TAMPA, Fla. - Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and Pascal Siakam had a big second half Monday night, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 116-93 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Siakam scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as the Raptors pulled away for their third straight victory. Chris Boucher added 21 points and OG Anunoby contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and much of the defensive work against Dallas star Luka Doncic.
Doncic, who was coming off a 36-point, 16-rebound, 15-assist triple-double in Sunday's 117-101 loss to Chicago, scored 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting and added seven rebounds and nine assists.
Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 23 points and nine rebounds. The Mavericks shot 37.8% with 23 turnovers and lost their third straight.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was ejected in the first quarter.
The game was tied 47-47 after a first half in which the Raptors shot 11.8% (2 for 17) from behind the arc and 19 for 32 (59.4%) from inside it.
Siakam's short jumper midway through the third quarter broke a 59-all tie and launched a 16-2 run that put the Raptors up to stay.
Boucher and Norman Powell (17 points) led an early fourth-quarter rally that put the game away.
Carlisle's ejection came with 58.4 seconds left in the first quarter, just after Powell had converted a running shot in the lane after a Dallas turnover.
SPURS 125, TRAIL BLAZERS 104
PORTLAND, Ore. - LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points, DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and 11 assists and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 125-104 on Monday.
Rudy Gay and Patty Mills came off the bench for 21 points apiece as the Spurs reserves outscored Portland backups 59-24. Reserve center Jakob Poeltl added 11 points and seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.
"Their bench hurt us," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "The shooting off the bench, the second-chance opportunities. They really hurt us. They had 10 second-chance points in the fourth quarter."
Aldridge, playing against the team he spent nine years with, got things rolling for the Spurs.
"He set the tone early," Gay said. "He got to his spots and he knocked down his shots. Him knocking down shots and pulling out the big men kind of opens things up. It opens up cracks and DeMar slips through those cracks."
Aldridge scored eight points in the first quarter.
"He didn't catch and think about it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He was just determined to let it fly."
Between DeRozan and point guard Dejounte Murray, the Spurs also had two players with 11 assists apiece while the Blazers had just 20 total assists as a team.
"They're unselfish guys and they don't really care who scores," Popovich said of his two offensive conductors. "They just play the game the right way."
Damian Lillard led Portland with 35 points.
Carmelo Anthony's basket with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter gave the Trail Blazers an 80-78 lead.
The Spurs took over from there, later using an 11-0 run for a 95-82 lead early in the fourth period. Rodney Hood's 3-pointer on the next Blazers possession after a timeout stopped that burst, but San Antonio kept pulling away.
With his bench playing so well and extending the lead, Popovich elected stick with a bench-heavy unit to close out the victory.
NETS 125, BUCKS 123
NEW YORK - Kevin Durant made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, James Harden had 34 points and 12 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets edged the Milwaukee Bucks 125-123 on Monday night.
Durant finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists to give the Nets their fourth straight victory in a game in which two of the East's best went toe-to-toe right down to a tense finish that ended when Khris Middleton missed a potential winning 3-pointer from the corner.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Middleton added 25 points and Jrue Holiday had 22.
Harden had 11 points at halftime following his 32-point Nets debut, when he added 14 assists and 12 rebounds. But he picked it up in the second half and contributed to the biggest play of the game even when he missed.
He swooped in to grab the rebound of his own 3-pointer that was off with the Nets trailing by two and fired it back out to Durant, who nailed the shot that made it 125-123.
Durant could have put it away but turned it over on the Nets' next possession, but they held on when Middleton's shot was just off from in front of his bench.
Kyrie Irving missed his seventh straight game after leaving the team for personal reasons, with coach Steve Nash saying he could return Wednesday in Cleveland.
GRIZZLIES 108, SUNS 104
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Ja Morant had 17 points and 10 assists and took a key charge late as the Memphis Grizzlies won their fifth straight, beating the Phoenix Suns 108-104 on Monday.
Morant assisted on Grayson Allen's 3-pointer with 1:06 left to give Memphis a 101-98 lead, then scored on a drive with 30.8 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Morant took a charge against Chris Paul to help maintain the Memphis lead.
"Ja has a crazy good feel for the game," said Brandon Clarke, who matched Morant's 17 points. "I feel like those first three quarters, he's just kind of like watching the defense, watching us, seeing what the defense gives him.
"By the fourth quarter, he's just kind of like already figured out everything with that, and he's able to get in the paint, get his shot off, get his teammates shots."
Allen, who finished with 16 points, converted four free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
"We didn't get stops. We didn't execute," said Paul, who finished with 16 points and seven assists. "I had six turnovers. This ain't it. This ain't it. ... We shouldn't be losing this many close games like that."
Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 18 points and tied a season high with 16 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges had 17 points.
