An Aussie lit up in the best game of his young career.
Plus Klay Thompson bounced back in a big way to lead the Warriors t their first road win of the season.
Catch up on all of the day’s action in our NBA Wrap!
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GREEN’S CAREER GAME NOT ENOUGH AS MAVS FALL TO NUGS
The Denver Nuggets narrowly ousted the Dallas Mavericks 98-97 on Monday (all times AEDT) in a tight tussle behind a career-best 29 points from Bones Hyland off the bench.
Playing without three of their starters in Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets dug deep to win on the road after Michael Porter Jr sunk a go-ahead triple with 55.2 seconds left in the game.
Meanwhile, Aussie Josh Green had his own career-best 23-point outing off the Mavericks’ bench in 30 minutes with six three-pointers while shooting a hyper efficient 8-of-9 overall.
The 22-year old Green has seen his minutes ramp up in recent weeks, with the 30 against Denver a season high.
It came amid a bizarre sequence in the contest where the teams had to replay the final two seconds of the second quarter after half-time after a review found that Luka Doncic stepped out of bounds when he made his buzzer beating triple.
Vlakto Cancar, who subbed on specifically for those two seconds put back on the clock, hoisted a half court shot for the Nuggets that swished through the hoop to suddenly give Denver momentum ahead of the third quarter.
“You talk about something that changes the ebb and flow of the game … Cancar from half court in one of the all-time weirdest situations we’ve ever seen,” the Mavericks commentator said.
It was ultimately a telling factor in the game given the Nuggets won by just a point.
Doncic posted 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Dallas, who shot just 57 per cent from the free throw line (12-of-21) and 44 per cent from the field.
The result saw the Nuggets improve to 10-6, while the Mavs fell to 9-7.
SPLASH BROTHERS ERUPT IN EPIC KLAY BOUNCE BACK
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 74 points and 17 three-pointers and the Golden State Warriors took down the Houston Rockets 127-120.
Thompson bursting out of his early-season slump would’ve been a particularly welcomed sight for Warriors fans, exploding for a season-best 41 points and 10 triples, while Curry added 15 assists.
Meanwhile Thompson, Curry and Andrew Wiggins’ 23 combined three-pointers was the most by a trio in NBA history.
It marked the Warriors first road win for the season, with the defending champs now edging closer to .500 at 8-9.
“Steph had been going off all season, so it felt good to help him a little bit. It just felt good to have a big game,” Thompson said post-match.
“I’m my harshest critic – the first 10 games this season weren’t easy for me. To come out and be myself again, it felt incredible and it’s just something to build on and keep going.”
Kevin Porter Jr’s 30 points led the Rockets and Jabari Smith had a career-best 22 to help Houston stay within striking distance all game. But it was Golden State who had the answers down the stretch under the lead of Curry and Thompson.
The Rockets dropped their fifth game from their last six to now sit 3-14.
NETS BEAT GRIZZLIES IN KYRIE’S RETURN
The Brooklyn Nets marked Kyrie Irving’s return from an eight-game suspension with a 127-115 victory over Memphis,
Irving, who was suspended by the Nets after his social media post linking to a movie condemned as anti-Semitic sparked a furore, scored 14 points in 26 minutes on the floor.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 26 and Ben Simmons added 22 as seven Nets players scored in double figures.
That included Japanese reserve Yuta Watanabe, who made four of the Nets’ 16 three-pointers on the way to 16 points.
“It was great to have him get some minutes out there and for us to get a win while he’s doing it,” said Nets coach Jacque Vaughn, who said he expected Irving and the team to be able to focus on basketball going forward.
“At the end of the day, now it’s about hoopin’,” Vaughn said of his message to Irving. “I used that word.
“From this day on that’s what we’re going to be about. Basketball is factual. You get the rebound, that’s a fact. You box out, that’s a fact. You make the shot, that’s a fact.
Embiid leads Sixers pass Bucks | 02:38
“So we’re going to make this thing factual. It’s about basketball and we’re going to live in that space.” The row surrounding Irving, who was suspended a week after his late October post for failing to offer an apology, came the same week that Vaughn took over after Steve Nash was sacked in the wake of the Nets’ 1-5 start to the season.
