The Wolves took their first lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter and never gave it up again.
PACERS 132, GRIZZLIES 125
MEMPHIS, Tennessee, USA (AP) – – Caris LeVert scored 34 points, Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis flirted with the triple-double and the Indiana Pacers held on to a 132-125 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday .
Brogdon finished with 29 points, matched his best performance of the season with 11 assists and picked up nine boards. Sabonis finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to help the Pacers to their third straight victory.
Memphis center Jonas Valanciunas equaled his career-high 34 points and his 22 rebounds were his highest number of the season. Ja Morant finished with 23 points.
Memphis came within one point in the final 1:46, but was never able to get past the Pacers down the stretch.
BUCKS 124, MAGIC 87
ORLANDO, Florida, USA (AP) – – Khris Middleton scored 21 points, Bobby Portis added 16, hitting four 3s, and 10 rebounds on substitute work and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Orlando Magic 124-87 on Sunday to get out of a three-game losing streak.
Milwaukee again didn’t have their star Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it didn’t matter as much given that Middleton hit eight of 13 shots from the field and added eight rebounds and five assists to help the Bucks lead from start to finish. Middleton also hit two 3-pointers to reach 1,000 in his NBA career.
SPURS 119, MAVERICKS 117
DALLAS (AP) – – DeMar DeRozan broke the tie with a mid-range shot with 0.5 seconds left and finished with 27 of his 33 second-half points to guide the San Antonio Spurs to a win Sunday 119 -117 over the Dallas Mavericks.
Dejounte Murray added 25 points as the Spurs snapped a five-game losing streak, the longest of the season, and prevented their Texas rival from sweeping the season series for the first time in the 41-year history of the Dallas franchise. The Mavericks had won the first two meetings.
Luka Doncic finished with 29 points, including a shot for the 10th tie with 19 seconds left in a game that also featured 12 lead changes.
PELICANS 116, CAVALIERS 109
LEVELAND (AP) – – Zion Williamson scored 38 points and Brandon Ingram finished with 27 points and eight assists as the New Orleans Pelicans turned the score around with a 116-109 victory over an injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Williamson, who had 25 points in the first half, was within one unit of tying his best mark of 39 that he set on March 26 against Denver. He made 16 of 22 shots from the field and had nine rebounds to bring New Orleans closer to a game from last place that guarantees a walk in the Western Conference wild-card eliminator.
BOSTON 105, DENVER 87
DENVER (AP) – – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led an impressive 31-3 streak that helped the Boston Celtics curb the NBA’s most fiery team with a 105-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
The Nuggets appeared to be heading for their ninth consecutive win by taking a 79-65 lead in the third quarter after a triple by Argentine Facundo Campazzo, who finished with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
However, Boston outscored the Nuggets 40-8 for the remainder of the game. The Celtics were contained to 16 points in the first quarter and were behind by up to 14 points.
Brown kicked off the epic comeback with a terrific shot and Tatum provided the game’s postcards, including eight straight points with a trio of free throws, a field goal and a triple.
Tatum finished with 28 points two days after his career-best offensive performance of 53 points against Minnesota, and Brown contributed 20.
Tatum (illness) and Brown (left knee ailment) were starters for the Celtics despite appearing on the questionable list before the start of the game.
Michael Porter Jr. led Denver’s attack with 20 points despite missing 11 of his 12 3-point attempts. Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
The Nuggets suffered their first loss since acquiring Aaron Gordon in the trade deadline, a decision that made them a legitimate contender for the league title.
HAWKS 105, HORNETS 101
CHARLOTTE, NC, USA (AP) – – Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 32 points while making a career-high eight 3-pointers, and the Atlanta Hawks reversed a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Sunday 105- 101 to the Charlotte Hornets, despite the absence of Trae Young.
Clint Capela added 20 points and 15 rebounds for the rising Hawks (29-25).
Atlanta has won six of its last seven games to rank fourth in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks won without Young, ruled out by a blow to the left calf. They also did not have Danilo Gallinari (right foot pain), John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Tony Snell and Kris Dunn.
KNICKS 102, RAPTORS 96
NEW YORK (AP) – – Julius Randle scored 26 points and the New York Knicks rallied after blowing an 18-point lead to beat the Toronto Raptors 102-96 on Sunday.
RJ Barrett had 19 points for the Knicks to string together their second win and return to .500 (27-27). Nerlens Noel finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.
New York led 66-48 early in the third period, but lost momentum after the game was delayed by water on the floor. The Raptors took a four-point lead with seven minutes remaining, but Barrett hit a 3-pointer with the Knicks up by 1 and 35 seconds on the clock.
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