Post Up: The North is Strong

Sixers 120 (22-35), Wizards 112 (34-22)

Though Joel Embiid is still out with a left knee contusion, but it didn’t matter tonight. Robert Coington (25 points, 10 rebounds), Dario Saric (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Richaun Holmes (12 points, 10 rebounds) all had double-doubles and four other Sixers scored at least 10 points. Sergio Rodriguez and TJ McConnell both dished 8 assists. Bradley Beal scored 40 points and John Wall had 29 points, 14 assists and 8 rebounds, but Philly took the lead in the second quarter and didn’t give it up after.

Pacers 102 (30-28), Grizzlies 92 (34-25)

The Grizzlies couldn’t find their offense and the Pacers couldn’t miss. The Pacers also grabbed 50 rebounds and held the Grizzlies to 33% shooting from distance. Indy led by 27, getting 17 points from CJ Miles, 10 assists from Jeff Teague and 10 rebounds from Lavoy Allen. Paul George shot 3-12, finishing with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

Raptors 107 (34-24), Celtics 97 (37-21)

Kyle Lowry sat out with an injured wrist and the Celtics quickly built a 17-point lead in the first half. They held the Raps to 18 points in the first quarter and held a 10-point halftime advantage.

But then DeMar DeRozan woke up. He delivered emotionally charged buckets, scoring 12 points in both the third and fourth quarters. PJ Tucker, Serge Ibaka and DeMarre Carroll played with heart and Patrick Patterson nailed a huge three. With 2 minutes left in the fourth, the Raptors were up five.

DeRozan scored a career-best 43 points, adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Ibaka had 15 points and 7 boards, Patterson and Cory Joseph each scored 11. The Raptors outscored the Celtics 62-42 in the second half, shooting 52% while holding Boston to 35% shooting. Isaiah Thomas had 20 points in the loss.

Bulls 128 (29-29), Suns 121 (18-40)

There were 13 lead changes and seven ties. The Suns led for most of the game, but the Bulls wouldn’t go away. They rallied from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime. In the fourth and OT, both Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade scored 14 points. Butler finished with 22 and 9 assists and Wade had 23.

In overtime, experience won out for the Bulls. They were 6-9 from the floor, 7-8 from the foul line and had 0 turnovers. Butler and Wade took turns getting buckets, until Wade dunked the dagger on Alex Len’s head.

Jazz 109 (36-22), Bucks 95 (25-31)

Despite 33 points, 12 rebounds and 5 steals from Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gordon Hayward wasn’t letting the Jazz lose. He had three monster dunks and scored 29 points to go along with 19 from both Derrick Favors and George Hill. Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 16 boards. Utah led from the first quarter, getting more rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than Milwaukee. The Bucks had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Thunder 110 (33-25), Lakers 93 (19-40)

It took Russell Westbrook just 17 minutes of action to record his 28th triple-double of the season. The Brodie eventually put up 18 rebounds, 17 assists and 17 points. Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott made their debuts with OKC, combining for 20 points. Enes Kanter played for the first time since January 25. In his 18 minutes, he scored 4 points. Steven Adams had 10 rebounds, while Alex Abrines and Andre Roberson both scored 19. The Lakers shot 7-35 from three-point range.

Wolves 97 (23-35), Mavs 84 (22-35)

Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns dominated. Wiggins had 27 (16 straight 20-plus games for him), KAT had 26 and 18 boards, Ricky Rubio threw 14 assists and scored 13 points. Seth Curry scored 31 points, Harrison Barnes had 20, but the Mavs were outgunned. The Wolves shot 52% from the field, won the rebounding battle 44-35 and the assist battle 24-16.

Heat 108 (26-32), Hawks 90 (32-25)

Miami had six players score in double-figures. Tyler Johnson finished with 23.The first quarter was close, then the Heat pulled away to lead by as much as 26. Atlanta had just 14 assists, compared to Miami’s 30. The Heat are now two games out of the eighth seed in the East.

Nuggets 129 (26-32), Nets 109 (9-48)

For the 18th time this season, the Nuggets scored 120 or more. They got a career-high 25 from young Gary Harris, 24 from Wilson Chandler, 20 from Danilo Gallinari. The Nuggets scored 62 points in the paint, hit 14 three’s and 32 dimes on 49 field goals. They scored 24 on the Nets’ 19 turnovers, too. Mason Plumlee came off the bench to get 12 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists against his former team. After the first quarter, Denver led by as much as 32.

Spurs 105 (44-13), Clippers 97 (35-23)

Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points despite foul trouble and the Spurs shook off the rust from a nine-day layoff to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-97 on Friday night for their third straight win, shooting just 34% from deep. They pulled down 51 rebounds and blocked 7 shots, too.

Pau Gasol added 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in his return from a 15-game absence because of a fractured finger. LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Dewayne Dedmon grabbed 12 rebounds.

Chris Paul played for the first time in 14 games. He had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.