Devin Booker added 12 points but struggled from the field, converting only five of his 21 shots.
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said the Grizzlies tried to share the load of defending Booker.
"I thought Grayson, in particular, did a really, really nice job," Jenkins said. "We had a lot of guys switching on to (Booker) throughout the game. That's just discipline team-wise."
The game - part of Memphis' 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration - marked the first time Phoenix had played in a week after having three games canceled under the league's health and safety guidelines.
Monday's game was a matchup of pieced-together lineups as both teams were dealing with injuries and the league's health and safety protocols. Three players didn't travel with the Suns, including Dario Saric. The Grizzlies had Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow out with injuries and starting center Jonas Valanciunas entered the health and safety protocols after Saturday's win over Philadelphia.
In the end, the Suns were not able to hold the advantage in the final 2:39. After taking a 98-94 lead, Phoenix was outscored 14-6.
Suns coach Monty Williams called Allen's 3-pointer "a microcosm of the whole night," adding: "Down the stretch, we had some shots, we just missed them."
HAWKS 108, TIMBERWOLVES 97
ATLANTA - Clint Capela had 23 points and 15 rebounds, De'Andre Hunter scored 25 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-97 on Monday.
The Hawks, wearing black, tan and white uniforms with "MLK" sewn across the chest to commemorate the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., snapped a two-game skid. They had dropped six of seven.
"It's really cool in the city of Atlanta, it's big, especially to get a win today," Hunter said. "MLK meant so much to the Black community and for the world in general. To be able to come out here and compete and wear those three letters on our chest, to come out and get the win is big."
Trae Young had 20 points and 13 assists for Atlanta, which took its biggest lead, 15 points, on consecutive 3s from the right side by Kevin Huerter and Hunter with 5:59 remaining. The Timberwolves pulled within six before Young's runner made it 100-92 with 2:01 left.
Capela's left-handed hook pushed the lead to 102-94, and Young sealed it with a pair of free throws to make it 104-94 with 33.2 seconds to go.
Capela, who is from Switzerland, said the victory was dedicated to King.
"It means so much, especially here at home," Capela said. "It was important for us to get this win. Last year was a tough year where I learned a lot by being a Black man in this country."
D'Angelo Russell finished with 31 points for Minnesota, which has lost nine of 10. The Timberwolves wiped out a 13-point lead to force a 58-all tie on Naz Reid's basket underneath, but were soon back down by 10 on Hunter's 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the third.
The Wolves arrived several hours late in Atlanta on Saturday night so that coronavirus tests could be processed to ensure Minnesota, which had its Friday game postponed, would have enough players able to take the floor.
"We have to adjust," said Malik Beasley, who scored 15 points. "Everybody in the league is adjusting. We don't have any excuses for that. We've got to be better."
The Hawks, who overcame 24 turnovers, took their first lead at 13-11 on a pair of free throws by Young, who threw an arching alley-oop pass on the next possession to Collins for a dunk. Atlanta took its first double-digit lead midway through the second quarter when Young connected on another alley-oop, this time to Huerter.
John Collins had 15 points and a career-high five blocks for the Hawks.
KNICKS 91, MAGIC 84
NEW YORK - Elfrid Payton's words at the podium Monday had to be sweet music to the ears of New York Knicks coaches and executives.
"We're not satisfied," Payton said after the Knicks' 91-84 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday.
For a franchise that has spent the most of the last two decades trying to find its way, Payton's outlook may have represented if not an organizational sea change, then certainly a noticeable difference.
As did their play.
R.J. Barrett scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds, and Julius Randle added 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead the New York to its second straight win. Payton chipped in with 12 points and rookie guard Immanuel Quickley added 11 for the Knicks, who improved to 7-8.
"Our group is learning how to win," Randle said. "I credit that to our coaches."
While the Knicks are taking baby steps forward, the same can't be said of the Magic. They have lost six in a row to drop to 6-8.
Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Orlando while Aaron Gordon had 18 points and 17 rebounds and Terrence Ross 19 points.
"We gave ourselves a chance but we kind of blew it at the same time," Ross said.
Perhaps the early start -- it was a noon tip-off -- affected both teams. New York led 47-38 after a first half in which the Knicks made only 37% of their shots and Orlando 32%.
New York's lead grew to 68-54 after Obi Toppin's alley-oop jam one minute into the fourth.
The Magic rallied and went ahead 81-80 when Ross' 28-foot heave beat an expiring shot clock. The lead lasted for all of eight seconds, with Randle tying the game with a free throw.
"It's hard to win in this league," Payton said.
On New York's ensuing possession, Randle hit a floater during a run in which the Knicks scored nine straight points.
"We won the game with our fight," Randle said.