DETROIT (AP) — Paul Reed had 28 points and 13 rebounds and the undermanned Detroit Pistons won their eighth straight game, beating the Chicago Bulls 124-113 on Wednesday night.
The Pistons improved to 10-2 despite missing their entire usual starting lineup of Cade Cunningham (hip), Jalen Duren (ankle), Tobias Harris (ankle), Ausar Thompson (ankle) and Jaden Ivey (knee) and two key reserves.
Duncan Robinson scored 23 points before fouling out, and Daniss Jenkins added 18 points and a career-high 12 assists.
Matas Buzelis had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago, and Kevin Huerter added 20 points. The Bulls have lost four straight after a 6-1 start.
Down 16 after three quarters, but the Bulls scored the first 11 points of the fourth to make it 95-90. Chicago cut it to 97-96, but Reed’s three-point play and Ron Holland II’s dunk put Detroit up by six with 8:02 to play.
CELTICS 131, GRIZZLIS 95
BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard made five 3-pointers, scored 24 points and had nine assists and Boston used a big second half to overtake Memphis.
The Grizzlies played without star guard Ja Morant, who sat out with a right ankle injury suffered Tuesday night in a loss at New York.
Derrick White added 20 points for Boston and Jaylen Brown had 19.
The Celtics never trailed, made 21 3-pointers and led by 38 points. They also pushed the Grizzlies inside, outscoring them 58-41 and holding a 34-12 advantage in second-chance points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 18 points for Memphis, which lost for the seventh time in eight games. Santi Aldama finished with 14 points.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Miles Bridges scored 20 points, Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points on 8-of-8 field goal shooting and Charlotte ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over Milwaukee, which played without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Collin Sexton and Kon Knueppel had 16 points each for the Hornets.
Ryan Rollins led the Bucks with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Myles Turner had 21 points. Kyle Kuzma, who was shooting 55.3 percent from the field and coming off a game-high 26 points against Dallas, was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, sat out with patellar tendinopathy in his left knee but is expected to return for the rematch against the Hornets Friday night in Milwaukee.
The Hornets took the lead with 3:52 left in the first quarter and didn’t trail again. The Hornets led 59-50 at halftime.
The Hornets were 23 of 27 from the free throw line, compared to 8 of 13 for the Bucks. The Hornets also outscored the Bucks 50-34.
NEW YORK (AP) — Franz Wagner had 28 points and nine rebounds, Desmond Bane added 22 points and eight assists, and Orlando handed New York its first home loss of the season with a victory.
Anthony Black scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting for the Magic, who won for the fifth time in their last seven games. They overcame the loss of top scorer Paolo Banchero, who strained his left groin on his 23rd birthday and missed the second half.
Jalen Brunson scored 31 points before leaving with 1:52 left shortly after turning his right ankle on a drive to the basket. Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 12 rebounds for his NBA-leading 10th double-double for the Knicks, who were 7-0 at Madison Square Garden and had won five straight overall.
MIAMI (AP) — Jarrett Allen had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and short-handed Cleveland stopped Miami’s four-game winning streak with a victory.
De’Andre Hunter scored 21 points for the Cavaliers, who lost 140-138 in overtime in Miami on Monday. Lonzo Ball had 15 points and eight assists, and reserve Craig Porter Jr. finished with 19 points, nine assists and four blocks.
Cleveland improved to 15-7 after suffering a regular-season loss since coach Kenny Atkinson took over before last season.
Cavaliers guard Tyrese Proctor finished with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
The Cavs scored 29 points off 21 Miami turnovers and turned a 14-point third-quarter deficit into a 99-98 lead — their first of the game — with 10:03 remaining. Cleveland never trailed, outscoring the Heat 31-18 over the final 10 minutes.
Norman Powell scored 27 points for Miami, which has lost 1-7 in its last eight games against Cleveland. Davion Mitchell added 16 points.
Miami’s Andrew Wiggins had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists, but he also had five turnovers. Kel’el Ware added with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Cleveland played without a trio of All-Stars; guard Darius Garland, who aggravated his surgically repaired left toe Monday, guard Donovan Mitchell (rest) and forward Evan Mobley (rest). Miami was without Bam Adebayo (toe) and Tyler Herro (heel).
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Reed Sheppard added a season-high 21 to help Houston earn a victory over Washington, extending its skid to 10 games.
