Kyrie Irving overcame Dyson Daniels’ defence to lead the Mavs to victory.
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Plus the Warriors were stunned in a shock upset and some big-name stars returned to the court.
Catch up on all the latest in our NBA Wrap!
How did Simmons fumble this lay-up?! | 00:19
IRVING SHAKES OFF DYSON
In Atlanta, Irving scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the Dallas Mavericks over the host Hawks 129-119.
Irving had been well held by Aussie Dyson Daniels to half-time before heating up in the second half, stepping up with Luka Doncic missing a third-straight game with a right wrist strain.
Daniels posted 17 points himself on 7-of-14 shooting from the field with two assists, two steals and two blocks.
Jaden Hardy added 23 points while Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie each added 22 for the Mass. Jalen Johnson scored 28 to lead Atlanta, which has lost three in a row.
UNDERMANNED NETS STUN WARRIORS
Already shorthanded, the Nets lost their hottest hand. But they refused to lose the game.
Despite adding Cam Johnson to their list of walking wounded, Brooklyn stormed back for a 128-120 come-from-behind win at Golden State before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center.
With Johnson forced out of the game with a sprained right ankle – and Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith, Ben Simmons and Noah Clowney already sidelined – the Nets trailed by 18 in the third quarter.
But they put together a 27-6 run over the next nine minutes to seize the lead and never gave it up.
How did Simmons fumble this lay-up?! | 00:19
Dennis Schröder had 23 of his 31 points in the second half, adding seven assists, five rebounds and much-needed leadership down the stretch.
Jalen Wilson stepped up with a season-high 18 points in Johnson’s absence.
And Ziaire Williams – forced to play center with the Nets’ frontcourt decimated – had 19 points, nine boards and four assists.
Cam Thomas scored 23 but conspicuously never got off the bench in the fourth quarter when Brooklyn (8-10) rallied from behind for their second straight win.
They went 20-of-45 from deep, matching their season-high. But they wasted that shooting effort in a loss to Denver; this one they closed out.
Western Conference-leading Golden State fell to 12-5, and was left impressed.
-This story was originally published by Brian Lewis in the New York Post and reproduced with permission.
ELSEWHERE …
Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis and Ja Morant of Memphis made triumphant and long-awaited NBA returns from injuries.
Porzingis had 16 points, hitting 5-of-6 from inside 3-point range, with six rebounds, two blocks and two assists in 23 minutes for the reigning champion Celtics in a 126-94 home rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Good to go and looking forward to many, many great wins,” Porzingis said.
Latvian center Porzingis had been sidelined for five months following left ankle surgery last June after being injured in the NBA Finals.
“It has been killing me inside not to be able to be out there,” said Porzingis. “But it was worth the wait to come back now and finally be with my guys.
“It has been maybe a couple weeks I’ve been nearing the finish line of starting to play and as I was ramping up I was getting more and more antsy to be out there finally. And here it is.”
Asked about his ankle, Porzingis said, “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I did have a couple flat tires on some lobs but I was still able to finish it and I’m happy with the game, happy with the win and with each game I’m only going to find my rhythm more and more.” Jayson Tatum and reserve Payton Pritchard each scored 20 points to lead the Celtics while Derrick White had 19 and Jaylen Brown added 17.
Brown lights up with 5 straight threes! | 00:35
“No matter who is in or out on this team, we’re an unbelievably built team,” Porzingis said. “It’s like nothing, whoever is out, we can still win any game.”
Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds while James Harden had 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
At Memphis, Morant was back to his fast-breaking, slam-dunking top form to spark the Grizzlies over Portland 123-98.
Morant scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half and added 11 assists while Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points for Memphis.
Morant has missed the past eight games for the Grizzlies after suffering a hip injury in a fall against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 6.
Detroit’s Jaden Ivey scored the last of his team-high 25 points on a floater at the final buzzer to give the Pistons a 102-100 victory over visiting Toronto.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 34 points and passed off 13 assists to lead the host Indiana Pacers over New Orleans 114-110.
Germany’s Franz Wagner scored 21 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 95-84 victory at Charlotte despite LaMelo Ball’s game-high 44 points for the Hornets.
ALL RESULTS
MAGIC 95 HORNETS 84
RAPTORS 100 PISTONS 102
PELICANS 110 PACERS 114
MAVERICKS 129 HAWKS 119
CLIPPERS 94 CELTICS 126
TRAIL BLAZERS 98 GRIZZLIES 123
KNICKS 145 NUGGETS 118
NETS 128 WARRIORS 120
THUNDER 120 KINGS 109
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