Zion Williamson scored 34 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and made three steals as the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Clippers 112-104 on Friday night.
Trey Murphy III contributed 14 points, Brandon Ingram scored 13, Larry Nance Jr. had 12, and CJ McCollum put up 11 points as the New Orleans Pelicans (40-26) defeated the Clippers 3-1 in the season series. Paul George scored 26 points, Kawhi Leonard had 23, and Norman Powell added 15 for the Clippers (42-24), who played without James Harden due to a strained left shoulder for the second consecutive game.
Zion Williamson scored the New Orleans Pelicans’ first 10 points in the third quarter, with Herbert Jones also contributing a field goal as New Orleans Pelicans took a 62-51 lead. Leonard scored four points and Terance Mann made a 3-pointer to bring the Clippers within two points. The New Orleans Pelicans extended their lead to six before the Clippers tied the score at 71 with a 3-pointer by Powell.
The game was tied three more times before Williamson scored a layup just before the end of the quarter, giving New Orleans an 82-80 lead. Jones scored five points and Williamson added four as the Pelicans achieved their largest lead of the half at 48-40. George scored four points to reduce the lead before Williamson made two free throws, giving the Pelicans a 50-44 halftime advantage.
Nikola Jokic outperformed rookie Victor Wembanyama in a battle of big men as the NBA champion Denver team defeated San Antonio on Friday. Jokic, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting, with Jamal Murray contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds in Denver’s 117-106 win over the Spurs in Austin, Texas. The Nuggets extended their winning streak to five games and took the top spot in the Western Conference with a record of 47-20, just ahead of Oklahoma City. Wembanyama scored 17 points for the Spurs, who have the worst record in the West at 14-53.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker led the Suns to a 107-96 victory in Charlotte by scoring 21 points and dishing out 11 assists. Grayson Allen contributed 17 points, Bradley Beal had 15, and Jusuf Nurkic added 13 points and 21 rebounds for Phoenix (39-28). Kevin Durant of the Suns scored 13 points in the game, putting him just 20 points away from surpassing Shaquille O’Neal’s 28,596 points to move into eighth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Durant has already surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, and Carmelo Anthony on the career scoring list this season.
In Miami, Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Heat defeat Detroit 108-95. Simone Fontecchio led Detroit with 24 points, while Jalen Duren contributed 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons.
In Toronto, Franz Wagner contributed 19 points and Paolo Banchero had 17 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists to lead Orlando to a 113-103 victory over the Raptors. Despite Gary Trent Jr’s game-high 31 points, Toronto suffered their sixth straight loss.
