NBA: Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell lift Kings over Magic in OT

Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in overtime and rookie Davion Mitchell finished with 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Sacramento Kings defeated the host Orlando Magic 114-110 on Saturday night.

Mitchell (10-for-23 shooting) reached double figures for the seventh consecutive game as Sacramento started 2-0 on its current five-game road trip. The Kings also posted consecutive wins for the first time since they defeated Minnesota on Feb. 9 and Washington on Feb. 12.

The Kings outscored the Magic 9-5 in the overtime period. Orlando's final points came on Cole Anthony's long two-pointer with 1:51 remaining, and Donte DiVincenzo and Barnes both made triples inside the final minute of overtime as the Kings ended the game on a 7-0 run. 

DiVincenzo added a free throw with 6.9 seconds left, securing Sacramento's 11th road win this season.

Orlando squandered a 105-97 lead late in regulation. Trey Lyles' putback with 21.5 seconds remaining pulled the Kings within 105-103 and Mitchell's backcourt steal and layup made it 105-all with 12.9 seconds to go.

The Magic had an opportunity to win in regulation, but Chuma Okeke missed a 3-pointer near the left corner as time expired.

Sacramento had seven players finish in double figures. Barnes had 19 points and seven rebounds, DiVincenzo scored 16 points off the bench and centers Alex Len and Damian Jones each contributed 15 points. Lyles scored 11 points to go with 18 rebounds and Justin Holiday added 10 points.

Franz Wagner paced the Magic with 19 points and nine rebounds. Moe Wagner had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes off the bench and Anthony had 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Mo Bamba totaled 18 points and 13 rebounds and Markelle Fultz contributed a season-high 16 points off the bench for Orlando.

Fultz made 7 of 14 shots in 20 minutes before exiting with just over five minutes remaining. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was appearing in his 11th game this season after suffering a torn left ACL in January 2021.

The Kings led 41-28 after the opening quarter, ending the period on a 21-8 run. Sacramento shot 67 percent (14-for-21) from the floor, making six of its eight 3-point attempts, in addition to going 7-for-7 at the foul line.

Mitchell scored 18 first-half points as the Kings built a 66-62 halftime lead.

Sacramento played its fourth straight game without leading scorer De'Aaron Fox (right hand). The Kings were also missing double-digit scorer and rebounder Domantas Sabonis as he recovers from a bruised left knee.

-reuters

NBA: Irving casts spell over Magic with record 60

LOS ANGELES -- Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 60 points in a dazzling display as the Brooklyn Nets stretched their NBA winning streak with a 150-108 thrashing of the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

Nets star Irving -- who had bagged 50 points last week in a victory over Charlotte -- delivered another performance for the ages against an outclassed Magic at Orlando's Amway Center.

Irving's tour de force surpassed his previous career best of 57 points, set in 2015 while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in a victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

"I felt good," Irving said after his epic display. "It really is a testament to the way we've been gelling as a team -- us just giving each other confidence and doing the right things. 

"When you can get 60 in the flow of the game and it doesn't seem forced, and you're not putting up a few too many bad shots, and you come to the bench and guys are supporting you, telling you to go after the record -- that makes the basketball worth it."

The 29-year-old Australian-born seven-time All-Star made 20-of-31 from the field, making eight of 12 attempts from outside the arc.

A career-high performance for Irving looked inevitable after an explosive first half from Brooklyn. 

The Nets piled on 48 points in the first quarter alone before adding 38 in the second quarter to lead 86-56 at half-time.

Irving contributed 41 points in that devastating first half, leaving him only 16 shy of his individual record.

He brought up 50 points -- the sixth half-century of his career -- with a driving layup in the third quarter, prompting appreciative chants of "Kyrie, Kyrie" from the Orlando crowd.

Two free throws saw him reach his record at 57 and then a magical three-point pull-up from 26 feet saw him hit the 60-point mark.

Irving's points haul came 24 hours after the Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 in a victory over the Spurs. 

It is the first time different players have scored 60 points or more on consecutive nights in the NBA since 1962.

It also came two days after team-mate Kevin Durant scored 53 in a weekend win over the New York Knicks. 

Irving admitted the friendly rivalry with Durant was spurring him on.

"Across the league guys are putting up crazy numbers, but when you have two guys on the same team competing, friendly competition, brotherly competition," Irving said.

"Of course we talk about it but we really want to be savants about this. We take the game seriously, we want to be efficient with it, and make everyone feel good. And prove to every team in the league we can be efficient defensively and offensively."

Irving admitted the ovation from the Orlando crowd had been a career first.

"This is what the game is about, just bringing the love, performing well and doing it with a humble approach," he said.

Six other Nets players finished with double-digit points tallies, with Durant adding 19 points, Patty Mills 15 and Kessler Edwards 14.

Cole Anthony led the Orlando scoring with 19 points.

Brooklyn's fourth consecutive win saw the Nets improve to 36-33 to keep their hopes of an automatic playoff berth alive. The Nets are eighth in the Eastern Conference, three wins behind the sixth placed Cavaliers.

