Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points to lead another dominant display from the Oklahoma City Thunder, who extended their winning streak to 11 games with Sunday's 130-106 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies. (More Sports News)
A clash between the Western Conference's top two teams turned out to be no contest at all after the Thunder broke the game open in the second quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander keyed the easy win by going 14 of 19 from ✱the field and adding seven assists and four blocks, while Jalen Williams flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 14 p✤oints, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Oklahoma City also received 17 points from Ajay Mitchell anജd 16 from fellow reserve Aaron Wiggins to move five games clear of second-place Memphis in the West standings.
Desmond Bane paced the ♕Grizzlies with 22 points and Jon Konchar had 1ꦏ5 rebounds. Memphis played without star point guard Ja Morant due to a sprained shoulder.
The Grizzlies did score the game's first nine points but ultimately fell behind 34-31 after one quarter. The Thunder then pulled away in the second, outscoring the G🎃rizzlies by a 42-19 margin for the period to take a 76-50 lead into half-time.
Oklahoma City then maintained an advantage of aᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt least 21 points thr🔯oughout the second half.
Pacers avenge loss to Celtics by winning rematch
Behind Tyrese Haliburton's 31 points and seven assists, the Indiana Pacers turned the t🐓ables on the Boston Celtics by handing the defending NBA champions a 123-114 loss.
In the second meeting between last season's two Eastern Conference finals participants in three days, the Pacers avenged Friday's ꧃142-105 blowout loss in Boston with an improved performance on both ends of the floor.
Indiana shot 52.9 per cent from the field, the second-highest rate by an opponent Boston has allowed this season, while limiting the Celtics to a 29.6 per cent showing ไfrom 3-point range.
Boston still received 31 points from Jaylen Brown and 22 fro💛🍨m Jayson Tatum, though the latter went just 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Andrew Nembhard, who missed Friday's game with knee tendinitis, chipped in 17 points, eight rebounds 🅰and eight assists for Indiana. Pascal Siakam also had 17 points and🐭 eight rebounds in the victory.
Nembard scored 14 points and Halibuᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚrton had 13 in the first half, with the duo going a combined 11 of 14 from the field, to stake the Pacers to 🔯a 65-58 advantage at half-time.
Indiana took a 98-91 lead into the third quarter and went up by 11 with nine minutes left, though the Celtics pulled⛄ to within 105-103 with 7 1/2 minutes to play after stringing together an 8-0 run.
The Pacers responded with 13 straight points, however, to put th🧸e game away. Ben Sheppard had five points during the spurt, while Haliburton and Myles Turner contributed four each.
Late brawl overshadows Heat's win over Rockets
Tyler Herro scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half to rally the Miami Heat to a 10🔜4-100 win over the Houston Rockets, and was one of six players and coaches ejected for an altercation between the teams in the final💃 minute.
Herro became entangled with Houston's Amen Thompson with 35.7 seconds remaining, with T♏hompson throwing the Heat guard to the ground and causing both benches to clear. Both players were ejected along with Rockets guard Jalen Green, hea🦹d coach Ime Udoka and assistant Ben Sullivan, as well as Miami's Terry Rozier.
Houston guard Fred VanVleet was ejected moments before the skirmish after arguing with referee Marc Davis over a five-second violation that gave Miami the bal♋l with the Heat leading 99-94 with 47.4 seconds left.
Herro added nine assists and Bam Adebayo posted 12 points and 10 rebounds in the Heat's third win in four games. Miami also got a lift off the bench from Nikola Jovi💧c, who tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Dillon Brooks led Houston with 22 points and Green had 19 before exiting. Alperen Sengun recorded 18 points, 🍬18 rebounds and six assists in the Rockets' second straight loss following a four-game winning streak.
Houston owned a 92-85 lead with eight minutes left before the Heat put forth an 8-0 run to move ahead. After Haywood Highsmith's 3-pointer tied the game wཧith 4:47 to play, Herro made one of two free throws for a 93-92 Miami edge with 3:44 remaining.
A Brooks layup put the Rockets back in front, but Herro answered with a short jumper before Jovic drained a 3-pointer with 47.4 seconds on the clock to give Miami a 98-94൩ lead.
Houston had a 10-point adva🐼n🐻tage late in the third quarter, but the Heat closed out the period with a 14-5 flurry to move within 82-81 entering the fourth.
