Lakers snap Nuggets’ 9-game winning streak behind Luka Doncic’s best game yet for LA
DENVER (AP) — Luka Doncic had his best game yet for the Los Angeles Lakers, leading them to a 123-100 win at Denver that snapped the Nuggets’ nine-game winning streak. The Lakers had lost 13 of their previous 14 games to the Nuggets but they never trailed in winning for the 14th time in 18 games. The Nuggets were going for their first 10-game winning streak in coach Michael Malone’s decade in Denver, but the Nuggets faded after opening the third quarter with an 8-0 run that cut the Lakers’ lead to 63-62.
76ers coach Nick Nurse sits Joel Embiid for entire 4th quarter in loss to Brooklyn
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid got benched and the 76ers got beat at the horn. A season full of championship hopes has turned into a debacle for the 76ers. The latest blight came against Brooklyn on Saturday night when they lost their seventh straight game, this one on a buzzer-beating tip-in with Embiid on the bench. The oft-injured Embiid sat out the entire fourth quarter in the 105-102 loss after a rough three quarters. Embiid scored just 14 points in 31 minutes, missed all six 3-point attempts and was a bystander in the fourth when the 76ers rallied from 17 down to take the lead late, until they were finished off by Nic Claxton’s winner.