Rondo’s 25 assists power up Pelicans
Rajon Rondo set a franchise record with a careerhigh 25 assists in just 30 minutes on the court, Anthony Davis had 33 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, and the Pelicans beat the Brooklyn Nets, 128-113, last night in New Orleans.
DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 23 points for the Pelicans, who’ve won three straight.
Currently sitting on the edge of the Western Conference playoff picture, the Pelicans entered their current three-game homestand looking to string together some victories against teams that have struggled on the road.
They got off to a solid start against Brooklyn, leading by as many as 16 in the first quarter, 23 in the second and 33 in the third.
At that point, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry pulled the starters, only to have to put them back in following a 17-0 Nets run that trimmed New Orleans’ lead to 9175 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kings 109, Cavaliers 95 — Vince Carter scored a season-high 24 points, and host Sacramento handed Cleveland its second straight loss.
Carter had missed the previous three games due to a rib injury and coach’s decision. The 40-year-old former dunk king gave the Cleveland all kinds of problems in his return, shooting 10-of-12 in 30 minutes.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 17 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 points and eight assists. Zach Randolph had 14 points and seven boards.
Cleveland was coming off a 99-92 loss at Golden State on Christmas Day, stopping the Cavaliers’ 26game streak with 100 points or more. Cleveland had not dropped consecutive games since a four-game slide from Oct. 25-Nov. 1.
Hawks 113, Wizards 99 — Dennis Schroder scored 21 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20 and host Atlanta won consecutive games for the first time this season with a victory over mercurial Washington.
The Wizards were coming off their best win of the season, a high-energy 111103 victory over the Celtics Monday, but they have been unable to shake a reputation for playing down to the competition.
Marco Belinelli scored 19 points in 20 minutes for Atlanta, the NBA’s worst team at 9-25.
Thunder 124, Raptors 107 — Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds and host Oklahoma City held off Toronto.
Paul George scored 33 points — going 7-of-10 from 3-point range — and Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams had 18 points each for Oklahoma City, which has won six straight and is 12-3 in December.
The Thunder won despite being on the wrong end of a 23-2 run in the first half, during which the Raptors built a 12-point lead.
Bulls 92, Knicks 87 — Kris Dunn scored 17 points, including two clutch free throws in the final seconds, and surging Chicago rallied to beat visiting New York.
Chicago trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but shut down New York down the stretch of its ninth win in 11 games. The Knicks managed just three points in the final 51⁄2 minutes.
Lauri Markkanen scored 12 points for the Bulls, and Justin Holiday and Robin Lopez had 11 points apiece. Holiday also made three of Chicago’s 10 3-pointers in 28 attempts, compared to a 4-for-23 performance from beyond the arc for New York.
Timberwolves 128, Nuggets 125 — Jimmy Butler scored 12 of Minnesota’s 14 points in overtime and finished with a seasonhigh 39 to lift host Minnesota over Denver in Minneapolis.
Andrew Wiggins made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Minnesota, which won its fifth straight. Taj Gibson added 20 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Will Barton led Denver with 28 points, while Trey Lyles added 23 points and 10 rebounds. Nikola Jokic scored 22 for the Nuggets, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Mavericks 98, Pacers 94 — Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points, Harrison Barnes made the tiebreaking free throw with 37.7 seconds left and Dallas snapped an eight-game road losing streak in Indianapolis.
Nowitzki, the franchise’s career leading scorer in his 20th season, scored six points in the final quarter to help the Mavericks rally for their third win in 17 road games.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Detroit Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is out for at least 6-8 weeks because of a sprained right ankle. Jackson was injured after making a jump pass and landing awkwardly Tuesday night in a win against the Indiana Pacers. He is averaging 14.6 points, ranking third on the team, and leads the Pistons with 5.5 assists per game.