All-Star Ja Morant scored a career-high 52 points including a massive dunk and a buzzer-beater as the Memphis Grizzlies won 118-105 over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
Morant's 52-point haul was the second highest of the NBA season, behind only Trae Young who scored 56 points for the Atlanta Hawks against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 3.
The 22-year-old guard went 22-of-30 from the field including four-of-four from beyond the arc. Morant also hit a ridiculous half-time buzzer-bester after Steve Adams' full-court pass, catching and shooting in one motion.
Earlier in the second quarter, Morant produced a monster one-handed dunk over Spurs center Jakob Poeltl.
Morant's half-century follows up his career-best 46 points against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. It was also the first 50-point game in Grizzlies franchise history.
Bucks bounce back with Giannis starring
Reigning champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, had dropped four of their past five games but Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way as they bounced back with a 130-106 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Antetokounmpo scored 26 points with 16 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and six assists, with Bobby Portis adding 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Miami Heat took some ground in the race for top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls, with Tyler Herro contributing 20 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench. DeMar DeRozan's 10-game run of 30-point games was halted, managing only 18 for the Bulls.
D'Angelo Russell's good run of scoring continued with 25 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves boosted their playoffs hopes by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-22, with Karl-Anthony Towns () draining a key late three-pointer.
Short-handed Nets blown away
The Brooklyn Nets slumped to their 14th loss from their past 17 games, going down miserably 133-97 to the Toronto Raptors at home. Scottie Barnes dominated with 28 points, 16 rebounds and five steals for Toronto while the Nets, missing Kyrie Irving who is ineligible to play home games and head coach Steve Nash in protocols, had few winners
Ben Simmons will not make his debut for the Brooklyn Nets this week, though Kevin Durant is getting closer to a return from injury.
Simmons has yet to play for the Nets since this month's blockbuster trade that ended his stand-off with the Philadelphia 76ers, with James Harden going in the other direction.
During his introductory media conference, Simmons had said he hoped to be ready to make his season debut against the Sixers in Philadelphia or March 10.
That prospect appears less and less likely after Nets head coach Steve Nash revealed Simmons, who has struggled with a back issue since the Nets upped his workload in practice, is not close to being ready to play.
Speaking ahead of the Nets' clash with the Toronto Raptors on Monday, Nash said: "Ben is still working through a number of things and reconditioning so he's not gonna play this week but we'll keep working on his timeline and hopefully he can progress.
There is better news on Durant as he looks to make his return from a left knee sprain. He will not play in either of the Nets' successive games with the Raptors but could feature against the Miami Heat on Thursday or the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
"Kevin's getting close, we're hopeful that he can play this week," added Nash. "He won't play tonight or tomorrow but hopeful I guess that [his return] would be Thursday or Sunday."
The Nets are 32-29, eight games back of the Eastern Conference-leading Heat having lost seven of their last 10 games.
New York Mayor Eric Adams has ruled out the prospect of making an exception to coronavirus rules that would allow Kyrie Irving to play at home for the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving is unvaccinated which means he is unable to play for the Nets when they have games at Barclays Center under current guidelines, even though he can play in the NBA on the road.
A quirk in the rules means away players from other teams can play in New York City even if they have not had the vaccine, a situation Adams accepts "makes no sense" and is "ridiculous".
Adams hopes Irving can play for the Nets at home soon but will not change the rules early for one person because of the example it would set to the city's employees.
"These are the rules and I have to follow the rules," Adams said to CNBC.
"If I don't, I'm going to open the door that is sending the wrong message to everyday employees.
"Listen, I want Kyrie on the court. I would do anything to get that ring. So badly, I want it.
"But there's so much at stake here. And I spoke with the owner of the team. We want to find a way to get Kyrie on the court, but this is a bigger issue."
Adams added: "I can't have my city closed down again.
"It would send the wrong message just to have an exception for one player when we're telling a countless number of New York City employees, 'If you don't follow the rules, you won't be able to be employed'.
"Businesses have their vaccine mandates. City employees have their vaccine mandates. I have to follow the rules. And trust me, I want Kyrie on the court.
"We are here right now opening our city because of vaccine mandates. We can't close down again. I can't have my city close down again."
Irving said at the weekend he could see "light at the end of the tunnel" in his bid to play home games for the Nets and appreciated comments from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who questioned the rules that allow unvaccinated road players to take to the court in New York.
The Nets (32-29) are at home against the Toronto Raptors (32-27) on Monday, having earned a key road win at NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks last time out, Irving starring with a game-high 38 points.
Stephen Curry says the Golden State Warriors must "bring an edge" as he and coach Steve Kerr aim to heed the lessons from the shock loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Warriors held a 19-point advantage heading into the final quarter on Sunday, yet ultimately slipped to a 107-101 loss – their fifth defeat in seven games.
Golden State's brilliant start to the season has them comfortably among the top teams in the NBA, with a 43-18 record, though their recent form will be a worry.
For Curry, however, the defeat can provide lessons on what the Warriors have to anticipate as the regular season enters its final stages and the playoffs approach.
"We played great defense for 36 minutes," Curry, who had a double-double of 27 points and 10 assists, said.
"We felt like we had the game under control. For whatever reason, our energy shifted when we missed a couple of shots, empty possessions.
"They come down and score, we start getting deflated, and for no reason.
"We've got to figure out how to maintain our energy when the shots aren't falling. Because, that's what it might be like in a playoff game.
"So I'd like to say it was a good lesson to learn, even though it sucks to have to go through it.
