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Davis dominates Mavs, Magic rout Raptors
LOS ANGELES, Dec 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Anthony Davis delivered a season-
high 48 points and 17 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a five-
game losing skid with a 114-112 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Davis made the go-ahead jumper with 43 seconds remaining and the Mavericks
failed to get off a shot on the final possession with four seconds left.
“We came out in the second half with a lot more energy on the defensive end
and were able to come up with the win,” said Davis, who had 45 points and 15
rebounds in the same game for the ninth time in his NBA career.
Luka Doncic scored 34 points and hit seven of 10 from beyond the arc, and
Harrison Barnes had 21 points for the Mavericks.
The Pelicans dominated in the paint, scoring 70 points, including 22 from
Julius Randle.
Dallas outscored the Pelicans from long range in the first half, cruising
to a 66-55 lead.
But Davis kept the Pelicans within striking distance with 22 first-half
points on nine-of-15 shooting.
The Pelicans continued to chip away, outscoring Dallas 31-22 in the third
quarter to pull within 88-86.
The Pelicans took their first lead since late in the first quarter on Frank
Jackson’s three-pointer, which made it 99-96 with just under eight minutes
left.
Elsewhere, Nikola Vucevic tallied 30 points and 20 rebounds as the Orlando
Magic swatted the Toronto Raptors off their lofty perch with a 116-87
victory.
The Raptors came into the game with the best record in the NBA but dropped
to 26-11 on the season to fall a couple percentage points back of the
Milwaukee Bucks.
The Magic led by as many as 31 points in the third quarter as they
outscored Toronto 51-16 in a 16-minute span that began in the second.
D.J. Augustin had 17 points and six assists for Orlando, who snapped a
five-game losing skid to the Raptors.
The Magic finished with five players in double figure scoring and
outrebounded Toronto 60-41.
“It’s a strange one. I think if it started that way you would think ‘Oh,
you didn’t come ready to play,’ but we were really sharp and moving the ball
and popping it around and had a nice lead and probably should have had a
bigger lead if we would have made more of our opportunities,” Raptors head
coach Nick Nurse said.
“And then the thing just turned and we never really could get stops and we
couldn’t finish at the rim very well. Just was a really poor night for all of
us.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points for the Raptors, who suffered their most
lopsided defeat of the season.
Toronto played their second game without injured all-star Kyle Lowry. He
has played only once since December 12 due to a back injury.
Serge Ibaka added 17 points and eight rebounds for Toronto, who shot just
29.5 percent from the floor in the final game of their three-game road trip.
“This is a big boy’s league. These nights happen,” Raptors Fred VanVleet
said. “We’re not the first team to lose like this. We bounce back. We’ve got
a championship-calibre team. We’ll be alright.”
Vucevic scored 12 points during a 21-6 run late in the first half that gave
the Magic to a nine-point lead.
Augustin scored a half dozen consecutive points during a third-quarter
burst that pushed Orlando’s lead to 68-51.
After making eight of their first 12 shots, the Raptors took a 19-9 lead.
But Toronto made just 11 of its next 51 shots, until Leonard dunked late in
the third quarter with Orlando leading 91-60.
In Phoenix, Russell Westbrook scored 15 of his season-high 40 points in the
final seven minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 118-
102.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1140 hrs