Zach Lavine scored 29 points as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Denver Nuggets 117-96 on Wednesday to snap the Nuggets’ eight-game home winning streak. Phoenix Suns defeated Oklahoma City Thunder.
With a 36-point third quarter, the Bulls, who are 11th in the Eastern Conference and just outside the play-in spots, overcame the Western Conference leaders.
This season, the Nuggets have been nearly invincible in Denver, going 30-4 at home, which is the best record in the league, and they had not lost in eight games at their Ball Arena home before Wednesday.
However, Lavine scored 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting and Nikola Vucevic added 25 points and 14 rebounds in a courageous Chicago performance that ended with Denver falling short of a rare blowout.
Nikola Jokic, Denver’s current NBA Most Valuable Player, scored only 18 points.
In other games, Phoenix defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-101 despite Kevin Durant’s late injury absence, who was supposed to make his home debut.
Since Durant’s significant trade from Brooklyn last month, Suns fans had been eager to see him for the first time at their home stadium.
However, the superstar, who is 34 years old, was ruled out shortly before tip-off because he injured his ankle while attempting a layup during the warm-up.
In Durant’s absence, Phoenix relied heavily on Devin Booker, who exploded for 44 points. Terrence Ross added 24 points off the bench, and Chris Paul contributed 18 points.
Monty Williams, the coach for Phoenix, said that Durant had broken his ankle.
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 30 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers 115-93 to end their three-game losing streak.
The Celtics, who had suffered a string of collapses during their recent mini-slump, including defeats to Cleveland, the New York Knicks, and the Brooklyn Nets, were led by Tatum in a superb all-around offensive effort.
However, as the Celtics regained their winning momentum in a decisive manner, there was little indication that Boston’s issues would continue against Portland.
After being eliminated from first place in the Eastern Conference last week, Boston jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and never trailed. In the fourth, they led by 27 points before securing an encouraging victory.
Boston’s starters completed in twofold figures with Tatum’s all’s 30-point pull driving the way while Derrick White added 21 focuses.
Al Horford had 17, Marcus Smart had 10, and Jaylen Brown had 11.
On the other hand, Boston’s defense held Damian Lillard to just 27 points, and only two other Portland starters scored more than 10 points.
Following Portland’s recent defeats in which they lost significant leads, “ON RIGHT TRACK” Tatum was pleased that Boston was able to keep Portland at arm’s length.
Boston currently leaves for a six-game excursion where they will hope to expand on Wednesday’s success.
Cleveland extended their current three-game winning streak in Florida by holding off a late Miami road rally.
Darius Garland scored 25 points for the Cavaliers, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 42-26 record, and Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points for the Cavaliers, who won 104-100.
Tyler Herro scored 22 points for the Heat, who are seventh in the East, while Jimmy Butler had 28 points to lead Miami.
Luka Doncic scored just 15 points as the Pelicans defeated the Dallas Mavericks 113-106 in New Orleans thanks to a flurry of late points from C.J. McCollum.
The Pels prevailed deservedly with McCollum scoring 32 points, 13 of which came in the game’s final four minutes.
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