Houston was up double digits for most of the game and had a 27-point lead at halftime. Washington outscored the Rockets 33-22 in the third to cut the lead to 103-87 entering the final period.
A 3-point basket by Bub Carrington brought Washington within 16 again with about eight minutes remaining before the Rockets used a 5-0 run, capped by a 3 by Sheppard, to extend the lead to 121-100.
Alperen Sengun scored a 3-pointer for Houston to make it 126-105 with about 3 1/2 minutes left and coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench.
Alex Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who fell to 1-11 on the season. Kyshawn George added 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Reserve Tari Eason scored a season-high 21 points for Houston, and Sengun finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Amen Thompson scored 18 points and had eight assists as the Rockets improved to 7-3.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 46 points and Golden State beat San Antonio, overcoming triple-doubles from Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.
Jimmy Butler had 28 points and eight assists for Golden State, which had lost three of four. Moses Moody added 19 points.
Wembanyama had 31 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth career triple-double. He had 38 points and 12 rebounds a 121-117 victory in Chicago Monday evening.
Wembanyama and Castle became the first Spurs teammates to record a triple-double in the same game. Castle finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
San Antonio suffered its first home defeat this season. The Spurs had won three in a row in total.
Curry scored 29 points in the second half as the Warriors outscored the Spurs 76-64 over the final two quarters.
TRAIL BLAZERS 125, PELICANS 117
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Shaedon Sharpe scored a season-high 35 points, Deni Avdija added 32 and Portland beat New Orleans.
Sharpe made 11 of 11 2-point field goals, the most 2-pointers in a game without a miss by a Portland player since March 18, 1982, when Calvin Natt went 13-for-13.
Avdija has scored 25 or more points in five straight games, the longest streak of his career. It is also the longest streak by a Trail Blazers player since Damian Lillard’s 19-game streak in the 2022-23 season.
Derik Queen had 26 points and Saddiq Bey scored 25 for the Pelicans, who lost their third straight game.
DALLAS (AP) — Devin Booker had 26 points and nine assists, Grayson Allen scored four of his 23 points in a key late stretch and Phoenix held off Dallas for its fourth straight victory.
Dallas played for the first time since Tuesday morning’s firing of general manager Nico Harrison, struggling since the controversial Feb. 2 trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dallas cut its 18-point second-half deficit to three with 1:48 left. Allen took a scoop shot in the lane with Daniel Gafford called for goalie with 1:25 left and made two free throws with 24.3 seconds left for a seven-point lead.
The Suns are 7-5. They have won six of seven after opening 1-4.
Klay Thompson scored 19 points in his fourth straight game off the bench, including a season-high six 3-pointers for the Mavericks. At 3-9, they are off to their worst start in 12 games since opening 2-10 in 2017-18.
Brandon Williams scored 17 points and Cooper Flagg had 16 for the Mavericks.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and nine assists in three quarters, and Oklahoma City cruised past Los Angeles.
Isaiah Joe added 21 points for the Thunder, who improved to their league-best record to 12-1.
Oklahoma City knocked off one of its biggest Western Conference rivals in Game 2. He beat the Golden State Warriors 126-102 Tuesday evening.
Los Angeles guard Luka Doncic was held to 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting. He averaged 37.1 points before the game.
Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort, a defensive guard who normally guards Doncic, was out with a right upper trapezius strain, and the Thunder still got the job done.
Austin Reaves, who averaged 30.3 points, had 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting for the Lakers. Los Angeles had scored at least 116 points in every game this season, but didn’t get close after shooting 40.3 percent from the field.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Atlanta routed slumping Sacramento.
Johnson scored 18 points in the first half and shot 9 of 10 from the field for his fourth double-double this season and the 44th of his career. He also made all four of his free throws.
Onyeka Okongwu added 21 points off the bench, Zaccharie Risacher had 15 and the Hawks earned their third straight victory despite playing without Trae Young. The four-time All-Star guard missed seven games with a sprained knee and could be out for another two months.
Atlanta led by 44 and never trailed, achieving balanced scoring with seven players in double figures.
Keon Ellis had 20 points with six 3-pointers for Sacramento. Domantas Sabonis provided 12 points and Devin Carter added 11. Russell Westbrook and Precious Achiuwa each scored 10.
