Indiana rookie Andrew Nembhard drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Pacers a thrilling 116-115 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles.
The Lakers looked headed to a third straight victory when they led 101-84 with 9:59 to play.
But the Pacers kept coming, knotting it at 113-113 on Tyrese Haliburton’s driving layup with 39.8 seconds remaining.
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Lakers superstar LeBron James — who rolled his ankle in the first quarter but returned to action after a trip to the locker room — responded with a layup of his own to make it 115-113.
But when Myles Turner missed a three-pointer on the Pacers’ ensuing possession the Lakers couldn’t corral the rebound. Haliburton grabbed it and fired to Nembhard who drilled the game-winner.
“It felt good coming off my fingers, that’s for sure,” Nembhard told broadcaster Bally Sports Indiana in an on-court interview shortly before he was doused with water by teammates in celebration.
SIMMONS INJURED AS KD EXPLODES FOR 45 POINTS
The Brooklyn Nets edged out an undermanned Orlando Magic outfit at home 109-102 to get back to .500 at 11-11 behind a season-high 45-point masterclass from Kevin Durant on Tuesday (all times AEDT).
Durant shot a hyper efficient 19-of-24 from the field (79 per cent) and added seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks in a dominant performance from the superstar forward.
The Nets were up by one at halftime, and Durant erupted in the third quarter, scoring 19 points, blocking two shots and coming up with a steal in the period as the Nets seized control.
“Teammates set great screens for me, the paint was opened up because we were spaced off properly and I was able to knock some shots down,” Durant said after the game.
It’s been a rocky season for Brooklyn, who had just sacked coach Steve Nash in the wake of a 1-5 start when star guard Kyrie Irving was embroiled in controversy after posting a link to an anti-Semitic film on social media.
“We’ve been through a lot so far,” he said. “Getting to .500 is a definite goal of ours the last couple of weeks — we were right on the cusp.” Irving added 20 points and Nic Claxton scored 16 points with 13 rebounds for the Nets.
“We just want to keep progressing,” Durant said.
It worryingly came in a contest where Ben Simmons was forced out at half-time with left knee soreness – the same knee that’s caused him to miss games this season and required surgery two years ago – and didn’t return.
The latest setback – checking out with nine minutes left in the first half against the Magic – comes just as he was finding his stride for the first time as a Net.
The 26-year-old – who was traded to Brooklyn in February for former MVP James Harden – did not play last season due to both mental health issues and a bad back. The latter required a microdiscectomy procedure in May to repair a herniated L-4 disc, but has had lasting effects even this season, now on the other side of his body.
Simmons missed four consecutive games earlier this month with swelling in his knee. He also sat out the November 14 loss at the Lakers with the same problem. At that point Simmons was averaging just 5.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists, all career-lows. He was a team-worst minus-43, and his minus-4.8 per game was 410th out of 455 players per NBA.com.
But ever since returning from that knee injury, Simmons has seemed like a new player. Or perhaps more accurately, like a facsimile of his old All-Star self.
In the prior seven games coming into Tuesday – five of them starts – Simmons’ plus-29 was just a point behind Kevin Durant for the best on the team, looking spry and explosive. He averaged 13.6 points, as well as 7.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals. The latter three figures were all team-highs.
Simmons finished Tuesday with four rebounds and three assists in 11 minutes.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving scored 20 points for Brooklyn and Nic Claxton added 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
The Magic, who were without Wendell Carter Jr, Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, Chuma Okeke and Jonathan Isaac – having lost an NBA-high 113 games to injury/illness this season – fought admirably all game as Paolo Banchero and Bol Bol (both 24 points) starred.
Whenever it seemed like the Nets were going to run away with it in the fourth, Orlando came right back.
But it was ultimately an impressive win from a Nets team that may have folded under such pressure earlier this season to claim their fifth win from their last seven games.
“This was an impressive game for the Brooklyn Nets – one not those ugly games you’ve got to win off a back-to-back against a young team,” former NBA player Richard Jefferson said on the YES Network.
“This was a gutsy one and a win maybe earlier this season the Nets weren’t able to accomplish.
“Even have Ben Simmons going out at half-time, so a couple of things stacked against you.
“But ultimately this is the type of win the Brooklyn Nets can build on, especially 2-0 already on this seven-game home stand.”
-Originally published in The New York Post by Brian Lewis
ELSEWHERE …
While the league-leading Boston Celtics romped again, leading wire-to-wire in a 140-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the Philadelphia 76ers erased a 16-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks 104-101 in star centre Joel Embiid’s return from injury.
It was business as usual in Boston, where Jayson Tatum returned from a one-game absence to score 35 points and sat out the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
Jaylen Brown, who had carried the load in Tatum’s absence in a blowout victory over Washington on Monday, had his turn to rest, sitting out with a sore neck.
It didn’t matter at all as the Celtics knocked down 24 three-pointers and kept their offence clicking with 40 assists.
The Hornets, missing Terry Rozier, LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward, simply had no answer for a Celtics team that has won 13 of their last 14 games.
Ingram limps off in loss to Grizzlies | 01:05
In Philadelphia, Embiid started slow in his return from a four-game absence with a sprained left foot.
He connected on just one of his first seven shots, but finished nine-of-18 from the floor, grabbing eight rebounds and handing out seven assists, while chants of “MVP! MVP!” rang out as he made the final free throw to seal the win.
Embiid’s fadeaway jump shot had given the 76ers a 101-100 lead with 18.6 seconds to play.
Seconds later he picked off a pass from Atlanta’s Trae Young, then made two free throws to stretch Philadelphia’s lead.
Embiid, who was hurt when teammate Georges Niang fell on him during a game, said he felt good after playing 35 minutes on Tuesday.
“I thought it (the injury) was going to be really bad,” he said. “So I’m just excited to come back in such a short amount of time.”
Wizards centre Kristaps Porzingis had a big night in Washington, scoring a career-high 41 points — 29 of them in the first half — in a 142-127 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Even worse for the T-Wolves, star Karl-Anthony Towns had to be helped off the court in the third quarter with what the team said was a right calf strain.
Towns was running up the court when he suddenly grabbed his leg and fell. He was eventually helped to the locker room by teammate Rudy Gobert and a team trainer.
ALL RESULTS
HAWKS 101 SIXERS 104
TIMBERWOLVES 127 WIZARDS 142
HORNETS 105 CELTICS 140
MAGIC 102 NETS 109
CAVALIERS 88 RAPTORS 100
THUNDER 101 PELICANS 105
ROCKETS 113 NUGGETS 129
BULLS 114 JAZZ 107
SUNS 122 KINGS 117
PACERS 115 LAKERS 116