Royce O’Neale hits last-second 3 to lift short-handed Suns over Lakers, 113-110
PHOENIX (AP) — Royce O’Neale made a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining, Grayson Allen scored 28 points and the short-handed Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-110 on Thursday night after blowing a late 12-point lead. Allen drove into the lane on the Suns’ final possession before finding Collin Gillespie in the corner. Gillespie quickly swung the ball to an open O’Neale. L.A.‘s Austin Reaves missed an open corner 3 at the buzzer. Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Reaves’ miss capped a thrilling final few minutes. The Lakers bounced back from a 12-point deficit with 6:28 left to tie it at 108 on Reaves’ 3-pointer with a minute to go.
Achiuwa has career-high 29 points to lead the Kings past the Mavericks, 130-121
DALLAS (AP) — Precious Achiuwa had a career-high 29 points and added 12 rebounds, Maxime Raynaud scored 22 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks 130-121 on Thursday night. The Kings (14-47) have won two of their last three following a franchise-record 16-game losing streak. Averaging an NBA-low 110.1 points per game, they fell short of a season high by five points. Naji Marshall scored a season-high 36 points, one short of his career best, and had 10 rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks (21-37), who have lost 11 of their last 13 games and six consecutive at home.
Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves outlast short-handed Clippers 94-88
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat Los Angeles Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night. Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break. Edwards, who was returning to the site of the All-Star game, where he was selected the MVP, was 12 of 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back 3-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left. Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers.