INDIANAPOLIS – Justin Holiday came off the bench to score a season-high 27 points in the Indiana Pacers’ 118-113 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers this Saturday night.
Dominican Chris Duarte played 27 minutes in which he could only score 7 points, grabbed five rebounds and gave three assists.
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid missed his fourth straight game after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The 76ers have lost all four games.
Holiday was 9 of 11 shots from the field. Malcolm Brogdon had a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Myles Turner added 20 points and Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Tobias Harris led the 76ers with 32 points on 10 of 22 shooting. Tyrese Maxey added 24.
Philadelphia cut it down to 107-102 with 2:57 to Maxey’s basket. The Pacers pushed the lead to 115-104 with three big baskets from TJ McConnell.
WIZARDS 104
MAGIC 92
ORLANDO, Fla. – Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points, Montrezl Harrell added 20 and the Washington Wizards used a 20-0 run in the first half to defeat the Orlando Magic 104-92 this Saturday night for their fourth straight win.
Kyle Kuzma added 17 points and 10 rebounds when Washington improved to 9-3 for the first time since the 2014-15 season. That is much improved from last season when the Wizards were 3-9 after 12 games.
"I’d rather be where we are than not"said Washington freshman coach Wes Unseld Jr."You just have to fight the temptation to become complacent. It hasn’t been easy, and I give our guys credit that we’ve found ways in the evenings to just barely beat each other. But we can’t just sit here and say, ‘We’re fine.’"
Dinwiddie had 11 rebounds and six assists in his fourth 20-point game of the season. Harrell added seven assists and six rebounds off the bench and proved to be a huge differentiator in the first-half run that opened the game early.
"His energy is just phenomenal because it’s a different pace and a different level of aggression."said Unseld Jr."They are second possessions, they are rim runs, shooting blocks and being the first on the court. His activity is amazing, and it is every day".
Orlando’s Cole Anthony scored 22 points, but made only 4 of 16 shots. Mo Bamba added 14 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots for Orlando, which fell to 0-7 this season by failing to score 100 points.
DETROIT 127
TORONTO 121
TORONTO – Jerami Grant scored 24 points, Isaiah Stewart had 20 and Detroit used a great fourth quarter to beat Toronto 127-121 this Saturday night, the Pistons’ fourth straight victory over the Raptors.
Killain Hayes had 13 points and 10 assists, Saddiq Bey had 16 points, Josh Jackson had 15 points and Frank Jackson added 14. The Pistons shot 6 of 8 from the 3-point range in the fourth, beating Toronto 34-26 in the final period. .
Detroit rookie Cade Cunningham scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth.
Pascal Siakam fouled with 25 points and 12 rebounds, Gary Trent Jr. scored 23 points and OG Anunoby had 17 for the Raptors. Toronto lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 2-6 at home.
Toronto played without point guard Fred VanVleet (left groin) and forward Precious Achiuwa (right shoulder). Forward Khem Birch returned after missing the previous three games due to a sore right knee.
Raptors forward Chris Boucher left after three quarters due to lower back pain.
Dragic started for VanVleet, his first appearance with Toronto since the Oct. 25 loss to Chicago. Dragic scored 16 points in 28 minutes.
Dalano Banton scored 12 points for the Raptors and fellow rookie Scottie Barnes had 11.
PELICANS 112
GRIZZLIES 101
NEW ORLEANS – Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 21 points, Brandon Ingram returned from a seven-game absence to add 19 and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Memphis Grizzlies 112-101 this Saturday night to snap a nine-game streak. consecutive defeats.
The victory was the first at home this season for the Pelicans, who had lost 12 of their first 13 games without Zion Williamson, sidelined with a broken right foot.
Herb Jones added 17 points, and Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte Graham each had 15. Valanciunas faced his former team for the first time.
Dillon Brooks led Memphis with 23 and Ja Morant had 22.
Shattered at home a night earlier by Phoenix, Memphis used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to cut it to 81-72, but the Grizzlies couldn’t get any closer.
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