LOS ANGELES, United States —
The
NBA-leading Phoenix Suns and Western Conference rivals Golden State tumbled
Sunday as Joel Embiid and James Harden signaled the Philadelphia 76ers are a
force to be reckoned with in the East.
اضافة اعلان
The surging Utah Jazz, fueled by 26
points from
Donovan Mitchell, downed the Suns 118-114 to post their eighth
victory in nine games.
Utah's
Rudy Gobert returned after
missing six games with a sore right knee and non-COVID illness, scoring 16
points and pulling down 14 rebounds. That included a season-high eight
offensive rebounds.
The Suns, who still own the best
record in the NBA at 49-12, lost back-to-back games for the first time since
dropping two on December 25 and 27.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 30
points.
Cameron Johnson and Deandre Ayton added 23 apiece but Phoenix are
clearly still finding their way in their third game since losing All-Star point
guard Chris Paul to a broken thumb that could sideline him the rest of the
regular season.
The Golden State Warriors, chasing
the
Suns for top spot in the West, couldn't capitalize, surrendering a 21-point
third-quarter lead in a 107-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in San Francisco.
On the eve of his 23rd birthday,
Luka Doncic scored 34 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Dallas, connecting
on a pair of key baskets down the stretch and draining the clinching
free-throws in the waning seconds.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points
with four rebounds and five assists off the bench for
Dallas, playing a key
role in the fourth-quarter surge that overwhelmed the Warriors.
Dallas out-scored Golden State 33-13
in the final period, when the Warriors made just four of their 18 attempts from
the field.
Stephen Curry finished with 27
points and 10 assists for the Warriors but, without Klay Thompson and
Draymond Green, Golden State had no answer to the Mavs' late charge.
There was another embarrassing
defeat for
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who were beaten 123-95 by
the New Orleans Pelicans.
CJ McCollum scored 22 points to lead
six Pelicans players in double figures, and New Orleans easily withstood a
32-point performance from James to hand the Lakers their second straight defeat
since the All-star break.
In New York, Harden posted his first
triple-double as a 76er and clicked again with star teammate Joel Embiid in
their 125-109 victory over the Knicks.
Former Most Valuable Player Harden,
playing his second game for the Sixers since arriving in a blockbuster trade
from
Brooklyn, notched the 68th triple-double of his career with 29 points, 16
assists and 10 rebounds.
He also came up with five steals and
proved the perfect complement to Cameroonian center Embiid, who scored 37
points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots.
Tyrese Maxey got in on the offensive
display, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
'Unstoppable'
Embiid said that so far the addition
of Harden – a two-time NBA scoring champion as well as a proven playmaker – was
working just as
Philadelphia had hoped.
"Unstoppable," Embiid said
of the Sixers' offense with Harden in the mix. "What are you really gonna
do? He's a great passer and obviously I've got someone that attracts a lot of
attention, too.
"So you've got to make a
decision, do you stay on me or do you stay on him? And if you want to guard
both of us, with the other guys, now you've got Matisse (Thybulle) driving to
the rim or wide-open shooters."
Philadelphia's second straight
victory saw them improve to 37-23. They are third in the
Eastern Conference and
just 2 1/2 games behind conference leaders Miami.
The Knicks seized the lead early in
the fourth quarter, but seven straight Sixers points from Harden put
Philadelphia back in front in the nip-and-tuck battle.
An aggressive Embiid set career
highs with 23 made free throws and 27 attempts.
Elsewhere, Kelly Olynyk drained a
jump shot from the baseline as time expired to lift the Detroit Pistons to a
127-126 overtime win over the Hornets in Charlotte.
The Los Angeles Clippers pulled out
a close one in Houston, where they edged the Rockets 99-98.
Read more Sports
.jpg)
.jpg)