Orlando meanwhile remain rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference with an 18-52 record.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Pelicans continue to roll, take down host Magic

Brandon Ingram scored a game-high 31 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans continued their longest win streak of the season with a 110-104 victory over the host Orlando Magic on Thursday night.

Josh Hart (22 points) made four 3-pointers and Devonte' Graham (20 points) sank five triples, helping New Orleans win its fourth game in a row. The Pelicans were without starting center Jonas Valanciunas (non-COVID illness) as well as key reserve Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was placed in the league's health and safety protocols on Thursday.

Ingram opened the third quarter by making five consecutive jumpers, as the Pelicans extended a 55-43 halftime advantage to 65-45. Orlando countered with a 33-18 run to get within 83-78 entering the final period.

The Magic trailed 99-97 with 1:54 to go, but they were unable to complete the comeback as New Orleans finished 23-of-26 at the free-throw line.

Willy Hernangomez moved into the Pelicans' starting lineup and had a season-high 16 rebounds, seven on the offensive end.

The Magic, who returned home following an eventful road trip that included a postponement in Toronto and wins over Brooklyn and Atlanta, were in search of their first three-game winning streak since February of the 2020-21 season.

Franz Wagner scored 17 of his 20 points in the third quarter.

Orlando's Gary Harris added a season-high 22 points, and Cole Anthony (ankle) had 22 points and 11 assists after missing the previous three games. Wendell Carter Jr. (lower leg) also returned from injury and posted 17 points, 12 rebounds and three of the Magic's 11 blocks.

The Magic once again persevered with several players out of action against New Orleans. That included six who remain in virus protocols: Mo Bamba, R.J. Hampton, Terrence Ross, Moe Wagner, Mychal Mulder and Ignas Brazdeikis.

Six of Orlando's seven bench players were free agents who signed 10-day contracts (via NBA hardship exceptions) since Dec. 17. Admiral Schofield led that group on Thursday with eight points in 25 minutes.

New Orleans improved to 6-12 on the road, while Orlando's home struggles continued with its 11th loss in 13 games at the Amway Center.

-reuters

Harden explodes anew as Rockets beat Magic on Paul's return

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul returned from injury, but it was James Harden's 40 points that fueled the Houston Rockets' 103-98 come-from-behind victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday (Monday Manila time).

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Harden extended his streak of games with at least 30 points to 23. He chipped in 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots — including one in the last 30 seconds to help the Rockets seal the win.

Paul, who missed 17 games with a left hamstring injury, finished with 12 points, six assists and five steals.


Houston trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, never taking the lead until there were less than five minutes remaining.

Harden keyed their rally, scoring seven straight Rockets points in the final 2:12 of the contest starting with a basket that put Houston up 95-93.

"They kept digging it and digging it and finally we held them to 37 in the second half," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "That was awesome — that was really good defense."

Meanwhile, Paul George led the way in Oklahoma City, scored 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in the Thunder's 118-112 victory over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks.

Russell Westbrook notched his 16th triple-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Thunder put the brakes on Milwaukee's Most Valuable Player candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo to post a fifth straight win.

Oklahoma City led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.

Milwaukee closed to within three with 1:09 left in the game, but George answered Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe's 3-pointer with his own from beyond the arc to push the Thunder's lead back to 113-107 and contributed two of the free throws that Oklahoma City used to seal the game.

Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds and Khris Middleton added 22 points for the Bucks, who saw their six-game winning streak end.

In Dallas, Toronto star Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points and the Raptors withstood a triple-double from Dallas rookie Luka Doncic in a 123-120 victory over the Mavericks.

Pascal Siakam converted a 3-point play with 3:56 remaining to break a 108-108 tie as the Raptors erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Danny Green stretched Toronto's lead to 116-112 with 1:34 to play, and after Dallas' Harrison Barnes missed a pair of free throws Leonard scored on a driving layup.

Mavs prodigy Doncic, 19, scored 35 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become the first to post two triple-doubles in the NBA while still a teenager.

However, it wasn't enough to prevent Toronto from improving to 37-15 to pull into a virtual tie atop the East with the 35-13 Bucks.

Cavs snap skid

Elsewhere, the NBA-worst Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a six-game skid with a 104-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

The game came down to the final possession, with Bulls guard Zach LaVine's 3-point attempt over Cedi Osman bouncing off the rim at the buzzer.

The Cavs limited the Bulls to one basket from the field in the final 3:50 as they clung on for the win.

"We haven't been in that situation often, but when we do get there, it's important moving forward that we learn how to play down the stretch, we learn how to execute, how to defensively get the stops that we need," Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew said. "Certainly any time you do that on the road it makes it that much sweeter."

In New York, the Miami Heat climbed back to .500 with a 106-97 victory over the Knicks.

Miami guard Wayne Ellington scored all 19 of his points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers that pushed the Heat's lead to 100-92 with 1:08 remaining.

Veteran Dwyane Wade added 15 points off the bench for Miami in his penultimate appearance at Madison Square Garden before he retires at the end of the season.

source: philstar.com