Sixers’ Embiid posts triple-double in return

FIELD LEVEL MEDIA

Joel Embiid recorded a triple-double in his return to the court and Tyrese Maxey had a double-double as the Philadelphia 76ers nipped the visiting Dallas Mavericks 118-116 on Tuesday.

Embiid finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes. Maxey contributed 33 points and 13 assists, while Guerschon Yabusele pitched in with 19 points for Philadelphia, which avoided a third straight defeat.

Kyrie Irving scored 34 points for Dallas, which was annihilated by Cleveland 144-101 in its first game after trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers over the weekend but authored a much crisper effort in this one.

Anthony Davis, the centerpiece of the Doncic deal, continued to sit with an abdominal injury. Max Christie made his Dallas debut and went 4-of-4 from 3-point range en route to 15 points.

The Mavericks made another trade Tuesday, ironically with the Sixers. Dallas acquired veteran swingman Caleb Martin for sharpshooter Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick, although neither player suited up Tuesday.

Celtics 112, Cavaliers 105

Derrick White scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help visiting Boston extend its winning streak to four games with a victory over Cleveland.

White made 6 of 12 3-point attempts. Four of his 3-pointers came in the fourth.

The Cavaliers trailed 109-104 and had the ball, but Jayson Tatum stole an Evan Mobley pass with 22.4 seconds to play. Tatum scored a team-high 22 points and had seven assists for Boston.

Donovan Mitchell had 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the loss, which dropped Cleveland’s home record to 24-4.

Darius Garland added 25 points for the Cavaliers, who received 17 points and 18 rebounds from Jarrett Allen.

Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points and seven rebounds. The Celtics also received a 16-point performance from Jaylen Brown.

Nets 99, Rockets 97

D’Angelo Russell sank the game-winning 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds remaining as Brooklyn snapped an 11-game home losing streak with an unlikely victory over Houston in New York.

The Nets trailed by four with 9.5 seconds left after Dillon Brooks split a pair at the line. Following a clean inbounds pass by Tosan Evbuomwan, Keon Johnson sank a 3-pointer over Jae’Sean Tate with 8.1 seconds left.

After Evbuomwan stole Amen Thompson’s inbounds pass for Brooks, he got the ball near the foul line and tapped it to Russell. Russell spotted up and his open 3 from the left side of the key cleanly went in.

Following a timeout, the game ended when Jalen Green missed a desperation 32-foot 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second left.

Russell’s 3-pointer gave the Nets their first home win since beating the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 4 and also capped a 3-of-15 showing for the guard.

Knicks 121, Raptors 115

Karl-Anthony Towns paired 27 points with 20 rebounds as visiting New York held off a second-half rally to defeat Toronto.

Jalen Brunson scored 28 points to lead New York, which led by 23 during the third quarter before letting Toronto close within one late in the fourth. But the Knicks never gave up the lead and completed a sweep of the four-game season series.

Former Raptor Precious Achiuwa contributed 17 points before fouling out in the final minute. Mikal Bridges also had 17 points and Josh Hart scored 15 as New York won its second straight.

Scottie Barnes scored 23 points for Toronto, which has lost two of three. Jamal Shead scored 16 points, Gradey Dick added 14, Ja’Kobe Walter logged 13 and Kelly Olynyk hit for 11. Shead had nine assists.

The Raptors engineered a 12-0 run to cut the margin to four with 5:56 to play in the fourth quarter. Brunson answered with a 12-footer for the tiring Knicks before Dick hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three with 4:41 left. Shead’s layup trimmed the margin to one with 3:17 to go before Hart scored four straight points.

Bulls 133, Heat 124

Rookie Matas Buzelis scored a career-best 24 points on 10-for-10 shooting and Josh Giddey added 24 points to lift host Chicago to a win against Miami.

Ayo Dosunmu tallied 21 points and nine assists and Coby White had 22 points for Chicago, which outscored Miami 39-21 in the fourth quarter.

Tyler Herro had 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat, while Bam Adebayo contributed 23 points and eight boards. Kel’el Ware notched a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Nikola Jovic scored 20 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. chipped in 14.

Giddey’s personal 5-0 run tied the game at 114 with 6:17 remaining. Miami temporarily regained control before the Bulls closed the game on a 19-6 run. White’s dunk with 2:21 left gave Chicago a five-point lead, and the Bulls led by nine down the stretch while closing the game from the free-throw line.

Trail Blazers 112, Pacers 89

Anfernee Simons recorded 22 points and seven assists and Jerami Grant added 20 points as Portland continued its home domination of Indiana.

Scoot Henderson amassed 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Shaedon Sharpe produced 17 points and three steals as the Trail Blazers won their fifth consecutive game and prevailed for the ninth time in the past 10. Six of the nine wins during the 10-game stretch have been by double digits.

Toumani Camara added 13 points for Portland, which never trailed and won for the 15th time in its past 16 home contests against Indiana.

Andrew Nembhard scored 17 points and Pascal Siakam added 16 for the Pacers, who had a four-game winning streak halted and lost for just the third time in the past 15 games.

T.J. McConnell put up 14 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 12 points and seven rebounds as Indiana had a six-game road winning streak stopped, one shy of the franchise record set at the outset of the 2003-04 season.

Lakers 122, Clippers 97

LeBron James scored 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers gave a glimpse at an identity for the road ahead with a convincing victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, Calif.

Playing with Luka Doncic (calf) on the bench after acquiring him in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks over the weekend, the Lakers got 20 points apiece from Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves and sped up their offense to lead by as many as 24 in the first half. Reaves also supplied nine assists.

The Lakers shot 55.6 percent from the floor and 48.6 percent from 3-point range for the game as their efficient offense made up for defensive deficiencies created without the services of Anthony Davis and Max Christie, who were both traded to the Mavericks.

Norman Powell scored 20 points and Derrick Jones Jr. added 17 for the Clippers, who gave up at least 122 points for the eighth time this season.

Kawhi Leonard scored 11 points in 22 minutes while playing his 12th game this season after returning from a knee injury. Trade additions Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills made their Clippers debuts in the fourth quarter and combined for two points on four shots.