PHILADELPHIA — Devin Booker scored 35 points and Chris Paul had 16 points and 12 assists to lead the Phoenix Suns to their NBA-high 44th win, 114-109 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
The Suns rallied from a 14-point deficit to win for the 14th time in 15 games, raising their record to 44-10.
Joel Embiid had 34 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, though he mishandled the ball twice in the final minutes to doom their comeback try. Embiid had his fifth straight 25-point, 10-rebound game, the longest streak in the NBA over the last two seasons and the longest for a Sixers player since, well, Embiid hit six straight in 2018-19.
Paul inched the Suns loose from a back-and-forth second half when he made 1 of 2 free throws for a 100-99 lead. The Sixers lost control of the defensive rebound on the miss and Paul quickly got the ball back and buried a 3-pointer.
Seth Curry then hit his biggest shot of the game — because it was his first one. Curry had missed all eight shots (five from 3-point range) and had five fouls when he buried a 3 in front of the Sixers bench to pull them within one.
The Suns, though, kept hitting free throws (22 of 24 overall) to maintain the lead, and Paul hit a tough 20-footer for a 110-104 lead.
HAWKS 133, PACERS 112: Trae Young scored 34 points and Atlanta regained its 3-point touch, overwhelming trade-depleted Indiana in Atlanta.
After making only 5 of 25 3s in Sunday’s 103-94 loss at Dallas, the Hawks sank 17 of 33 long-range shots.
John Collins added 20 points as the Hawks regrouped after losing two straight games and three of four. Young, Collins and most starters sat out the fourth quarter.
Chris Duarte led the Pacers with 25 points. Lance Stephenson had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in his first start of the season.
GRIZZLIES 134, CLIPPERS 109: Ja Morant had 30 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks Memphis won at home.
The offensive production from Morant came on 12 of 19 sooting from the field and marked the ninth time in the past 10 games the All-Star guard reached the 30-point mark. Brandon Clarke finished with 16 points for Memphis.
Reserve center Isaiah Hartenstein led the Clippers with 19 points, while Norman Powell added 16 points. Terance Mann and Robert Covington finished with 14 points each.
PELICANS 110, ROCKETS 97: Brandon Ingram scored 26 points and New Orleans beat Houston to extend its winning streak to four games, in New Orleans.
Rookie Herb Jones had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double for the Pelicans, who led for most of the game and by as many as 19 points when Ingram’s 15-foot pull-up jumper made it 106-87 in the fourth quarter.
NOTES
PELICANS-BLAZERS TRADE: The New Orleans Pelicans acquired guard CJ McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a seven-player trade on Tuesday that comes as the Pelicans make a push to qualify for the NBA postseason.
The Pelicans also received forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell in the deal, while the Trail Blazers get forward Josh Hart, and guards Tomas Staoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada, as well as draft compensation in the form of a 2022 protected first round draft choice and two future second-rounders.
PACERS-KINGS: Indiana traded two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento in a six-player deal, a person with direct knowledge of the details confirmed to The Associated Press.
Sacramento is sending Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Pacers, the person told AP, speaking only on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been officially announced.
The Kings will get Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and a second-round draft pick plus Sabonis, who is averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He leads the Pacers in all three categories.
HORNETS: Rookie guard James Bouknight attributed his sideline confrontation with Coach James Borrego on Saturday night to a “misunderstanding,” saying it was about two competitive people trying to win.
“We talked through it and it’s all good,” Bouknight said following Tuesday’s practice in his first public comments since the incident.
The Hornets were outscored 35-8 by the Miami Heat in the third quarter of a blowout loss at home. Bouknight, who played only the final 14 seconds of the third quarter, objected to something Borrego said to him on the bench prior to the start of the fourth quarter and stood up to confront the situation.
Neither Bouknight nor Borrego has discussed what was said.
WIZARDS: Washington guard Bradley Beal will have surgery on his left wrist and miss the rest of the regular season.
The Wizards said Beal was re-evaluated by a specialist in New York and the decision was made along with his representation to have the procedure.
Beal averaged 23.2 points and a career-high 6.6 assists in 40 games before he was hurt Jan. 29 at Memphis. The three-time All-Star was originally diagnosed with a torn scapholunate ligament.
Comments are no longer available on this story