Tobias Harris had 30 points and Seth Curry 20 as the Philadephia 76ers powered home to beat the New York Knicks 99-96 in an NBA thriller on Tuesday night.
The Eastern Conference leaders were staring at a major upset as they trailed the seventh-placed Knicks 82-73 at the last break but swamped the visitors 26-14 in the final term to post a sixth straight victory.
Ben Simmons had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, with Dwight Howard notching a similar stat with 11 points and 12 boards.
New York had six double-digit scorers, with Julius Randle ending with 19 points and 15 rebounds and Alec Burks also scoring 19.
FOR THE LEAD. SO INSPIRATIONAL. https://t.co/gLLBxgn1tR pic.twitter.com/cVVKmGAnBS — Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 17, 2021
Zach Lavine scored 40 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a comfortable 123-102 win against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Bulls exploded out of the blocks with a 42-28 first quarter, shoring up the win with a dominant 31-16 third term.
Lauri Markkanen had 22 points and Thaddeus Young 17 for Chicago, while the injury-plagued Oklahoma, with just nine players fit to start, were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 21 points and Moses Brown's 20.
Zach is too smooth with it 🔥@NBCSChicago | @ZachLaVine pic.twitter.com/aUdZpW7Hn4 — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 17, 2021
The Miami Heat scored a 113-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Jimmy Butler leading the way with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
The Heat, fourth in the East, led throughout to post their fifth straight win with little trouble from the visiting 13th-placed Cavaliers, who have lost four in a row.
Collin Sexton had 21 points for Cleveland while JaVale McGee scored 16.
BUCKETS at the half 👇 14 Pts / 7 Rebs / 2 Asts / 2 Stls pic.twitter.com/OvPu0JtQ1S — Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 17, 2021
In other games, the Utah Jazz won 117-109 at the Boston Celtics, the Atlanta Hawks won 119-107 away to the Houston Rockets, the Portland Trail Blazers edged the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 125-124, and the Los Angeles Lakers won at home over the Minnesota Timberwolves 137-121.