They have now improved to 8-9, with former Rookie of the Year Simmons finally coming alive for the team he joined in a trade last season after his relationship with Philadelphia soured because of struggles with a back injury and mental health issues.
Simmons connected on 11 of 13 shot attempts for his first 20-point game since the 2021 playoffs for the 76ers – who will host the Nets on Wednesday.
Dillon Brooks scored 31 points for the Grizzlies, who were without dynamic star Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson.
READ MORE HERE.
SUNS TORCH KNICKS
A road trip that was supposed to be an absolute gauntlet for the Knicks suddenly had a chance to be a boon.
But back-to-back wins over the Jazz and the Nuggets have been followed by consecutive double-digit losses to the Warriors and the Suns, with the latter a messy 116-95 defeat at Footprint Center in which the Knicks were dominated on the boards by a whopping 60-39 count.
“The rebounding was a big problem. I thought we played well in the first half, but against a team like this you have to play well for all four quarters, 48 minutes,” Tom Thibodeau said. “So we had that lull, you give a team like that a second and third crack at things, they’ll make you pay for it and they did. “
Cameron Payne scored 21 points with nine assists and Devin Booker had 20 points amid a 17-for-39 shooting performance (43.6 per cent) from 3-point range by a Suns team playing without Chris Paul (heel) and Cam Johnson (knee).
Jalen Brunson netted a team-high 27 points, but skidding RJ Barrett and leading scorer Julius Randle combined for just 21 on 7-for-22 from the floor for the Knicks, who will look to salvage a winning record on the five-city trip Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder pasted the Knicks for a season-worst 145 points in a Garden blowout barely one week ago.
Embiid leads Sixers pass Bucks | 02:38
“Win (Tuesday and) it’s still a great trip. Going over .500 on the road, on this crazy trip, that’s good. So that’s what we’re focusing on,” said Barrett, who is 2-for-25 from 3-point range and 26.3 per cent overall (20-for-76) over his past five games. “Trying to end up the road trip with a win, for sure. It’s good we get to see them again, this fast.”
Mitchell Robinson played for the first time since suffering a sprained right knee Nov. 5 in Philadelphia, scoring two points with four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Miles McBride contributed nine points in a season-high 14 minutes with veteran guard Derrick Rose sitting out the second half due to a sore right toe.
With recent starting shooting guard Cam Reddish also out of the line-up with a sore groin suffered Saturday against the Warriors, Quentin Grimes at least enjoyed a strong game in his first extended playing time of the season. The second-year guard finished with 10 points, eight assists and five boards in a season-high 32 minutes. He’d logged 43 minutes over six previous appearances this season due to a foot injury suffered in training camp.
Isaiah Hartenstein started at centre for the Knicks (8-9), but he picked up two quick fouls, and Robinson came off the bench with 8:24 left in the first quarter.
The Knicks trailed, 28-22, through one, with Payne netting 10 and Booker scoring seven — including a four-point play. The Suns extended their cushion to 11 in the second quarter, but Brunson keyed a 9-0 run and converted a three-point play to forge a tie in the final minute before the Suns carried a 55-53 advantage into intermission.
Long-distance makes by Torrey Craig (14 points) and Booker, however, sparked an 11-2 Phoenix spurt to boost the score to 75-64 midway through the third. Additional 3-pointers by Booker and Duane Washington Jr. in the closing minute of the quarter widened the gap to 17 before the Suns extended their lead to as many as 26 in the final period.
“Really, the whole game, the rebounding was critical. They established their physical presence from the start, plus-20 or whatever it was on the glass, plus-30 from 3,” said Randle, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter and finished with a season-low nine points. “We gotta try to finish out the trip and make it a good trip. Take it a day at a time, game at a time, and hopefully come in (Tuesday) and take care of business.”
-Originally published by Peter Botte in The New York Post
ALL RESULTS
KNICKS 95 SUNS 116
HORNETS 102 WIZARDS 106
PISTONS 129 KINGS 137
GRIZZLIES 115 NETS 127
HEAT 87 CAVALIERS 113
WARRIORS 127 ROCKETS 120
NUGGETS 98 MAVERICKS 97
SPURS 92 LAKERS 123