ORLANDO, Fla. - Luka Doncic had 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Kristaps Porzingis played a nearly flawless second half and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 130-124 on Monday night.
Jalen Brunson scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half as the Mavericks broke open a close game. Dallas has won four of its last five and nine of 12.
Nikola Vucevic had 29 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Magic, who dropped their fourth straight.
The Mavs shot 52.2% from the floor and made 17 of 46 3-point attempts. They improved to 13-4 when leading at the half and 5-1 when shooting better than 50%.
Doncic, who turned 22 on Sunday, made 12 of 22 shots and five 3-pointers.
Porzingis missed his final eight shots of the first half, but responded after halftime by making four straight shots, two 3-pointers and four free throws. He finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Orlando briefly tied the game early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Evan Fournier, but the guard left the floor for several minutes after aggravating a back injury that has bothered him all season. Dallas took advantage and pushed its lead to as much as 13 points in the period.
Fournier finished with 26 points, 18 of those in the first half. Terrence Ross added 18 points for the Magic, while Michael Carter-Williams had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
HORNETS 127, KINGS 126
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - P.J. Washington scored a career-high 42 points, Malik Monk converted a three-point play with 1.4 seconds remaining and the Charlotte Hornets stunned the Sacramento Kings 127-126 with a late rally Sunday night.
Monk finished with 21 points to help Charlotte come back despite playing without leading scorer Gordon Hayward, who sat out with a hand injury.
LaMelo Ball added 24 points and a career-best 12 assists for the Hornets, who trailed the entire fourth quarter before Monk's game-winning play.
"It goes back to that term of resiliency, never dropping the sword, never giving in and fighting until the final second," Hornets coach James Borrego said. "They had to miss some free throws to help us out, but we found a way. Down men, we found a way to win. Just proud of our group."
Sacramento led 123-115 following a dunk by Harrison Barnes, but coach Luke Walton's team couldn't close it out.
The Kings missed five free throws over the final 69 seconds and lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
"Come to an end of a game, that's where we have to step up and put teams out and we didn't do it," Walton said. "Give Charlotte credit. They hit 3s and made every free throw down the stretch. That's a painful loss for our guys. We didn't finish it out."
Terry Rozier hit a 3-pointer and then added three free throws after being fouled by Barnes with 33.7 seconds left.
After Washington's fifth 3 cut the lead to 125-124 with 17 seconds remaining, Buddy Hield hit one of two free throws for the Kings.
Monk followed by driving down the lane and flipping the ball off the backboard with his right hand. He was fouled by Richaun Holmes.
"It was a play for me or PJ," Monk said. "I told (Ball) to pass it to P and he was like, nah. I had to make something happen."
Washington's previous career high was 27 points against Chicago on Oct. 23, 2019.
"I feel like I got it going early and my 3-point felt good so I kept shooting," Washington said. "It always feels good when your shots are falling. Whenever my teammates found me I tried to make the defense pay."
Hield missed a desperation heave from beyond midcourt as time ran out.
Hield scored 30 points and Barnes had 28. De'Aaron Fox added 20 points and 14 assists for Sacramento.
Ball gave the Hornets a scare just before halftime when he crashed into the Charlotte bench after catching an inbounds pass from the opposite end of the court. Ball tried to flip the ball backward, then tumbled over chairs and into a cooler stand before he was helped up.
76ERS 130, PACERS 114
PHILADELPHIA - Shake Milton shook off a defender with a crossover that sent the 76ers into a frenzy, and Furkan Korkmaz buried 3-pointers that sent them on their way toward a romp.
This win belonged to the bench.
Milton scored 26 points, Korkmaz had 19 and the reserves sparked the Philadelphia 76ers to 130-114 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
"The ball was hopping," Milton said. "Everybody was getting a feel for it."
The Sixers followed one of their worst losses of the season to the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday with a smackdown of the mediocre Pacers. Joel Embiid had 24 points and 13 rebounds on a sore left ankle. Ben Simmons had 18 points and six rebounds.
The All-Stars got their numbers.
The reserves got their highlights.
Milton sank three 3-pointers and Korkmaz hit six 3s in a game in which they got some time, turning it into a rout.
Korkmaz and Milton blew the game open for the Sixers in the second quarter and built a 20-point lead. Korkmaz, averaging 7.6 points, and Milton 13.4, about crushed those numbers in the quarter. Milton was 4 of 6 for nine points; Korkmaz sank four 3-pointers and scored 13.
"It's what we need," 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. "We're still working with that group, trying to figure out what we can run that fits us the best."
Embiid passed out of a couple of double-teams to find Korkmaz - nicknamed both Furky and Korky, you pick - and he buried 3s that opened up a double-digit lead.
Milton - in a move that would have made Allen Iverson proud - hit a crossover on Myles Turner that left him stumbling toward the basket. Milton buried the 21-footer that sent the bench into a towel-waving frenzy. Public address announcer Matt Cord even chuckled when he said Milton's name for the basket.
Matched up mostly against Embiid, the bad night continued for Turner when he was roasted by Embiid.
"I say this respectfully, but that's a matchup I've dominated since I got to the league," Embiid said.
Milton hit fellow reserve Matisse Thybulle on an alley-oop and found Embiid for an 11-footer to give the Sixers a 72-55 lead at the break. The Sixers' bench scored 26 of their 39 points in the second and made five of their six 3s.
The Pacers had no answers.
"When a bad play happens, we can't let it snowball and let if affect other things that we do," Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren said.
The Sixers, who still have the best record in the East at 23-12, were stunned by the Cavs in OT on Saturday. Rivers said the Sixers treated that one like a "walkthrough."
They woke up against a Pacers team that has lost four straight games. Malcolm Brogdon returned from a one-game absence because of a sore right knee and led the Pacers with 20 points.
"This is not a losing team or a losing culture," Brogdon said. "This is not what we're used to."