Gasol leads Grizzlies past Spurs 96-86 ending Memphis skid
By CLAY BAILEY
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ Marc Gasol had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies snapped a six-game slide with a 96-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Gasol had played poorly in recent games but converted 9 of 16 shots, including 3 of 5 from outside the arc, to help the Grizzlies lead by 16 during the fourth quarter. With four minutes left, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had all reserves in the game.
Marco Belinelli and Bryn Forbes scored 14 points apiece for the Spurs, who ended a five-game winning streak. LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills had 13 points each for San Antonio.
Mike Conley had 15 points and six assists for Memphis, and Jaren Jackson Jr. and JaMychal Green scored 12 points each as Memphis picked up its energy compared to during the skid.
San Antonio shot 36 percent and committed 15 turnovers. Aldridge was 4-of-12 shooting, Forbes went 5 of 14, and leading-scorer DeMar DeRozan made just 4 of 15 with nine points.
TIP-INS
Spurs: F Rudy Gay missed his second straight game with a sprained left wrist. … DeRozan made 3 of 11 shots in the first half. … DeRozan’s nine points
marked only the second game this season where he was held under double-digit scoring. … Davis Bertans was ejected in the third quarter when he collected his second technical of the game. … San Antonio’s 31 first-half points matched a season-low for points in a half.
Grizzlies: The game marked the first home appearance for Justin Holiday, obtained in a trade with the Chicago Bulls last Friday. He finished with six points. … Memphis, third in the league in blocks with six per game, had a half dozen at halftime and finished with eight, including three by Kyle Anderson. … Gasol recorded his 16th double-double.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Entertain the Thunder on Thursday, the first of two straight games against Oklahoma City.
Grizzlies: Play Saturday in Miami against the Heat.
Antetokounmpo scores 27 to lead Bucks over Rockets 116-109
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
HOUSTON (AP) _ Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points and grabbed a season-high 21 rebounds to help the Milwaukee Bucks withstand a 42-point performance from James Harden and get a 116-109 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
In a matchup of the two early front-runners for MVP, Harden and his teammates were done in by a shooting slump late in the third quarter that spilled into the fourth and left them down by 15 points.
Milwaukee held a 13-point lead with about five minutes left before Houston used a 8-0 run, started by two 3-pointers from Harden, to cut the lead to 107-102. The Bucks got a layup from Eric Bledsoe before Harden scored the next four points to get Houston within 109-106 with 2 1/2 minutes left.
Antetokounmpo made one of two free throws to push Milwaukee’s lead to four points with about 90 seconds left. Harden missed his third straight 3-pointer before Antetokounmpo added a layup on the other end to make it 112-106 with 40 seconds remaining.
Harden missed another 3 seconds later and the Bucks added four free throws down the stretch to secure the their seventh victory in eight games.
It was Harden’s sixth 40-point outing in the last eight games and he has scored 30 or more points in 14 straight games, which is the longest streak since Tracy McGrady did it in 2003. He shot 6 of 16 on 3-pointers to give him at least five in the last 11 games.
Houston center Clint Capela struggled, making just 4 of 16 shots a game after scoring a career-high 31 points in a win over the Nuggets on Monday. He finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bucks scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to stretch a run they started in the third quarter to 15-0 and make it 98-83 with about 10 minutes left.
The Rockets got their first field goal since the 4:32 mark of the third quarter when P.J. Tucker made a 3-pointer a few seconds after that.
A weird play came after that when Antetokounmpo threw a pass across the lane and it bounced off Harden’s face and back at Antetokounmpo, which dished it to Ersan Ilyasova for a 3. Harden fell slowly to the court after he was hit but got up quickly and seemed to be OK.
Houston led by 6 at halftime after 23 points by Harden, but the Bucks opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run to take a 65-63 lead with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Milwaukee got four points from Malcolm Brogdon and three from Antetokounmpo in that stretch.
The Rockets got five quick points from Gerald Green to start a 7-0 run later in the third that put them up 75-70.
The Bucks were down by 7 later in the quarter before using a 17-1 spurt to end the quarter and take a 92-83 lead into the fourth. That run included a 9-0 run in the last 1:19 of the quarter highlighted by a tip-in at the buzzer by Antetokounmpo.
TIP-INS
Bucks: D.J. Wilson missed his second straight game with a bruised hip. … Brogdon finished with 24 points. … Khris Middleton added 15 points.
Rockets: Chris Paul missed his ninth game in a row with a strained left hamstring. … Eric Gordon missed his fifth straight game with a bruised right knee. … Houston shot 18 of 48 on 3-pointers.
UP NEXT
Bucks: Visit Washington on Friday night.
Rockets: Host Cavaliers on Friday night.
Doncic scores 30 points, Mavs end skid against Suns
By SCHUYLER DIXON
DALLAS (AP) _ Luka Doncic scored 30 points and the Dallas Mavericks ended a seven-game losing streak against Phoenix with a 104-94 victory over the last-place Suns on Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old rookie put the Mavericks ahead for good with a 3-pointer early in the second half before getting one of his five assists on a jump-pass from nearly half court out of a double team to DeAndre Jordan for a dunk as Dallas built its lead to nine going to the fourth quarter.
Doncic’s solid 8-of-14 shooting night would have been even better without a couple of wild misses on 3-pointers, including a high-arching launch from 32 feet in his fourth game with at least 30 points. He finished four points shy of his career high.
The Slovenian still went 4 of 9 from beyond the arc with a four-point play in the first half, but made just 10 of his career-high 16 free-throw attempts. He had six rebounds.
T.J. Warren scored 20 points for the Suns, who led by eight in the first half before falling a night after ending a six-game losing streak with a 21-point rally in a 115-111 home victory over Sacramento. Scoring leader Devin Booker missed the Kings game and was out again in Dallas with back spasms.
Phoenix is a combined 1-13 in back-to-back pairs _ 1-6 on the front end and 0-7 on the back. It was the Suns’ first loss to Dallas since a 113-108 defeat in Mexico City almost two years ago. Two of their 10 wins this season came against Dallas at home, including the season opener.
Suns rookie Deandre Ayton, drafted two spots ahead of Doncic as the No. 1 overall pick, spent the second half in foul trouble and finished with six points, five rebounds along with five fouls.
Two other Suns (Josh Jackson and Elie Okobo) had five fouls, and guard De’Anthony Melton fouled out with 7:06 remaining. Jackson scored 17 points, but just two after halftime.
Harrison Barnes scored 17 points for Dallas, making all 10 of his free throws to offset 3-of-11 shooting. Wesley Matthews had 12 of his 14 points in the second half, including a banked-in 3 for a 96-84 with three minutes to go.
TIP-INS
Suns: Jamal Crawford didn’t play, delaying him from becoming the 22nd player with 1,300 games for his career. … The Suns shot 43 percent, ending a three-game streak of shooting at least 50 percent. The last four-game streak for Phoenix was in January 2015. … Richaun Holmes had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 14 a night after matching his career high of 26.
Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki was ill and missed his fourth game since his season debut at Phoenix on Dec. 13. Before setting an NBA record by appearing in his 21st season with the same franchise, the 40-year-old missed the first 26 games recovering from ankle surgery last April. … G Dennis Smith Jr. was out with back tightness, the 13th game he’s missed this season. Most were because of a right wrist sprain.
UP NEXT
Suns: Denver at home Saturday night before playing seven of the next nine games on the road.
Mavericks: At Minnesota on Friday night.