AROUND THE NBA

AROUND THE NBA

Tuesday’s games

Raptors 122, Jazz 116

TORONTO

Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 45 points, Pascal Siakam had a career-best 28 points with 10 rebounds, and Toronto beat Utah. Norman Powell scored a season-high 14 points, and the Raptors won their fourth straight at home. Jae Crowder scored a career-high 30 points, Derrick Favors had 21 and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 as the Jazz dropped to 10-12 on the road and 18-20 overall. Utah’s Rudy Gobert scored 16 points, and Ricky Rubio had 14. Leonard made all seven of his field-goal attempts in the third quarter and added five foul shots. His 19 points were the second most in any quarter by a Raptors player this season.

Bucks 121, Pistons 98

MILWAUKEE

Brook Lopez had 25 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down a spectacular one-handed dunk and Milwaukee cruised past Detroit. Khris Middleton had 22 points and Eric Bledsoe had 18 for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo had just 15 points, but his slam over Jon Leuer was the highlight of the night. Antetokounmpo blew past Andre Drummond, jumped and reached his right arm over a leaping Leuer for the slam during the first quarter. Milwaukee has won four straight and eight of nine. The Bucks are an NBA-best 26-10. Blake Griffin had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Reggie Jackson scored 19 points for Detroit, which fell to 16-19. After leading 92-73 after three quarters, the Bucks built a 28-point lead midway through the fourth. Lopez made 7 of 12 shots from 3-point range and capped off the night by nailing a shot from beyond the sideline hashmark in the fourth. The Bucks pulled away in the second quarter, leading by as many as 21 points. They held a 68-52 advantage at the break after making 70 percent of their first-half shots. Milwaukee made 15 of 20 shots (75 percent) to grab a 35-27 lead after the first quarter. Lopez made all three of his 3-point attempts in the quarter.

Nuggets 115, Knicks 108

DENVER

Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists, including a late no-look pass to wrap things up, as Denver kept right on rolling by beating New York for a ninth straight home victory. Reserve Malik Beasley added a career-high 23 points for the Western Conference-leading Nuggets, who have now knocked off the Knicks 11 straight times at the Pepsi Center. It was far from easy, though, with the Nuggets needing a big 3-pointer from Jokic with 2:55 remaining to finally gain some separation. The struggling Knicks have lost eight in a row. Luke Kornet led the Knicks with 19 points, while reserve Enes Kanter scored 17 points and grabbed 12 points.

Trail Blazers 113, Kings 108, OT

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.

Damian Lillard shook off a sluggish night shooting to score five of his 25 points in overtime, and Portland rallied after blowing a 14-point halftime lead to beat Sacramento. Jusuf Nurkic had 24 points and a career-high 23 rebounds to help Portland to its fourth straight win over Sacramento. CJ McCollum added 16 points, and Maurice Harkless had 11 points and nine rebounds. Buddy Hield scored 27 points for Sacramento. Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 19 points. Lillard wasn’t much of a factor until late in the fourth quarter when he scored seven of Portland’s final nine points, including a layup with 15.5 seconds remaining to force overtime. The Blazers dominated after that while outscoring the Kings 10-5 in the overtime. Lillard made three free throws and a 20-foot jumper to spark Portland’s finish and erase an otherwise rough night shooting from its backcourt tandem of Lillard and McCollum.

Associated Press