"We've got to bring an edge. Sustain that over 48 minutes and each game we'll have an opportunity to do that, to turn it into a positive and try to build momentum, but it's not going to happen on its own just because the coach says it or because we want it to. We've got to do it."
It was a sentiment echoed by Kerr, whose side's capitulation marked the biggest blown fourth-quarter lead so far this season.
"We did not maintain our grit down the stretch," said Kerr, who has previously been highly critical of his teams defense across their poor run.
"We just let our momentum get away from us. We can't just say, 'Oh well, when Draymond [Green] and Andre [Iguodala] get back we will be better.' It doesn't matter who's out there. We've got to get better executing under pressure and maintaining competence.
"It's actually good to go through and feel it because this is what it feels like in the playoffs, when you're playing against a really good team."
LeBron James conceded this season is "definitely different" after the Los Angeles Lakers slumped to another defeat on Sunday.
The Lakers were humiliated 123-95 by the New Orleans Pelicans at home, giving up 23 turnovers for the game, which was the team's most this season.
James and Russell Westbrook combined for 14 turnovers, which was their worst return as team-mates.
The only positive was James scored 32 points, marking his 500th career game with 30 points or more.
But that was not enough to prevent a fifth defeat in six matches for the Lakers, with James recognising the need for a win to provide the catalyst for a turnaround.
"It all starts with a win. You learn from that win, the things you did well and what you didn't do well," he said.
"It always starts with that and how you can implement it into a game and a game situation.
"Obviously the last two losses have been... the Clippers game was right there [to win] and obviously we couldn't finish the game.
"And tonight against the Pelicans, who have been playing some good ball of late... this season is definitely different."
Next up for the 27-33 Lakers is a showdown with the Dallas Mavericks, who came from behind to stun the Golden State Warriors on Monday.
All-Star Ja Morant scored a career-high 46 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Chicago Bulls at United Center, and later attributed his achievement in part to Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
Saturday's encounter saw the Grizzlies win 116-110 to move to 42-20, while the Bulls are 39-22.
Steven Adams also hit 12 points with a season-high 21 rebounds for Memphis, while DeMar DeRozan extended his 30-point streak to 10 games with a 31-point haul as the Bulls' six-game win streak came to an end.
After the game, Morant was asked if he had seen the highlights video played in the arena of Jordan's most memorable moments.
"I did watch it," he said. "And then, I did start scoring a lot. It probably played a part in it."
The 22-year-old made 15 of 28 field goal attempts, sank three shots from beyond the arc and made 13 out of 15 free throws.
His 46-point haul comes just 10 days after he racked up 44 against the Portland Trail Blazers, and makes it 16 games in a row in which he has scored at least 20 points.
"I've seen too many [incredible performances]. Kinda boring now," Grizzlies team-mate Adams said jokingly. "He's such an amazing player."
Morant also went on to praise the effort of his team, saying: "They gotta be recognised for the job they do for us on the floor. Obviously we had a lot of guys who contributed big for us tonight.
"[Desmond Bane] hit a big-time three, Kyle [Anderson] with the stops on the defensive end, Steve being the man inside the paint, Tyus [Jones] stepping up and hitting big free throws, and so on down the line.
"Obviously without them, we probably wouldn't have been in that position, so a lot of credit has to go to my team-mates."
Kyrie Irving can see "light at the end of the tunnel" after the best performance of his difficult season in the Brooklyn Nets' defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Irving put up 38 points, as the Nets beat the reigning champions 126-123 on the road on Saturday.
With Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons sidelined, Irving stepped up with a strong performance, finishing 14-of-26 shooting to overshadow Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It was a glimpse of a possibly exciting end to the season for the Nets and Irving, whose appearances have been limited by the vaccine mandate in New York City.
The 29-year-old, who is unvaccinated, has only been able to play in road games until now, but New York City mayor Eric Adams said this week that the mandate is likely to be phased out as cities across the United States begin to remove their COVID-19 restrictions.
"I'm glad that things are kind of settling down and there's light at the end of the tunnel here," Irving said. "Hopefully, I can get back on that home floor playing in the Barclays, and now we can finally have that conversation that you've been dying to have just about turning the page and moving forward beyond this.
"But like I said, I'm not the only one. I feel for everybody that's either in my boat or a similar boat or has dealt with some type of trauma from this. And just wishing everybody well-wishes, always."
On the prospect of New York's mandate being lifted, Irving said: "I'm following it as much as you guys are, so just remaining patient and just seeing where things end up in this next week or so, next two weeks, I'm not too sure, but I know as much as you do.
"And I want to say this: I'm very appreciative of all those that are pushing behind the scenes to make our world a better place.
"And with everything calming down with the COVID cases, the most important thing for me was just making sure everyone's okay. I've been on record saying this that it's not about me, that I don't want to feel like it's all on me, but the circumstances this year have not been ideal."
Irving has only played in 15 games this season but has maintained a points average of 25.1, above his career figure of 22.9. That is despite his field-goal percentage (45.9 per cent) dropping to its lowest since his penultimate season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015-16.
He said he was grateful to NBA commissioner Adam Silver for suggesting the New York mandate "doesn't quite make sense" as unvaccinated opposition players were still allowed to play.
"I know his job is not easy, standing in the fire, sometimes, on behalf of our league," he added. "So my respect level went to a whole new one for him, and I'm just grateful that he did that, and he really took one for the team. And I'm grateful for that.
"But like I said, we want to set a great example for the world in what we're doing, and we try to stand for what's right and respect everyone else's decisions and their personal beliefs."
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