Mavericks down undermanned Warriors; Kings rout Lakers
LOS ANGELES – Luka Doncic scored 21 points and Kyrie Irving 23 to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 109-99 victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors, who were missing the injured Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).
"We played well on the defensive end, and from the first tip of the basketball at the start of the game we had physicality," Irving said.
"That was the big difference tonight.
"We knew they were kind of struggling and they've had a few tough games, and we wanted to make it tough for them tonight."
The only sour note for Dallas was the departure of Doncic midway through the fourth quarter, ending the Slovenian star's seven-game triple-double streak.
Doncic exited with tightness in his left hamstring and did not return.
"He gave me the signal that his hammy was tight so we took him out," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. "We'll have a better answer tomorrow."
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings dominated the Los Angeles Lakers en route to a comfortable 120-107 win in northern California.
The Lakers' Austin Reaves reeled off seven 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 28 points but Los Angeles were unable to staunch the flow of Sacramento scoring.
All five Kings starters finished in double figures, with Harrison Barnes leading the scoring with 23 points.
In Florida, the Orlando Magic kept their push for a playoff berth on track with a 114-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 21 points on a night when seven Magic players finished in double figures. Cam Thomas topped the scoring for Brooklyn with 21 points.
Cleveland leapfrogged Milwaukee into second place in the Eastern Conference with a 116-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, who went into the game on the back of a four-game win streak.
Darius Garland led the Cavs scoring with 27 points, with Jarrett Allen adding 17 and Georges Niang 16.
In Indianapolis, DeMar DeRozan erupted for 46 points as the Chicago Bulls took down the Pacers 132-129 in overtime.
