Damian Lillard had 37 points and 12 assists, and the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks squandered a 22-point second-half lead before beating the Miami Heat 106-103 in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night.
Brook Lopez scored 13 points and Bobby Portis had 11 for the Bucks, who have won five in a row and moved back to the .500 mark (9-9) for the first time since they were 1-1.
Milwaukee played without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, a late pregame scratch because of swelling in his left knee.
The Bucks (3-0 in Cup play) also moved a half-game ahead of Detroit (2-0) in the East Group B standings.
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points for Miami, which got 18 from Tyler Herro, 17 from Terry Rozier and 16 from Bam Adebayo. The Heat tied the game at 96-96 on a layup by Butler and got within one point on three occasions later, but never led.
The Heat, who were outscored 60-30 from 3-point range, fell to 1-2 in Cup play.
AJ Green made back-to-back 3-pointers for Milwaukee in the final minutes, both coming immediately after Miami scored to get within one. His late 3s gave Milwaukee leads of 101-97 and 104-100.
Durant, Beal return as Suns cruise
Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant each scored 23 points and the Phoenix Suns celebrated the healthy return of both players with a 127-100 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Devin Booker led the way with 26 points and had 10 assists as the Suns snapped a five-game losing streak.
Beal had missed the past five games while Durant had missed seven in a row - both players were sidelined by a strained left calf.
Beal made 10 of 15 shots, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis, who scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. LeBron James added 18 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists as Los Angeles lost its third straight.
The Suns outscored the Lakers 36-18 in the third quarter, turning a tight game into a 98-78 advantage. Booker had 11 points during the run, while Jusuf Nurkic had 10.
Booker made three consecutive shots during the Suns' 14-2 run midway through the third quarter, helping push the lead to 86-72.
Phoenix is 9-1 when Durant is in the lineup and 1-6 when he's not.
Rockets outlast Wolves in OT
Alperen Sengun had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, Fred VanVleet added 27 points and 11 assists, and the Houston Rockets pulled out a 117-111 overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA Cup game.
Dillon Brooks added 22 points for Houston, which improved to 3-0 in the competition and clinched West Group A and a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Anthony Edwards had 29 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which has lost three in a row. Julius Randle scored 21, while Naz Reid had 19 off the bench.
Rookie Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 pick in the draft out of Kentucky, had his best game of the season, helping to fill the void left by point guard Mike Conley, who missed his third straight game with a left great toe sprain. Dillingham had 12 points and season highs with seven assists and five rebounds.
With 15 seconds left in regulation, Sengun got a pass on a drive to the basket for a potential layup, but Rudy Gobert came across for the block to keep the score tied. Edwards’ jumper on the other end was off the mark and the game went to overtime.
Houston shot 15 of 37 from 3-point territory, including 10 of 18 in the first half to build its lead.
Malone not moving on from Nuggets' 'embarrassing' loss to Knicks
Michael Malone labelled the manner of the Denver Nuggets’ 145-118 loss to the New York Knicks “embarrassing” as they fell to their second straight defeat at home.
The 145 points scored by the Knicks were the most by a visiting side at the Ball Arena since April 2022, when the Los Angeles Lakers racked up 146 in an overtime victory.
While the Nuggets had the NBA's joint second-best record at home last season at 33-8, their record this season tells a different tale at 5-4.
Malone vowed the home team would not just move past the blowout, telling reporters: "F*** that man, no. No, we're not flushing.
"You don't flush when you get embarrassed, you don't flush when you gave up 145 points, you don't flush when you didn't play hard, didn't play with effort, physicality, I'm not flushing anything."
The Nuggets allowed the Knicks to beat records all over the court. OG Anunoby made a career-high 40 points, while Jalen Brunson also attained a career-best in supplying 17 of New York’s 45 assists.
Malone’s focus remained on the efforts of his own players, however. He called for better leadership from his starters.
"Russell Westbrook, he's vocal -- but we need more than Russell Westbrook. I need Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, I need guys that have been here in that starting lineup to be vocal. And you know tonight we got embarrassed,” he explained.
"We're 16 games in and we're talking about effort, we're talking about toughness, we're talking about physicality. ... And regardless of who's in, who's out, who do we want to be as a team?
“So, yeah, leadership would be great, toughness would be great, physicality would be great, playing like you actually care would be great, and we didn't do that tonight."
Westbrook totalled 27 points off the bench for the Nuggets, but Jokic finished with a career-low seven rebounds and a 22-point total.
"We didn't show up tonight. It's always a good punch in the face just to wake up," Jokic said.
"Coach was right. We are in the games, and we are always down 20 at a half. I don't know [what's going on]. We don't warm up, we don't wake up, or we just don't play hard enough. I don't know what it is, but collectively, we need to do a better job."
Ball shares unwanted NBA record as Hornets suffer 'self-inflicted' defeat
LaMelo Ball claimed a share of an unwanted NBA record as his 44-point haul failed to prevent the Charlotte Hornets from suffering a 95-84 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday.
Ball became the third-youngest player in NBA history to sink 50 points and record 10 assists in a single game on Saturday, yet Charlotte were still beaten 125-119 by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 23-year-old endured more bad fortune on Monday, as his 44 points, nine rebounds and seven assists came in another defeat to the Magic.
Ball shot 17 of 30 and 4 of 11 from 3-point range but the Magic still snapped Charlotte's four-game winning streak on home turf, dropping them to 6-11 for this season.
He now has 94 points, 14 rebounds and 17 assists across his last two games but has lost both.
The only other player in NBA history to manage at least as many points, rebounds and assists in a two-game span but lose both is the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who did so on February 12 and 13, 1963 (97 points, 61 rebounds, 18 assists).
Despite Ball's herculean effort, Hornets coach Charles Lee criticised the inconsistency of his team's offensive play after the defeat.
"I thought defensively, our guys did a really good job of executing the gameplan," he said.
"To give up 95 points when we’re fouling towards the end of the game, I think it shows the effort, the competitiveness and the togetherness.
"Offensively, we got ourselves in trouble with some of our turnovers. Most of it is self-inflicted again and things that we can control.
"I'll give credit to Orlando for their length and activity on our drives, but I would love to see us fix some of our transition turnovers that we had."
The Hornets are back in action versus the Miami Heat on Wednesday, with the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks their next opponents as they play three games in as many days.
Morant posts 22 points on return, Grizzlies 'different' with 'big three'
Ja Morant scored 22 points on his return to fitness as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland Trail Blazers, with the team reaping the rewards of his relationship with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane.
Morant had missed three weeks – and eight games – after sustaining injuries to his hip and pelvic muscle, but he wasted no time in getting back up to speed on Monday.
The 2019 number two draft pick scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half as Memphis eased to a 123-98 victory at FedExForum.
Morant is averaging 20.8 points, 9.3 assists and five rebounds in his nine games this season, with the Grizzlies now 11-7.
Memphis, who missed the playoffs for the first time since Morant's rookie season last year, went 5-3 throughout his eight-game absence.
"It felt good. It felt like I played good. Looked good," Morant said after the game.
"I'm just attacking my return process. The ramp-up... Making sure I'm in rhythm when I'm out there."
Two fine assists from Morant – an alley-oop to Jackson and a behind-the-back pass to Brandon Clarke – brought standing ovations from those present at FedExForum, leading Santi Aldama to praise his connection with his fellow stars.
"When we've got the big three, it's different," reserve forward Aldama said. "It's also easier to play that way.
"We're talking about Ja. Just having him back, just the energy, the gravity, it's completely different. Hopefully we start building the chemistry with them."
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