AFP/San Antonio
The Memphis Grizzlies followed up their victory over league-leading Golden State with a 117-116 triumph over reigning NBA champions San Antonio in a triple-overtime thriller on Wednesday.
Zach Randolph scored all six of the Grizzlies’ points in the third overtime, finishing with 21 points and 21 rebounds.
The Grizzlies’ Spanish centre Marc Gasol added 26 points and nine rebounds, delivering a three-pointer as time expired in regulation to force the first overtime.
Vince Carter made five three-pointers en route to 18 points and Mike Conley added 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies, who beat the short-handed Spurs despite squandering a 23-point lead.
Memphis have won six in a row to improve to 21-4 on the season. On Tuesday they snapped the Golden State Warriors’ winning streak at 16 games. “It feels good to finally beat them,” said Randolph, whose Grizzlies had lost nine straight to the Spurs including playoff clashes.
“They kept making runs and we kept battling. It was one of those win-in-the-mud games - fight, fight, fight,” he said.
Danny Green connected on seven of 13 three-point attempts and finished with 25 points and seven rebounds for San Antonio, who dropped their second straight. Tim Duncan had 23 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. His fadeaway jump shot bounced off the rim before falling in to knot the score at 111-111 as time expired in the second overtime. But Duncan made just five of his 15 free-throw attempts as the Spurs finished 13-of-27 from the foul line.
The Spurs were without veteran French point guard Tony Parker, who missed another game with a strained left hamstring, and Kawhi Leonard, who suffered a left hand injury late in a loss at Portland on Monday.
Manu Ginobili scored 21 points for the Spurs, but missed a seven-foot jump shot at the end of the first overtime and came up short on a three-point attempt in the waning seconds of the final overtime.
Another win for Raptors, the beasts of the East
Kyle Lowry scored 20 points and handed out 12 assists Wednesday to lead Toronto to a 105-89 NBA victory over Brooklyn that made the Raptors the first Eastern Conference team to 20 wins this season.
Patrick Patterson and Lou Williams contributed eight points apiece in the fourth quarter and Lowry scored six as the Raptors out-scored the Nets 29-16 in the final frame to pull away for their fourth straight win.
Toronto improved to 20-6 and have enjoyed three winning streaks of at least four games this season. Mason Plumlee had 23 points to lead Brooklyn, Joe Johnson scored 17 and Mirza Teletovic added 14 in the first meeting between the Atlantic Division rivals since the Nets’ seven-game win in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
While the Raptors’ star remained on the rise, the Cleveland Cavaliers and superstar LeBron James endured an embarrassing 127-98 pounding at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavs, expected to be instant contenders in the East thanks to the return of James after four seasons in Miami, were out-scored 30-15 in the third quarter on their home floor as the Hawks avenged a lopsided loss to Cleveland earlier in the season. Shelvin Mack came off the bench to hit six three-pointers and score 24 points for Atlanta who improved to 18-7, their best start since the 2009-10 season.
James had 21 points, Dion Waiters added 21 points off the bench and Kevin Love provided 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Cavaliers, who have dropped three of their last four games.
“I really don’t have too much to say,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said. “That was embarrassing how we played.”
Miami, whose efforts to rebuild in the wake of James’ departure have been hindered by a spate of injuries, endured another tough defeat, falling 105-87 to Utah. Gordon Hayward scored 29 points with seven assists and six rebounds as the Jazz overcame a 42-point effort by Heat star Dwyane Wade.
Dante Exum, the Australian rookie who was the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft scored 10 points off the bench for Utah, following up a 12-point performance in a loss to New Orleans for his first back-to-back games in double figures.
