Devin Vassell had 23 points and Jakob Poeltl added 14 points and 14 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-106 on Monday night.
The Spurs climbed to a 20-point lead in the second quarter and expanded their lead to 25 points early in the fourth before Minnesota began to recover.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 units and 11 ballots for Minnesota.
The five owners of the Timberwolves were overtaken by the owners of the Spurs. Rudy Gobert fought and finished with just 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Spurs added 39 points in the first period, shooting 17 for 27 from the field (63%). Minnesota finished with 10 points at half-time before San Antonio extended the lead again in the second half.
Minnesota only scored 8 out of 31 (25.8%) from three points.
Sixers 120, Pacers 106
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – James Harden had 29 points and 11 assists, Joel Embiid had 26 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers in their opening 120-106 win of the season against the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
The Sixers started the season 0-3, losing their first two games to Boston and Milwaukee, two Eastern Conference contenders. Embiid scored 40 points in the defeat to San Antonio and the Sixers were the only teams with Orlando to go 0-3 in the east.
Not anymore.
Harden made 10 of 18 shots from the field and scored two consecutive triples in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 109-95.
The Sixers were leading from the start. Thanks to a little bit of all their players they went to victory against the Pacers. Six Sixers players scored at least one triple in the first period. They shot 12 of 22 in the second and led by 19. Harden and Tobias Harris (18 points) had nine of Philadelphia’s 19 3 points.
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 19 points and 10 assists. Buddy Hield had 18 points. Dominican Chris Duarte contributed nine points and four rebounds.
Bulls 120, Celtics 102
Chicago (EEUU.), October 24 (EFE).– With Nikola Vucevic’s excellent double double of 18 points and 23 rebounds, the Chicago Bulls (2-2) moved up from 19 points behind and inflicted their first defeat of the year against the Boston Celtics (1-3) on Monday , winning 120-102, despite Jayson Tatum’s 26 points.
After shining with 35, 29 and 40 points in wins over the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, Jayson Tatum gave Boston a 19-point margin with a stunning start to the game, but the Bulls’ reaction allowed the men to Billy Donovan put behind the 32-point setback he suffered two days ago against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Led by Vucevic’s 23 rebounds, ten of them offensive, the Bulls managed to overcome the intensity of the Celtics who reached the finals last year thanks to aggression and defensive effort.
DeMar DeRozan was the Bulls top scorer with 25 points (shooting 10/17), five rebounds and five assists. In double figures also an excellent Ayo Dosunmu (22 points), Zach LaVine (19) and Derrick Jones (10).
Tatum had 15 points in the first quarter and the Boston Celtics went 8 for 9 from 3 points before stalling and going 18 for 48 (37%).
Tatum’s 26 were joined by Jaylen Brown’s 21, with six rebounds and two assists, but the two stars were not sufficiently supported at the United Center. Malcolm Brogdon finished with twelve points and Marcus Smart with eleven. Al Horford contributed eight points, five rebounds and two assists.
Knicks 115, Magic 102
NEW YORK (AP) – Julius Randle scored 25 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and the New York Knicks secured first choice Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic remained winless with a 115-102 win on Monday.
RJ Barrett added 20 points for the Knicks, who have won two consecutive points since the season opener with an extra-time defeat to Memphis. Mitchell Robinson has made 6 of the 17 shots from the field for 14 points.
Banchero had 21 points to become the third # 1 pick in a Draft that begins his career with four consecutive games of 20 or more points, but will still have to wait for his first win.
Bol Bol added 19 points off the bench and Wendell Carter Jr. had 17 points and 11 boards, but the centers didn’t get much help on the perimeter. Orlando pulled 7 of 35 (20%) from 3 points.
Grizzly 134, Networks 124
MEMPHIS, Tennessee, EE.UU. (AP) – Ja Morant and Desmond Bane each had 38 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 134-124 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Morant and Bane also had seven assists each. Bane, who struggled to score early in the season, went 14 of 21 from the field and 8 of 11 from 3 points. His eight 3 points was a career record. Santi Aldama signed 17 points for Memphis.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving each had 37 points for the Nets and Nic Claxton finished with 16 points.
Memphis extended the scoring in a match that remained close in the first half with a 17-2 run early in the fourth quarter. Durant managed to keep the Nets close but didn’t get much help and the Grizzlies extended their lead to 15 points again. Despite Durant’s 17 points in the third quarter, Memphis beat the Nets 45-28 in that period.
Memphis did not lose the lead in the fourth quarter.
Trail Blazers 135, Nuggets 110
PORTLAND (AP) – Anfernee Simons scored 29 points, including seven from 3, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their fourth game starting the season with a 135-110 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Simons scored 22 points and six 3-pointers in the third quarter alone and Portland became the only team in the NBA with a 4-0 record. Damian Lillard finished with 31 points and eight assists for the Blazers, who recovered in the second half after a slow start. They hadn’t started the season with four straight wins since 1999.
Aaron Gordon scored 26 points for the Nuggets (2-2). Nikola Jokic, who had scored a triple-double in the previous two Denver games, found himself struggling and finished with nine points, new rebounds and nine assists.
The Nuggets, with their most powerful squad, were led by 11 at the start. A dunk from Gordon put Denver on 53-40.
Raptors 98, heat 90
MIAMI (AP) – Fred VanVleet scored 24 points, Pascal Siakam added 23 and the Toronto Raptors turned in the fourth quarter by beating the Miami Heat 98-90 on Monday to split the two-game streak in South Florida.
Gary Trent Jr. had 18 points, including a triple that gave Toronto a six-point lead with 22.6 seconds left. Precious Achiuwa had 22 rebounds for the Raptors, the most of any backup in Raptors history.
Toronto overtook Miami 27-14 in the fourth quarter, making five triples in the final 12 minutes. The Raptors were also better on line three, beating the Heat 42-24.
Jimmy Butler scored 26 points for Miami, who had 22 points and 15 boards from Tyler Herro. Bam Adebayo had 14 points and Duncan Robinson added 12.
Toronto’s first four games of the season went like this: a three-point win, a four-point loss, another three-point loss and this eight-point victory. They’ve all come up against teams that are supposed to be competing in the east – Cleveland, Brooklyn and Miami – and now the Raptors will start a two-game streak against Philadelphia.
Rockets 114, Jazz 108
HOUSTON (AP) – Kevin Porter Jr. had 26 points and Jalen Green added 25 to lead the Houston Rockets in their first win of the season, 114-108, on Monday against the Utah Jazz, who suffered their first defeat of the season.
Utah and Portland entered the day as the only teams undefeated in the Western Conference at 3-0. Instead, Houston came in with a 0-3 record.
The Rockets led most of the game and were led in double digits in the first half, but Utah equalized before Eric Gordon hit a layup to put Houston back 110-108-1 ahead with 21 minutes left.
Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr., third pick in the draft, made all four of his free throws in the final 24.5 seconds to seal the win. Smith finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Porter made all nine of his free throws, along with 10 rebounds.
This was Green’s third consecutive game with at least 20 points and he made 9 out of 16 shots from the field, including 4 of 3 out of 8.
